I was super careful based on all the comments to not even get close to touching the back of the screen. But when reassembled I get nothing but a vibration when turning the phone on.

I used the suction cup, lotsa heat, started from the top and pried screen off towards the bottom just barely teasing the edges with a special pick that I had from previous battery replacements (special pick limits penetration). It seemed to come off unscathed. But the results say otherwise.