[7.0] "This rating might be high because I'm French and I was there, but still ! Amazing crowd and a respect for francophone fans made this a fun night. My only complaint is how strange the booking was when you really look at it (the mix of face & heel entrances in the opener, AoP victory feeling a bit deflating, the Lashley/Hayes segment that went nowhere...) Best moment was the unexpected LA Knight entrance & post-match speech. The Tag Team Championship match was also really solid."
[7.0] "the crowd was insane all night. the opener was decent as were the rest of the matches. the crowd were so loud for the cody and aj promo, overall an uneventful but fine enough go home show with excellent atmosphere"
[8.0] "Incredible evening. Great atmosphere. It's obviously very subjective and special to rate an event like this when you're in the crowd. There was nothing memorable about the matches in the ring, although this was more than adequate for a SmackDown. But the atmosphere in the arena prevents me from going below 8. A very good foretaste of an extraordinary PLE."
[6.0] "Pretty basic go home show before a ppv. None of the matches were incredibly impressive to me. Best match on the card was the main event. Worst match would of had to be the 8 women tag opener. The RKO show was probably the best part of the show."
[6.0] "Mid show great crowd, you do the same show anywhere in the US and it would probably suck. All the matches were short and without any heat sequence (since they're always during the ad break), all the promos were useless they literally said nothing interesting, and the wrong person won at least once if not twice. We're not rating the crowd here unfortunately we're rating the TV show and btw I'm french but I must be objective, if I paid hundreds of euros/dollars to see this (which most people did) I wouldn't have felt like I was getting my money's worth ngl"
[10.0] "I was in the audience and it was absolutely brilliant! On paper, an average Smackdown, but one that hypes Backlash up nicely. There were no bad fights, and the crowd was on fire from start to finish. A final segment between Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles that delighted everyone. An excellent appetizer before the next day's PLE."
[7.0] "A show largely elevated by the crowd for it. The wrestling was solid as a go home show for Backlash. A typical crowd and Id likely give it a 6 but the crowd elevated the show in this instance. 6.5-7"
[8.0] "France loves every single seconds of this show and really elevated every seconds I'm very proud of them and this why we all loves Pro wrestling: for having moment like that"
[6.0] "Another in a long chain of who cares shows since Mania. Backlash cant come and go soon enough for me. The matches and promo segments with the exception of the endlessly great Paul Heyman felt pointless and just there to keep things moving. Hopefully the quality and momentum can pick up again after Backlash because this is so far off of the standard we have enjoyed over the last few months. Worth mentioning that the crowd was incredible."
"Show was alright but this was carried by the amazing crowd. They were hyped up for anything. Highly recommend looking up Jey Usos dark match entrance at this one."
[7.0] "Fun show, started off pretty well with both the tag team matches, the RKO show was funny and executed well, LA Knight just existing in this city is amazing, the title match was nothing too special, and the ending segment which was carried by the crowd was surprisingly good."
[4.0] "the show was really not great he didn't add anything for Saturday's PLE the fight was really bad the longest fight 10 minutes a real joke dark matches seem to have been better The show itself was nothing special, it was like a house show Its really sad for the first smack down in France"
[8.0] "This France crowd was HOT. And, this program was all about beef. Hot beef. Hot beef? Let's move on. Bianca Belair and Bayley? Their beef is continuing to simmer and they clearly can't stand each other. Naomi and Tiffany? They might commit some felonies at Backlash. Carmelo Hayes? Unwisely seasoning some beef with Bobby Lashley. New Catch Republic and Authors of Pain? Really slapped their beef around with more likely to come. Heyman and Aldis? Backroom, saucy, power player beef. Heyman was in his absolute bag for this, by the way. They don't have names for the crimes R-KO and The Bloodline will commit on each other. The "We want Roman" chants continue - his return may break the Richter scale. LA Knight might have started some beef with LDF. Dragon Lee tenderized his beef with Carlito. Beef between AJ Styles and Cody Rhodes is a bit undercooked. Beef beef beef. This episode was very good."
[7.0] "In-ring wise this wasn't worth it but it's a good watch because of an insane crowd. Reminds me a lot of the after-Mania and UK crowds we used to have 10 years ago, before most smart mark fans turned away from WWE and the crowds got tamer and tamer over the years. They really elevated everything here, it's basically a televised house show with a very hot crowd. The atmosphere plus some backstage segments of Heyman/Aldis and Hayes/Lashley turned it into a 7 for me, otherwise not really a lot happening here."
[6.0] "This has to be the most "house show" weekly event ever televised. Despite the Tag Team Title match, which was truly weak for a Title match and at times so off and with an anticlimatic finish, everything else was babyfaces being put over the heels and the heels just jobbing (and despite, losing, I also count NCR into this as the only reason they lost was because of outside interference. They completely dominated the AOP). Very weak booking. Best moments of the night were the segments. They all advanced every story they presented and they developed some characters. Melo coming in so cocky and overconfident (despite losing) after standing up to Cody Rhodes just to be humbled by Lashley in a calm but very intimidating way was cool. The R-KO show and Paul E. talking with Nick Aldis were my personal favorite parts of the show. Randy and Kevin have so much chemistry together and Randy having so much fun is really contagious. Heyman's acting in this story is being perfect. He's scared to death by the new Bloodline regime and it adds a lot to the moment when Roman returns to deal with the situation. And Nick Aldis is one hell of a badass GM. And about the face to face segment, I really wish WWE wasn't so artificial when it comes to the promos and the wrestlers could express themselves in a more natural way, 'cause I felt the whole talking too much forced, and taking in consideration the other face-off they had earlier in the kickoff event and the one last week, I found AJ Styles character a bit inconsistent. I get he's feeling somewhat disrespected by Cody as he considers he is talking of him like a "has been", that's cool, but it's like WWE tries to book a heel that's not that bad of a person but they don't know how to properly execute it, as he was more of a babyface in the other segments and he went full heel in this one. Like most go-home shows, specially those produced outside North America, this was more about giving easy fun to the crowd (very noisy and passionate, but personally, one of the most boring ones. They just repeated the same chants over and over)."
[9.0] "This would have been an average show on its own, but the insane Lyon crowd turned everything into a highlight. Another big factor was the absence of the LED boards, at least at ringside - so much better for the eyes. The opening tag-team match nicely established the intensity between Bayley and some of her future challengers for the rest of the year. I liked the backstage promo between Lashley and Carmelo Heyes, minus the self declaration as a King of the Ring participant, although at least Nick Aldis made it look like he has a saying in that decision. While I haven't been sold on the brutality of the new Bloodline formation with everything they've shown so far, Paul Heyman's conversation with Aldis succeeded in that and I'm hyped for the tag team match. The promo between Styles and Cody ahead of Backlash is probably the only part of the show that felt slightly disturbed by the crowd. With this crowd, despite the disappointing build up, Backlash looks promising."
[5.0] "The show itself was nothing special with a couple of solid tag matches but the crowd was on fire to lift the show into being memorable despite its pedestrian quality. My excitement for Rhodes vs Styles is high because the match will likely be excellent but the build has not added any additional excitement so hopefully Cody gets some more intrigue before his future title defenses."
[5.0] "The enthusiasm of the crowd would almost make you think the matches and the show were all time classics. That's how much better watching in person is versus watching at home. Go home shows in WWE feel like lame ducks rather than ways to hype the upcoming PLE. I kind of get it since in the pay per view days you really had to convince people to spend extra money. Since everything is all inclusive it's completely inconsequential."
[8.0] "The matches should have gone longer, but overall this was really great show before Backlash. I enjoyed the show and the French crowd was hype for the night"
[9.0] "The crowd was insane, please WWE comeback to France for a PLE every year. But the matches they put on the show was decent they felt better because of how crazy the crowd was overall solid go- home show before Backlash: France. I think tomorrow gonna be fun because of the crowd."
[9.0] "Man, what an incredible feeling to experience this firsthand. Thank you wwe for coming to us in france and bravo to us for the atmosphere and hope they understand that they can come every year without any problem. The atmosphere meant that despite a show that wasn't crazy in the ring, everything was incredible."
[9.0] "Lyon showed up and showed out. Yes this wasnt the best go home show to a PPV, but it was exactly what was needed for a Smackdown where all the segments/matches were for fun purposes. The RKO segment and main event segment were the highlights for me. Its clear to see that WWE need to do more PPVs globally as the crowd always exceed expectations and provide an amazing atmosphere for a wrestling show."
[5.0] "Given that this was a go-home show, it was highly disappointing. I expected much more buildup for Backlash. The crowd at the LDLC Arena was extremely loud and fully behind Bayley, LA Knight, and Cody Rhodes. But that didn't make up for a sub-par card and in-ring performance. The RKO Show segment was fun but more like a comedy act than a buildup for the tag team match at Backlash. WWE seems high on Camrleo Hayes, but his segment was short and felt out of place."
[10.0] "Yeah, sorry - this was so entertaining. Incredible, all time great crowd for a Smackdown that instantly elevated every single thing on the show. Just incredible! If the purpose of TV wrestling is to get you hyped for the PPVs/PLEs, they've done exactly that. I now cannot wait to tune in for what, on the surface, looked like a pretty average show. Not anymore it's not."
[7.0] "Not the best card, but the fans in Lyon elevated the show. They were hot all night and added their own flair to the proceedings. Some last minute Backlash build, and a good main event segment with Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles. I found the order of entrances in the women's match weird, with the heels entering between the babyface entrances."
[10.0] "The pop of crowd was insane. Maybe wasn't the best lumber up card, but overall this publicity was over incredible. This was the best PLE Smackdown in my memory."
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