Skilled wrestling is at its best possible when the viewers feels an emotional connection. That connection between followers in Puerto Rico and the WWE has remained intact over the past 18 years since their final dwell occasion, and you may really feel Backlash was going to be one thing particular from the second WWE introduced its return to the island.
Puerto Rico is a slice of paradise, from the colourful buildings that line the streets of Previous San Juan to the quite a few eating places and occasional retailers that serve up native delicacies. However the weekend was constructed round Backlash at Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, which turned out to be one in all my most surreal WWE experiences to-date.
I’ve been to a few of WWE’s massive showcase occasions like WrestleMania and Royal Rumble. I’ve attended mad scenes like NXT TakeOver: Dallas and some Uncooked after WrestleMania reveals that concerned offbeat chants and the occasional seaside ball toss. However these experiences didn’t have fairly the identical vitality Puerto Rico introduced this previous Saturday evening. Perhaps that’s recency bias, however a rewatch of the occasion on my flight house appears to again up this declare that it was, in truth, an evening nobody will neglect.
What’s unquestionable is how proud Puerto Rico is of its heritage, and WWE constructed a card that allowed that to shine by way of. The island’s personal Dangerous Bunny was the clear standout star of the present. Regardless of performing roughly halfway by way of Backlash, it was appropriately billed as a part of the double essential occasion. With out his presence, the occasion nonetheless would have been unimaginable, however the vitality for his entrance in San Juan is one thing WWE couldn’t recreate if it tried anyplace else.
This wasn’t a present that relied on being labeled as one of many conventional massive occasions of the yr — at finest Backlash has traditionally reset rivalries that took middle stage at WrestleMania. As an alternative, it had the vitality of an outdated ECW present, sudden crowd reactions like Uncooked after ‘Mania (it was pretty to see Iyo Sky get her flowers, sadly on the expense of the supremely gifted Bianca Belair), and we even had just a few nostalgia acts sometimes reserved for moments at WrestleMania.
Sky and Belair set the tone for the evening with an absolute banger of a match. It felt WrestleMania-worthy each in high quality and in response, with the locals dwelling and dying on each false end.
Stars like Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes, and Sami Zayn received the response in keeping with what we’ve seen in latest months. However the love Puerto Ricans confirmed for their very own was unmatched. Zelina Vega beforehand described the response she anticipated as “an enormous welcome hug from everybody” earlier than she battled Rhea Ripley in what was finally an unsuccessful bid for the WWE Smackdown Ladies’s championship.
Of Puerto Rican descent, Vega certainly acquired a hero’s welcome, together with her household entrance and middle for such a major alternative.
“I take that with such satisfaction as a result of it’s illustration, not only for Latinos, however for the ladies as properly to have someone to look as much as, someone that pertains to us in so many alternative methods,” Zelina Vega tells Uproxx Sports activities. “It’s cool to have these moments the place you will have individuals saying you’re an inspiration, as a result of I simply wish to be what Rey Mysterio was for me rising up.”
The feelings, electrical energy, and vitality from Vega’s match carried over to Dangerous Bunny’s showdown with Damian Priest, which pitted two Puerto Rican stars towards one another in an ideal encapsulation of what the world is as a vacation spot: a lovely mix of previous with the current.
The duo tore down the house, with Dangerous Bunny making headlines attributable to his dedication to perfecting his wrestling method, taking bumps, and placing on a present. Priest was an ideal dance associate who saved the gang stressed and on its toes. Priest’s fellow Judgement Day members, Dominik Mysterio and Finn Bálor, hit the ring, and it didn’t really feel prefer it might get a lot louder than when Rey Mysterio and the LWO made the save.
However when Carlito, a former WWE celebrity and the son of legendary Puerto Rican wrestler and promoter Carlos Colón, made a shock return in assist of Rey, it felt just like the roof was going to come back off of the constructing.
Savio Vega’s cameo provided simply the suitable contact of nostalgia to pop the crowd once more. And the picture of the LWO, Carlito, and Savio Vega carrying Dangerous Bunny on their shoulders after his win whereas holding the Puerto Rican flag because the viewers misplaced its collective thoughts needs to be one which makes WWE spotlight reels for years to come back.
“Puerto Ricans are so passionate, particularly for their very own. The response has been large,” Zelina Vega stated. “The Rock at all times stated, (WWE has) probably the most electrifying followers in sports activities leisure, however I by no means actually understood what he meant absolutely till I skilled it whereas I used to be within the ring and felt that electrical energy from the followers. That is what he meant.”
That keenness is what has solidified skilled wrestling as an integral a part of the island expertise over the past 50 years. The occasion turned WWE’s highest-grossing and most-viewed Backlash in historical past, with back-to-back sellouts for each Friday evening Smackdown and Saturday’s premier dwell occasion. And for Puerto Rico, Backlash was one other showcase that there’s extra to the island than simply the seashores and meals, as its individuals can deliver the vitality to make for an unforgettable occasion.
Uproxx was invited on a hosted journey to Puerto Rico by Discover Puerto Rico for reporting on this piece. Yow will discover out extra about our coverage on press trips/hostings here.