WRESTLING REVIEW: Backlash 18 : Belair vs. Sky

The experience that I had viewing the eighteenth Backlash was an interesting one at best. While sitting in a parking lot attempting to get clarity as to the lack of vitriol towards Spainards that a large portion of D.R. citizens have towards Haitians (since both groups had enslaved D.R. citizens) and chalking it up to the demographical disregard that D.R. citizens have towards the island of Dominica, which shares virtually the same demographics (ethnically and linguistically as Haiti) I sat with two co-workers of the Latin diaspora that happened to fall into the Caribbean category (Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic, respectfully) and tuned in eagerly to the Raw Women’s Championship telecasted from San Juan. Usually when viewing these events by myself, I tend to mute the commentators, so it was welcome to hear (Michael) Cole and (Corey) Graves call the match yet again, especially with so much retirement talk floating around the internet about “Cena’s biggest cheerleader”. As Samantha Irvin introduced Io Sky, it was odd to see the challenger arrive in the ring without her faction behind her, providing levity to the dissension in the midst being telegraphed weekly for the Bayley-led Damage CTRL.

On a brighter note, Bianca Belair strolled down the ramp chipper as ever, standing out in pink and white to defend the Raw title for the final time in the forseeable future, since the recent WWE Draft saw Belair and her contemporary in Rhea Ripley switch in brands to be effective after this brawl in San Juan. Applause was thunderous through the rafters as the champ made her way into the squared circle. The problem was, as much as WWE Creative likes to bait and switch the fans, the leg of the WWE Universe located in Puerto Rico decided to pull Creative’s number and completely turn against Belair from the opening bell.

A traditional lock up was initiated by Sky, and was easily overpowered, as Sky and Belair utilized multiple arm locks. Nothing really stuck, until Belair broke from trying to best Sky in attempting to pull out rotator cuffs and went back to setting up her more comfortable power move set, showing off with a waist lock that transitioned into a headlock that started off by using two arms and then was eventually broken when Belair cockily switched off to using her legs. Shoulder blocks from the champ turned into a standing dropkick as Belair continued to dominate Sky early on punctuating this portion of the match with a standing powerbomb. But all these power moves would be put to the test as Io synched in more arm locks on the ropes on Belair, in the process taking one of Belair’s arms out for the rest of the match.

As Belair delivered another labored powerslam to a chorus of boos from the Puerto Rican crowd, a moonsault off the ropes followed by a miraculous one-armed fireman’s carry was still not enough to win over San Juan – but was effective in steadily sapping the life out of the crowd’s dark horse pick.Io and Belair eventually had an exchange of shots from the floor up, knocking each other down and kipping up at virtually the same time, and at this point it was almost comedic to see the look of confusion on “The Face’s” face as the crowd continued to chant for Io firmly in support of the challenger.
Feeding off the positive energy, Io hit a missle dropkick for a cover, but her effort was no good.

Belair hit a 450 splash and landed on Io’s raised knees soon after. As Belair languished, Io took advantage with a headlock to sap out Belair’s upper body strength, but Belair was able to break the lock.
With the lock broken, Io took liberty with a disoriented Belair to slam her face into the mat and go for the cover, which was only worth a two-count. Dodging a double stomp to the abdomen, Belair made a go for the KOD, only for the action to spill outside.

Belair attempted to gain some lost momentum here, attempting a flip off the ropes but was caught with a kick to the stomach while still in a handstand, crumbling to the concrete. Io moonsaulted off the ring post to add insult to injury and Belair looked like she had butterflies flying around her head as the two made it back into the ring. Completely operating off instinct, Belair replaced Io on the top rope and powerbombed the high flyer. Such efforts of defense were only met with the odds being piled high for the champion yet again as Damage Ctrl spilled into the ring rocking yellow and black like they just became the newest recruits for the infamous Puerto Rican created Latin King street gang. And Damage CTRL commenced to do what all gangs do, overwhelm a force known for standing tall in solidarity.

Belair took her eye off the ball and took the best of what Damage CTRL had to offer : kicks from Kai and mind games that turn into the best sneak attacks from Bayley, but ultimately the numbers were not enough as Io missed a moonsault that essentially was layed-up to her as Bayley entered the ring. The ref couldn’t overlook this blatant disrespect of the rules, and even with the crowd in favor of the antagonists, Damage CTRL was ejected as Io (still attempting to recover off her missed moonsault) took a KOD and went down for three to extend Bianca Belair’s record breaking run as Raw Women’s Champion, much to the distaste of the Puerto Rican crowd. My co-workers were shattered, but I was elated : This Backlash match in San Juan I figured was going to be a cakewalk for Belair. There was no pre-match promo, the two competitors were put at the worst slot (opening), and Io Sky is being written as a henchwoman right now, what possible threat could she be? But I was pleasantly surprised to see Io methodically go to work on Belair’s upper body and successfully paralyze one of Belair’s arms. This only made Belair’s powermoves that more impressive to watch her get off successfully. Sky can only high-fly for so long before every flip looks the same, so to see her failure to deliver her signature moonsault at the right time as the catalyst that cost her this match also made for a fascinating feature. Maybe Sky might want to head back to NXT and get some new tricks in her bag.

As for Belair, the most surprising function of this was the fact that her biggest enemy was not Io, not Damage CTRL, but the hateful San Juan crowd. My Puerto Rican co-worker tried to stick up for his people as the match went on and said the reason that Belair was heckled at Backlash was because “Puerto Rican’s love to root for the underdog”, but after the conversation about colonist preference being rooted in colorism based on D.R.’s history before my co-workers and I sat down to watch the match, I figured colorism as the reason why Belair was met with such negativity in P.R. The latin diaspora is notorious for practicing discrimination with colorism, serving for the reason why even famed Queens emcee N.O.R.E. identifies as “Half Black”. So if one of P.R.’s most notable entertainers see’s himself this way, then the lens the crowd viewed the Raw Women’s Champion could have easily been tinted by this same sectional vision.

Whatever the case was, Belair did not buckle from the pressure put on her by the people in the stands of Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum. Belair’s previous title defenses have been met with little skepticism as she has rode her reign to a (now) whopping 399 days. I don’t know how Jeddah will respond to the champ in a few weeks at Night of Champions, but I know certainly that the surprise of Belair being placed in a competition where everyone around her was thoroughly against her, makes Belair’s title defense at this year’s Backlash one of her best yet.