It has been 23 years since WWE first produced a Backlash PPV event, and in that time, there have been sixteen different shows, with the seventeenth taking place in 2022. Some of the shows have been brilliant, and others have been not so good.

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At each event, even on the better editions, there will be a match which is subpar to the others on the card. While that may not necessarily mean the match is bad, there have certainly been matches that are worse.

16 1999: The Godfather Vs Goldust

Whilst the two names involved are certainly legends of the business, this had no right being a match in which the Intercontinental Championship was on the line. Two over-the-top gimmicks just didn’t manage to mesh.

With this being WWE’s secondary belt at the time, this five-minute bore of a match displayed a period of time where the IC Title wasn’t held in a high regard – something which is much more common nowadays.

15 2000: APA Vs Bull Buchanan & Big Boss Man

There was nothing inherently bad in this match, with all four men being sufficient enough performers, but it simply just offered nothing of note.

This would have been better suited for an episode of Raw, or even just a live event, with it not being up to scratch to be a part of a PPV event.

14 2001: Christian Vs Matt Hardy Vs Eddie Guerrero

This was by no means a bad match. However, this show was full of very solid action, with every match delivering. This European Title match delivered too, which is easy to imagine given who was involved.

The downside came with how rushed it was, getting just over five minutes. It was fast-paced, but more-so to get all their spots in, so it didn’t flow as well as it should.

13 2002: Triple H Vs Hulk Hogan

Whilst other matches such as Bradshaw vs Scott Hall were worse from an in-ring and story standpoint, the main event between Triple H and Hulk Hogan had many more issues.

There was no reason for Hogan to defeat a top star for the WWE Title in the year of 2002, especially not in a long and boring twenty-minute match. This dragged, and the shenanigans around the finish didn’t help.

12 2003: Sean O’Haire Vs Rikishi

This was a fairly decent show overall, but the match between Sean O’Haire and Rikishi offered nothing of note. It was short, lackluster, and not memorable in the slightest.

Neither man had much going for them at the time, and were by far two of the least interesting names on the show.

11 2004: Jonathon Coachman Vs Tajiri

Any match with Coachman was bound to be poor, and this was no different. He dominated a lot of the match against someone who should’ve undoubtedly gotten the better hand over him.

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To make matters worse, Coachman would pick up the victory in this match, which didn’t really serve to further his heat, it just made people care even less.

10 2005: Kane Vs Viscera

This match between two big men was exactly what one would expect. It was simple, it involved the classic “big man” spots that most of the matches of this type have, and above all, it was slow.

There was nothing too wrong with it, but there was nothing too right either. Kane picked up the win, with his questionable storyline with Lita taking most of the spotlight.

9 2006: Kane Vs Big Show

For the second year in a row, Kane had a match with one of the biggest men on the roster, with 2006 seeing him battle multi-time tag team partner, The Big Show. The match itself wasn’t too bad, but the finish was poor.

The match saw Big Show walk out, with it ending in a non-finish, extending the feud further but without much creativity. It was a sour way to finish a match on a PPV.

8 2007: Bobby Lashley Vs Umaga, Shane McMahon, & Mr. McMahon

Overall, this match was fine, but for long stretches it suffered from being too slow, with extended beatdowns and rest holds, with the heels dominating over Lashley.

The heels would pick up the win after a fifteen-minute match, with Mr. McMahon being crowned as the ECW Champion. The entire storyline was intended to get Lashley over as a babyface eventually, but this feud didn’t do him too many favors.

7 2008: Big Show Vs The Great Khali

Throughout the mid to late 2000s, it seemed as though WWE were obsessed with putting on a match between two giants at Backlash, with Big Show & Khali taking up the spot in 2008. In a surprising turn of events, this wasn’t awful.

It was one of Khali’s better showings, but that doesn’t mean much. By the standards of the expectations, this was fine, but when compared to the rest of the card, which was quite strong, it was still at the bottom.

6 2009: Santina Marella Vs Beth Phoenix

Going into the show, this wasn’t an advertised match, and to say it was a match is still quite a stretch. However, the bell rung, and the ref counted to three, so it was officially a sanctioned match.

During a Khali Kiss Cam segment, Beth Phoenix arrived to insult “Santina” Marella. Due to Khali being infatuated with Santina, he chopped Phoenix, with Santina prompting the referee to ring the bell, with Santina defending her Miss WrestleMania crown. This lasted literally three seconds, and it was abysmal.

5 2016: Kane Vs Bray Wyatt

After a seven-year hiatus, the Backlash PPV returned, with the 2016 event being brand-exclusive to Smackdown. This was the first Smackdown-PPV since the 2016 brand split, and it was a fantastic show.

One of the very few downsides came when Bray Wyatt’s match with Randy Orton was cancelled due to an injury, with Kane replacing Orton. Kane would then defeat Wyatt in a bland No Holds Barred match, which did Wyatt zero favors.

4 2017: Luke Harper Vs Erick Rowan

There was a lot of history between these two men, with them each being former members of the Wyatt Family. However, there was zero story in the build-up, with this being thrown on the show at the last minute.

It was a simple match which didn’t get much time, getting overshadowed by everything else on the card.

3 2018: Carmella Vs Charlotte Flair

The 2018 Backlash event will go down as one of the most boring cards of all time, with very little standing out on the night. Carmella kicked off her Smackdown Women’s Title reign in a match against Charlotte Flair, but it wasn’t great.

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The execution was sloppy, Carmella didn’t come across as a believable competitor to dominate portions of the match, and it was a poor way to start her reign.

2 2020: Asuka Vs Nia Jax

This match took place in front of no fans, which was difficult enough, but when it was wrestled and booked poorly too, the lack of an audience hurt it even more.

The two women couldn’t gel, and the match ended in a double count-out, which was a terrible way to begin Asuka’s reign as Raw Women’s Champion, with her looking weak by not being able to defeat Jax.

1 2021: Damien Priest Vs The Miz

The stipulation for this match was a Zombie Lumberjack Match, and that tells you all you really need to know about why this was terrible. Due to the PPV advertising an upcoming movie, this match was served to further the promotion.

Performance centre trainees were used as zombie lumberjacks, with them eventually attacking (and eating?) The Miz and John Morrison to end the match. It was an absolute farce.