It's interesting watching Backlund through 2023 eyes, thinking about what my eyes from 15 years ago told me. Almost none of the Backlund I've watched in the last five years has landed with me the way it did in 2008, and that's okay because I have way different tastes now. But honestly this kind of did. I wouldn't call it a top 10 match in WWF history like I would have before, but it might be top 40 so that's still pretty good, right? It's probably my favourite escape-the-cage cage match ever and I thought they worked around that aspect of the stip about as well as you could want. It's also one of the most satisfying matches ever. I mean, look, this was a crowd that wanted to see Bob Backlund fucking murder Sgt Slaughter and if the aim of the game is to send the crowd home happy then I don't think that could've been achieved any better short of literal murder. It was pretty much a perfect Backlund revenge tour and in some ways it makes me reconsider my SCATHING critique of the January match for not having an extended Backlund payback section at the end. The crowd were desperate for Backlund to rip Slaughter apart after Slaughter took him to the cleaners, but just as it looked like Backlund was about to do that the ref' called a halt. I guess that makes the match less satisfying in a vacuum, but it really elevates this one because we get Backlund ripping Slaughter apart and more. Maybe there's something to be said for delayed gratification and all that. It's not even about the match as a whole being one big piece of revenge for Backlund; there are individual moments of revenge within it that are tremendous. Slaughter outright punches Backlund in the dick three times during the match, the first time just to kill some of Backlund's early momentum, and Backlund's payback low blow later is maybe the GOAT ball shot. Slaughter was climbing the cage and Backlund went low to high like a Mortal Kombat fatality where Slaughter would've been cut in half from gooch to cranium. Slaughter takes about a dozen bumps into the cage, most of them face-first, some vertical, some horizontal, some into the mesh parts, some into the support beams, and obviously by the end he's a whole entire mess. Rudman is damn near perverted on commentary after every bump wondering if it's led to blood being spilled. Sarge also takes one of the wildest piledrivers ever, legs flailing as he lands all awkward on his forehead. Some of the escape teases were amazing. As soon as the match started Slaughter tried to climb out the thing and then at various points after that he'd make a beeline for the door. A couple times he'd almost be through and Backlund would need to drag him back in, really having to work for it while we'd get close-up camera shots of Slaughter's fingertips holding onto the cage for dear life. Backlund eventually slamming the door on Slaughter's face and stomping his fingers into the cage to force the break ruled. When Slaughter does muster some offence he chucks Backlund into the cage, and I liked how Backlund would take those bumps by really leaning his shoulder into them to play up a previous angle where Hansen injured that shoulder. Has this always had a jump in the tape towards the end? This version does and it's pretty annoying as it comes right before the finish, but the finish itself is great. Both are on the top rope, Backlund smashes Slaughter's head off the cage, he falls and ends up tangled between ropes and cage, Backlund walks out the door in triumph, hands aloft, the people in raptures. If we're judging matches based on what we think they ought to be within the context in which they're worked (crowd, setting, where it's placed in the feud, to what ends they're working, etc.) then this feels like it might actually be a top 10 match in WWF history. Look at me writing this much about a Bobby Backlund match in 2023. Time really is a flat circle.
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