After a not-so-bad, nothing-out-of-the-expected WrestleMania this year, WWE heads into their usual ‘Mania follow-up PPV – Backlash. The different of this year’s event compared to others is that the PPV is now a tri-brand show, including matches from RAW, SmackDown, and ECW. If you missed it a few weeks back, WWE made it official that all their PPV shows will now include matches from all three brands. The move itself is a smart one for business, but in the long term doesn’t do much to build up an already watered-down brand system. Hopefully it would still pay off for the company.
John Cena puts up his WWE Championship on the line in the main event of the evening, as he fights Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, and Edge in a Four Way match. Randy Orton was sent back home from the European tour, after having destroyed a hotel room, and while not much more is known, the company was furious with him. Jim Ross mentioned in his blog at his site that WWE is still behind Orton but the decisions he makes sometimes, especially those coming out of anger, are really affecting him badly and are a major issue he needs to work on. Orton has had plenty of troubles with his behavior before, and has ever undergone anger management, but still seems to crack in some moments. The obvious finish of the match is John Cena pinning Randy Orton, but the question is whether WWE wants to go with the blatantly obvious ending or not. One way or another, I expect Cena to hold on to his title, and the way we’re going he might just be champion for another two years. The bigger story here is which direction they go after the match, and it looks like it’ll be Michaels vs. Cena, based on the one-hour match on RAW, since the one-on-one encounters have now ended with a win for each guy.
The other main event, from SmackDown, pins newly-crowned champion The Undertaker against Batista in a Last Man Standing match. The two had a pretty decent match at WrestleMania, which if you were smart should have predicted was going to happen. They were denied going last, which was a boost in itself, and Undertaker tends to always deliver his best at WrestleMania. Batista also stepped up and probably had his best match in WWE so far at last month’s big event. Many sources were reporting this isn’t the blow-up match of the feud, but nobody can see Undertaker losing so quick either, so there should be some kind of botched finish here. Speculations have outside interference playing a role at the end, and with Mr. Kennedy and Fit Finlay not on the card, they could be a factor here. Undertaker takes this one, and you can expect a decent match again, if they give it their all.
The ECW Championship is also on the line, and though this is a tri-brand show, only one ECW superstar is on it – Bobby Lashley, who has spend just as much time on RAW recently as he has on ECW on SciFi. He puts up his title on the line as he battles Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, and Umaga in a three-on-one handicap match. You can expect the title change of the evening to take place here. Seriously – how many of you thought that Vince wouldn’t make himself ECW Champion eventually when the brand was even started up again? He wouldn’t have missed on that opportunity! A probably better way to go is to give Umaga the belt and move him to Tuesday nights on SciFi.
Chris Benoit puts his US Title on the line against MVP in what should also be a good match, as the two had a pretty decent showing at WrestleMania. Benoit will work hard, as usual, and with everyone speculating that he’s going to RAW, as well as his recent streak of wins over MVP, one would expect this is the perfect opportunity for the title switch. MVP has really improved his game, which can be nothing but good news for him, and it’ll be interesting to see where Benoit fits on RAW, if that is indeed the case.
Melina puts the Women’s Championship on the line as she battles Mickie James in a once-again-dying women’s division. Since there’s really no other program to play here (unless Victoria gets into the picture again), one would expect this feud to carry on into the summer. This should be a little longer than their Mania match and I expect it to be a little better too, though Melina should hold on to her title in a screw-job type of finish. Some interference from Victoria, or even Johnny Nitro could be played up, to match Mickie James with another guy wrestler which will keep the feud going even longer.
Another interesting decision on the card will come out of the World Tag Team Championships match, as the Hardys put the titles on the line against Cade and Murdoch. The old rule is that if the two heels go into the PPV with two single-match wins over their opponents, they usually lose to even things out. However, the Hardys are credible as it is, even if they do lose the match, while Cade and Murdoch have been built pretty well going into Backlash, and a title win might just do the job for them to be established again as a serious team, though they’ve been jobbed out to the extreme over the past few months. If Murdoch hit the Canadian Destroyer on RAW, they would have looked even better. I’d go with the heels on this one, but it could go either way.
Overall, it should be a fun show to watch, but nothing spectacular to expect. They have all three brands in the house, yet it’s just another B show, which doesn’t speak too well. There are only six matches, one of which – the Women’s title bout – will be kept on the short side, so you have to believe there will be more time given to the other five bouts, which could be a good thing. The ECW Title match will be booked carefully and tell some kind of a weird story – like any other McMahons match. Undertaker and Batista should deliver, as Last Man Standing matches done by WWE are usually really good. The RAW four-way guys will have to work really hard because it’s not easy booking this type of match, and on top of that Michaels and Cena had a strong performance on Monday so everyone will be comparing it to that and expecting a five-star. Edge is hopefully completely healed and at 100%, and he will hopefully be the key guy to watch, as he’s definitely WWE’s MVP right now. As far as quality goes, Benoit vs. MVP will also deliver, so that’s two-to-three good matches for sure.
