The latest edition of WWE's Backlash took place on Sunday, April 30, 2006 at the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. With the exception of the revelation that "God" would be Shawn Michael's partner for his match against Vince and Shane McMahon, this was pretty much your standard WWE pay-per-view.

There was some slight backstage controversy after the show, in the form of fines and violations from the Kentucky Boxing And Wrestling Authority. However, it had nothing to do with the crass toilet humor or offensive religious overtones on display at various times during the event. Here's the card:

• Carlito vs. Chris Masters - It's sometimes painful to watch a wrestler with potential talent get saddled with one of limited skill. Yet, here we have Carlito doing his damnedest to make Masters look good, while keeping his game tight. Unfortunately, he only accomplishes this feat on occasion. I have to admit that i'm slowly warming up to Carlito, however, he wrestles rings around Chris Masters. Unless your idea of a great finishing move is a full nelson. Then again, it's got to be better than pumping up your Reeboks.
  
  
• Who will win the Triple Threat Match? - Maria is dissecting the main match between Cena, Hunter and Edge, until Lita comes over and a witty repertoire ensues. Not much more to say.
  
  
• Ric Flair vs. Umaga (w/ Armando Alejandro Estrada) - Which is worse: having to listen to Armando Alejandro Estrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrada? Or watching Ric Flair have to put Jamal err...Umaga over? That's a trick question - they're both terrible.
  
  
• Mr. McMahon in his office performing miracles - Really stupid skit. However, i'd be lying if I didn't chuckle once or twice.
  
  
• WWE Women's Championship Match [Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus] - First, the important thing: I really wasn't feeling Trish's outfit. I'm not sure who told her it looked good on her, but it was straight-up ugly. Mickie, on the other hand, looked very cute. Anyways, the match wasn't much to talk about...until Trish took a tumble over the top rope after an aggressive assault on Mickie. Remember that scene in Lethal Weapon 2 when Mel's fellow officers were making bets on whether he could free himself from a straightjacket? Remember what he did to get out of it? Well, Trish didn't slam her shoulder against a wall, but her arm did pop out of the socket during her fall over the top rope and, man, did it look pretty damn painful.
  
  
• Maria interviews Shawn Michaels - After watching this interview, I wonder what Shawn truly felt about Vince mocking the Almighty one.
  
  
• Money In the Bank vs. Intercontinental Championship Winner Takes All [Rob Van Dam vs. Shelton Benjamin] - These two fellas might not possess the greatest mic skills, but their ring skills are outstanding and they truly shine during this highly energetic match. Maybe one day Benjamin will actually get a decent push that will stick, hopefully with (or against) his ex-tag team partner, Charlie Haas, and Rob will pick a more private way to smoke the ganja.
  
  
• Big Show vs. Kane - What a difference a couple of weeks and a role in a major motion picture makes. At the beginning of the month, Kane and Show were the tag team champs. Three weeks later, Kane is haunted by a date, May 19th, which just happens to be the release date of his new film "See No Evil", and pummels anyone that dares say the aforementioned date in his presence. Regardless, this was a pretty sloppy match that made my mind wander to wondering if they ever actually revealed why May 19th was so traumatic for the Big Red Machine. It was a fleeting moment - the very kind Vince likes and expects from his audience.
  
  
• Mr. McMahon cures Candice - Unlike the previous skit with Vince, this one was stupid and far from funny. Watching Candice "act" only added to the pain.
  
  
• Shawn Michaels & "God" vs. Mr. McMahon & Shane McMahon - In the five-or-so years since i've starting watching wrestling again, i've seen Vince come up with some very stupid things. This is very high on the list. In fact, if I were a religious person, i'd probably be offended. That said, Shawn, once again, puts on a great match, does a great blading and holds his own against Vince and Shane. At least until the Spirit Squad intervene. I guess it's a good thing Vince barred "God" from the ring, thereby preserving his perfect record.
  
  
• Todd Grisham interviews John Cena - Time for refreshments.
  
  
• Matt Striker's Classroom in the ring - Matty comes out to insult the Kentuckians by bringing up inbreeding and insulting Ashley Judd [?] before introducing Eugene. I won't tell you what Eugene does, but remember what I said about Vince's match against "God"? This is almost as bad.
  
  
• Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship [John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Edge (w/ Lita) - Hate to say it, but I enjoyed this match. Well, "enjoyed" might be too strong an adjective, but I didn't skip it and I wasn't watching the clock on my DVD player while they were wrestling. I'm not sure if I said this before, but the only person that bleeds better than Hunter is Flair. That's a complement, in case you were wondering. Oh, and what's up with Cena's submission move? Camel Clutch? Ok. Angle lock? Got it. STFU? Exactly what part of the body does the STFU put enough pressure on to make one submit? Or is it just the way Cena oversells it? Whatever.

In addition to all of those matches, we're also treated to these extras from the following evening's Monday Night Raw:

• Mr. McMahon and Shane McMahon go to Church [Raw 4/10/06] - Even though i'm sure they'll have a lot of evidence to choose from, this six minute skit will most assuredly be "Exhibit A" for Vince McMahon when Judgment Day comes.
  
  
• Triple H post match Interview
  
  
• Joey Styles and RVD in the back - And the seeds of discontent are sown...
  
  
• Joey Styles and the Spirit Squad [Raw 5/1/06] - If the fact that he wasn't getting any respect an issue, having all five members of the spirit squad in your face would definitely make one reconsider his career.
  
  
• Joey Styles and Jerry Lawler physicality [Raw 5/1/06] - The night before RVD was telling him that he was a non-entity (my words, not RVD's), then he had to endure the Spirt Squad's inanity and finally, he has to deal with the King's ribbing.
  
  
• Joey Quits [5/1/06] - Best. Worked. Shoot. EVER. I can't say enough about this. Except...no one seems to have listened to what Joey said.

Video: As with almost all WWE DVDs, Backlash's picture was colorful and vibrant with some slight compression issues due to the pyrographic elements. It's also presented in the WWE's standard full frame 1.33:1 ratio.

Audio: The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound was crystal clear and enveloped my living room while I was watching it. I particularly enjoyed the workout my speakers received during Kane's "breakdown". Viewers are also given the option of watching the disc in Spanish.

Conclusion: As with many other WWE pay-per-views, this one is hit or miss. In fact, i'd say the hits only slightly edge out the misses, but when Vince misses, he misses BIG. Besides the putting over of Umaga, Kane's promotional emotional breakdown and Eugene diggin' for gold, there's also the match with "God" that a viewer has to subject themselves to. However, what made me change the recommendation of this DVD from Recommended to Highly Recommended was an extra. Yes, you read that right - one extra. That extra, my friends, is Joey Style's rant before quitting Raw. Of course it was all a set-up for Vince's plan to bring back (and piss all over) ECW, but there isn't one word Styles said that wasn't true. Rumor had it that Joey wrote this rant and fans were surprised that the writers let it slide. Hell, i'm surprised that Vince let it slide. It's probably the truest moment in "sports entertainment" history. So much so, that these brief five minutes help to make this a Highly Recommended disc.