Yo. With less than 24 hours away from Backlash, Eddie here with a preview and predictions for Backlash. Let’s get to it…
WWE will present their annual Backlash PPV on Sunday. The show features the debut of one of wrestling’s biggest superstars, Bill Goldberg, to WWE TV in his first official match, pinning The Rock. Also from the RAW brand, Kevin Nash returns to action in a 6-Man Tag Team match with friend Shawn Michaels on his side and 5-time WCW Champion Booker T along them. The trio will face the team of World Champion Triple H, his manager Ric Flair, and the King of the World himself, Chris Jericho. From the SmackDown! brand, Brock Lesnar defends his WWE Championship against the Master of Thuganomics himself, John Cena. Will Word Life overcome the power of the 2002 King of the Ring, the 2003 Royal Rumble winner, a former NCAA Champion, and a 2-time WWE Champion? Here comes the pain! Below is the FULL card for the event, accompanied by predictions for each match.
The Big Show vs. Rey Mysterio
— It’s a shame that WWE is doing this match at the PPV. It’s not so much a shame that Big Show is on the card (though many will disagree with me on that one) but it’s a big shame that WWE is wasting both these guys the way they’re doing this match. Guys like Chris Benoit, Rhyno, and Matt Hardy are not on the card, while we get Mysterio vs. Show as one of the matches? Sounds horrible. Matt Hardy defeated Rey at WrestleMania and instead of doing a rematch at Backlash, WWE chooses to do this match. I don’t get why. Big Show is hardly over with the fans anymore, and has the whole Internet community on his back due to his horrible wrestling as of lately. Pairing him up with Rey Mysterio and of course having him win will not help at all. I guess what I’m saying is that WWE should have feuded him with someone big if they were to put him on the PPV. Anyway, there’s also a rumor that Show is going to be facing Lesnar for the belt at Judgment Day, which sounds bad as it is. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Prediction: Big Show
Rikishi vs. Sean O’Haire
— I can’t remember the last time Rikishi had a one-on-one match at a WWE PPV. That’s how bad it is with the Kish. Ever since returning to WWE about a year ago, Rikishi’s character has been pale and old. The man who ran over Steve Austin has gone back to playing the dancing good fella we all cheer for. I don’t know, to me, it’s an old act which has passed its time. Bringing Roddy Piper and Sean O’Haire together opens up a spot for Kish to return, as the history between Piper and Jimmy Snucka links Rikishi to all this. Anyway, I think the main focus of this match is one Sean O’Haire. He’s gotten himself a great character, slightly new look, and obviously has picked it up in the WWE Developmental big time. He looks great physically and so far seems secure on the mic. Having Hot Rod as his manager will do nothing but help him. WWE deserves the praise here as they teamed up Roddy with O’Haire, and Sean will be the one getting the rub. That’s how all legends of wrestling should be used! To truly bring in the new guys and make them big!
Prediction: Sean O’Haire
Trish Stratus (c) vs. Jazz (WWE Women’s Championship)
— The women’s division is getting a huge refreshment with Jazz back in action. WWE has about two more months before Lita makes her return to the ring and you can’t help but wonder of what they’ll do in this time. This is the only reason I can think of that would stop WWE from giving the belt to Jazz. Jazz was supposed to win at WrestleMania XIX, but WWE officials, recognizing that she wasn’t over with the crowd yet and that it wasn’t the best of times to give her the title, decided to go with the secure option and give the championship to Trish. Miss Stratus has been nothing but great and has turned into the one woman WWE can definitely count on to represent them both inside and outside the ring. Theodore Long is the wild card here. By pairing Jazz up with real-life husband Rodney Mack and Long is a good move storyline-wise, though the racism storyline is hated by many, including myself. Now is the time for Jazz to go over, or at least I see it that way. However, with Lita out for two more months, maybe WWE will prolong this. We’ll see.
Prediction: Jazz
Team Angle (c) vs. Los Guerreros (WWE Tag Teams Championship)
— This is definitely going to be a great match. Team Angle continue their deserving reign as Tag Team Champions and have lasted quite some time. With Kurt Angle out of action, one can’t help but wonder what WWE has planned out for his team. If you follow the logical sense in wrestling, Los Guerreros should come out on top after the match, seeing as Team Angle has been getting the better out of them, especially on the latest edition of SmackDown!. It’ll also be interesting to see what happens to Team Angle if they lose their belts with no Paul Heyman or Kurt Angle around. Time will tell, but this match is great because it offers both awesome in-ring action and an interesting storyline flow.
Prediction: Team Angle
RVD and Kane (c) vs. The Dudley Boyz (World Tag Teams Championship)
— People who have followed this section of the site know very well that I enjoy the storyline for the tag team belts on RAW. The one clear reason I have is wrestling. RVD, Kane, the Dudleyz, Chief Morley and Storm have all given us great matches on RAW in my opinion. This storyline has had some holes in it. For example, the Dudleyz not able to decide what to truly do has played off well, but at the same time left some unanswered questions. Why would Chief Morley pick the Dudleyz to go after the belts and not himself and Storm? Why don’t D-Von and Bubba stick to their choices instead of constantly reuniting or going against each other? Well, nonetheless, ever sine reuniting, the Dudley Boyz were on a role and now it seems that their momentum has slowed down a bit. I also don’t see RVD and Kane dropping the belts so soon. WWE is obviously holding off on breaking them up. Could it happen at the PPV though? You never know.
Prediction: RVD and Kane
Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels, Booker T vs. Triple H, Ric Flair, Chris Jericho
— Kevin Nash is back on RAW, and one of the founders of the infamous Clique is trying to get his buddies Shawn Michaels and Triple H to be friends again. It’s not working. This storyline can have an interesting twist at any time, having in mind who is involved. What I don’t like is that Chris Jericho and Booker T, while being put in the main event, are kind of obviously left to the “side” so to speak. The ending of this past Monday’s RAW (Booker T vs. Triple H match) was a perfect example of how the main focus was on the three Clique guys. That’s a bit unfair. Anyway, it looks like Nash will be the man to feud Hunter for a while until Goldberg grabs that spot, so I’m guessing his team will be successful and there’s a possibility Big Kev will pin Hunter. Then again, I doubt it.
Prediction: Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels, Booker T
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. John Cena (WWE Championship)
— The WWE Champion Brock Lesnar has done it all in WWE for one year. He was the last King of the Ring the company crowned, he won the Royal Rumble, and has finally won the WWE Championship … twice. After defeating Kurt Angle at WrestleMania, Brock finds himself alone on top over at SmackDown! without a strong heel to oppose him. Enter John Cena. WWE’s temporary solution to the problem, Cena has proven in recent weeks that he’s ready for the big time. He might not be an athlete the caliber of a Kurt Angle or a Chris Benoit, but Cena has definitely stepped up in the past few weeks. With wins over Eddie Guerrero, The Undertaker, Chris Benoit, and Rhyno, WWE is really pushing Cena through the sky. Is it worth it? Yes, in my opinion. An established heel is needed on the show. Angle will be back, but having a secondary mid-carder/main eventer heel is always a good thing. Just like Chris Jericho on RAW, John Cena looks to have found his spot on SmackDown!. He can feud Benoit or Rhyno following the feud with Lesnar, but don’t expect the impossible out of Cena. Word Life.
Prediction: Brock Lesnar
The Rock vs. Bill Goldberg
— The man is here. After two years of waiting, tons of speculations and rumors on-line, and God knows what else, Bill Goldberg has entered WWE. The McMahons and Co. decided to go ahead and put big Bill in a feud with The Rock, which is definitely a good decision. The booking of the feud was going great for the first two weeks of the thing, but following this past two weeks, I think the feud has slowed down majorly. WWE is simply treating Goldberg like another flavor of the week, and he’s not the one special attraction to RAW, the one special thing the fans should relate to and start loving. Hopefully things will change, but from what I hear, some outside interferences (HHH) are the reason Goldberg’s character has been treated that way. Will this be Rock’s last match in WWE for a while? Will Goldberg start a new streak??? What’s in the future for Bill? Either way, whether Rock goes to Hollywood or not, expect these two to meet again one day, and that’s when Rock will get his. Until then, what happened on RAW is enough for him.
Prediction: Bill Goldberg
Thanks for reading guys! I’ll be back next week for thoughts on the PPV and/or RAW, and of course the SmackDown! edition of N and A. See ya.
Eddie
