SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages, I proudly present to you what will undoubtedly be “THE GREATEST BACKLASH PPV PRIMER EVER” (to date), written by me, your humble servant. A year on hiatus after being replaced by unfortunately named “Stomping Ground” PPV, “Backlash” returns with the ridicule-inviting tagline, “The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever”. Originally scheduled to take place in Kansas City, Missouri, Backlash will instead come from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida as a result of the current pandemic.
Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley – WWE Championship match
Story in a nutshell: Drew McIntyre wants a fight. After MVP is rebuffed, violently, by Drew McIntyre when MVP offered to manage Drew, MVP brings McIntyre the fight he wants in the form of Bobby Lashley.
The story for this match has been driven by MVP. MVP invited Drew to join him and was answered by Drew’s Claymore. Now MVP has a vendetta and has recruited Bobby Lashley to serve as his instrument of revenge. Drew for his part relishes the opportunity to face a worthy opponent. MVP has been presented as a real threat, not backing down from Drew. There is an air of Machiavellian danger around MVP. Lashley has been uplifted from the mediocrity he had been wallowing in since his return to the WWE. Then you have the wild card, Lana. She has been upset at losing her influence over Lashley, and despite her claims that she is moving on, it might be all a ruse on her part.
Prediction: I think Drew needs to win this if the WWE really wants to establish him as the top guy, and I think, it should be a once and done for now so Lashley can build up more credibility so you can revisit this feud once again down the line. MVP can groom another challenger to be next. Lana is the wildcard though and she can easily cost either competitor the match purposely, or by accident. I think Lana interferes, costing Lashley, leading to a split and dragging this feud into Extreme Rules.
Edge vs. Randy Orton – The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever
Story in a nutshell: Losing to Edge in a brawl, Randy calls out Edge and challenges him to a straight up, no frills, one-on-one, wrestling match.
This is the match that has led to the eponymous tagline for Backlash. Unfortunately, I think, promoting the match in such and obvious, over-the-top way, detracts from the drama, whether the tagline is meant to be self-aware or not. If you believe that the WWE is self-aware of the ridiculousness of that statement, the conversation now revolves around the “why” and how do they “swerve” out of it. If they are not self-aware, the conversation turns into one of the WWE’s hubris of deceptive business practice instead of the actual drama of the story.
Edge made his return from retirement and the matches he’s been involved in have not been regular wrestling matches, the matches being the Royal Rumble and a Last Man Standing match at WrestleMania. This got into Edge’s head and he started to doubt himself until his best friend, Christian, gave him a proverbial wake up call on the “Peep Show”, and Edge walked away ready to meet the challenge.
Prediction: As much as I want to ignore the Sword of Damocles that is the tagline, I cannot. I’d have Randy win clean but in a fight that shows Edge that he still has something left. Orton then can go off and feud with Drew for the title and Lashley can feud with Edge in a spear vs. spear clash. Unfortunately, giving WWE’s penchant for having feuds go well past their sell by dates, and with SummerSlam right around the corner, I have Orton winning with a decidedly not-a-wrestling-hold and extending the feud.
Asuka vs. Nia Jax – WWE Raw Women’s Championship
Story in a nutshell: Asuka defends her belt, and her friend’s and sometimes tag-team partner’s honor, from number one contender Nia Jax.
Unbeknownst to Asuka, she won the WWE Raw Women’s title at Money in the Bank since Becky Lynch could no longer defend it after coming down with a sudden case of pregnancy. In the briefcase, instead of a contract, was the belt. On May 25th’s episode of Raw, Nia become the number one contender after defeating Charlotte Flair and Natalya in a triple threat match. Since then, Nia has accused Asuka of being “gifted” the belt, has bullied Kairi Sane to get at Asuka, and interfered in twenty-five minutes long matches leading to BS finishes much to my chagrin.
Prediction: Asuka wins, hopefully after dropping her “zany Asuka” demeanor and re-adopting her “hitokiri Asuka” NXT demeanor, at least for this match. I’m thinking this will be a decisive win since with a pin over Asuka on June 8th’s Raw, Charlotte Flair is sure to be next in line for a shot.
Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus
Story in a nutshell: After being framed for a hit and run on Elias, Jeff Hardy seeks retribution for the humiliations he has endured from Sheamus.
The May 29th episode of Smackdown opened with a breaking development, someone ran over Elias and crashed the car. All evidence pointed to Jeff Hardy suffering a relapse (on account of reeking of alcohol when found at the scene) and driving while under the influence. Only he was framed by a red-headed driver, so either Sheamus or the Eric Rowan look-alike. This caused Jeff Hardy to get taken out of the Intercontinental Championship tournament and things between Sheamus and only escalated, climaxing with Sheamus getting urine thrown at his face (God help me, you can’t make this up).
Prediction: As much as I hope this feud ends here, I don’t think it will especially since Extreme Rules is right around the corner. Sheamus wins. There will be an alcohol spot. Ultimately, I think that while Sheamus was driving the car, King Corbin was the one who attacked and drenched Jeff in alcohol.
Apollo Crews vs. Andrade – WWE U.S. Championship match
Story in a nutshell: Strife abounds among Selina Vega’s charges, something that one of them, Andrade, may have to deal with as he challenges recently crowned champion, Apollo Crews.
Apollo Crews claimed the US title May 25th when he defeated Andrade “he’s still ‘Cien Almas’ to me dammit”. The following week, Crews gave Kevin Owens a shot at the title, but Andrade and Garza put a stop to it. The week after that Andrade became the number one contender to Apollo’s title by defeating Owens and Garza in a triple threat match when he pinned his own stablemate for the win. As you would expect, this has led to infighting between Selina’s crew that may come to play during the match.
Prediction: Crews retains unless Vince McMahon has soured on him again. I think Selina has enough of the fighting and it leads to her getting rid of Andrade down the line.
Braun Strowman vs. The Miz & Morrison – WWE Universal Championship Tw0-on-One Handicap match
Story in a nutshell: After agreeing to a two-on-one handicap match, Braun Strowman defends his title against both Miz and John Morrison.
On the Dirt Sheet, Miz and Morrison evoked the name of Braun Strowman and he appeared. This led to a match between Miz and Braun that Braun won. Morrison claimed that Braun couldn’t beat both of them at once for the title. Braun took them up on the challenge. A few childish pranks and a flipped van later, and here we are.
Prediction: Braun Strowman wins, but might The Fiend appear?
Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. The IIconics, WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Triple Threat match
Story in a nutshell: Will the recently subsided tension between Bayley & Banks flare up again as they defend their recently acquired tag-team belts against Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross and the IIconics.
Bayley and Banks beat Bliss and Cross on June 5th to capture the Women’s Tag Team Championship. Since then, All the women involved have had various matches in different permutations against each other leading to a Bayley and Banks celebration. That was interrupted by Bliss and Cross leading to a brawl between the two teams as the IIconics watched from the big screen from wherever Raw is being filmed…
Prediction: There has been a lot less of the tension that has been teased between Bayley and Banks lately. This smells like the calm before the storm. Do things fall apart at Backlash? I don’t think so. I think that happens later, maybe as soon as the next Smackdown. For now, Bayley and Banks retain.
I wasn’t gonna say anything because I thought it was a typo, but then you did it more than once. It’s Zelina, not Selina.