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April 26, 2009

Backlash preview

Predictions for Sunday night’s WWE pay-per-view:

World heavyweight champion John Cena vs. Edge in a Last Man Standing Match: This figures to be the best match on the show, as these two play well off each other and always seem to have good matches together. Because Raw has two world titles at the moment and Smackdown has none, conventional thinking says that Edge will win. Here’s a guess for the finish: The Big Show interferes and costs Cena the match, setting up a program between them.

WWE champion Triple H, Batista and Shane McMahon vs. Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase Jr. and Cody Rhodes: The stipulation is that if any member of Triple H’s team is pinned, disqualified or counted out, Orton wins the title. I have a feeling that a big angle is going to take place in this match, and that it’s going to be McMahon turning heel and costing Triple H the title. That would put an end to the Triple H-Orton feud and create two new programs in Triple H-McMahon (with Stephanie caught in the middle) and Orton-Batista. I wish Orton would win the title in a singles match, but it doesn’t look like that is going to happen. If he does capture the championship here, I hope he at least gets to pin Triple H.

Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy in an I Quit Match: With Matt having been drafted to Raw, this apparently is the blow-off match to this feud. When the program began I would have bet anything that it was going to culminate in a TLC match. Oh well. Despite the speculation about Jeff’s contract status, I expect him to get the win after having already lost three times to his brother. If they are given enough time, this match could be really good.

Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Steamboat: It seemed as if Steamboat took his final bow when he was on the winning side in a 10-man tag match two weeks ago, so I’m surprised this match is even taking place. It wouldn’t make sense for Jericho, one of the top two heels on Smackdown, to lose to a 56-year-old man, and I don’t think he will. The only way I could see Steamboat going over is if there is outside interference by someone (possibly CM Punk or Rey Mysterio) to set up a new program for Jericho.

ECW champion Jack Swagger vs. Christian: It’s a good bet that Christian will win the title at some point, but the question is whether it will be at Backlash or sometime in the future. I have a hunch this will be Christian’s night.

Kane vs. CM Punk: It seems as if Punk is on the verge of receiving a significant push (hopefully that’s not just wishful thinking), so he’ll get the victory. The loss won’t hurt Kane, who always get the same pop from the crowd no matter how many matches he loses or whether he is a babyface or a heel.

NOTE: Santina Marella is booked to be on the Khali Kiss Cam. I’m not quite sure why this is on pay-per-view and not network television, but it will probably be good for a few laughs.

Posted by Kevin Eck at 2:58 AM | | Comments (12)
        

Comments

Some say Batista could turn heel, angry that the title's not on the line for him in this match.

I'm thinking Cena is going to win his match to keep his title in a long match and the CM Punk will cash in his money in the bank opportunity. He'll win the match and turn heel at the same time. I think it'll work great because CM is over but not enough over that he can't turn the audience against him by turning on Cena.

Good Predictions Kev.

Here are my picks for tonights big event.

LMS - World Title: Cena VS. Edge

This will be a great contest, these 2 always deliver and this will be no different. The hype for the match has been great but the only thing am a bit stuck on is the outcome but am gointg to go with the safe choice Cena to Retain.

WWE Title: HHH, Batista & Shane VS. Legacy

This should be good but i do not expect a title change. I see Batista pinning Dibiase or Rhodes to get the win for his team. Then on Raw say he won so he deserves a title shot at JudgmentDay, then Ortobn come out and say he was never pinned so he should get another shot.
3 Way for JD, HHH/RKO/Batista, Orton wins the strap at Judgment Day then at Extreme Rules HHH gets his rematch Hell in a Cell and Orton wins retians at ExtremeRules HHH has put Orton over clean in HIAC then they both move on after Extreme rules ppv, Wishful thinking ;)

Punk/Kane

Should be good encounter i see Punk winning.

Jericho/Steamboat

This will be a very good wrestling encounter and am looking foward to it after Ricky's performance at WM25, I expect Jericho to walk away the winner.

ECW Title: Swagger/Christian

on Episode of ECW in Febuary these 2 put on a awesome ECW Title bout which was one of the best TV matches of the year thurs far. So these to can really go, and if given enough time tonight expect another awesome encounter. As for the Winner i expect Christian to bring home ECW gold.

I Quit Match: Matt Hardy/Jeff Hardy

Like there Extreme Rules match at WM25 and there Stretcher match on SD i am expecting another very good brutal encounter to end the feud. I hope there is alot of innavative spots and weapon use and maybe blood. As for the Victor with Matt holding 3 Victories over Jeff at WM25 and on SD 2 times in stretcher match and tag bout i expect Jeff to win tonight. But with his contract situation dont be surpiresed if Matt goes 4-0 over his younger sibling.

Khali Kiss Cam with Santina

I hope it is quick and funny

Overall Thoughts: Backlash has the potential to be a great PPV if booked right and matches are given time. I will be watching tonight Live on Sky Sports 1 in UK :)

Here's a guess for the WHT match: Edge looses (you know, you can't beat superman!), then CM Punk cashes in the briefcase, taking the title back to SD. Meanwhile Edge to finally intentionally spear Vickie's fat a**! This way Cena can take his time off to work on his so called movies because he'll be out of any feud by the end of the PPV.

I hope the Hardys take themselves to a bloody double count. "I quit" would only be meaningful if Jeff is really quitting, otherwise if it's "I quit SD" for Matt it would just take the magic out of the stipulation.

Following your guess Kev, I'm not sure I want to be the best Wrestler in WWE (even Cena agrees with that!) in a feud with a guy who can't even properly run (i.e Batista). The only two guys who can take Orton to overcome himself at this time would be either Jeff or Edge. As they're both in SD, I think HHH continues his lame nemesis part a while longer.

Keep up the good work Kev! Hug from Portugal. (Yes, you're read outside Baltimore xD)

i have a feeling that cena will win against edge and orton's team will win against triple h.

but then i think that cm punk will cash in his briefcase on orton because he cost him his championship last year before the scramble.

Kevin,
I agree with your prediction on the HHH-Orton match... It seems pretty obvious that the last couple of weeks, to me, Shane has been 'stirring' the pot... thereby pointing to a heal-turn.

In the Steamboat-Jericho match, could this be where Flair makes a run-in and gets his revenge for being bloodied on Raw? Just a thought...

BTW, where is Michaels and whats on the horizon for him feud-wise?

RESPONSE FROM KE: Michaels is taking some time off because he has been working through injuries. Reportedly, he'll be back in the summer.

"I have a hunch this will be Christian’s night."

I hope that it is. Otherwise, being optimistic about his future in the company will be tough.

.." Reportedly , he'll ( Michaels) be back in the summer . "
Kev , can you last that long? :)

Well, you were pretty on-the-money with your predictions, almost 100% accurate. \
However, you were wrong about the Santina/Khali segment, it was not good for a few laughs.

First off,I want to say that I hope you are feeling better from that car accident last month.
To me Backlash left a better taste in my mouth from Wrestlemania 25. I really wanted to see Orton to win the WWE title at WM25. To me that match should have been a "Hell in the cell" or a "no DQ" contest after all the build up between Triple H & Randy Orton for WM25.
Edge has also evolve into a great performer in the ring and on the mic. It's no wonder he is a nine-time world champion.
I don't understand why they put a match between Kane & CM Punk with no hype or value. Not saying the match wasn't good,but it would have been better if CM Punk put his MITB contract on the line against Kane. The match would have more significance as Kane wanted some kind of revenge from WM25.
Orton made a good point about Batista in the promo about how Triple H always needs Batista to keep "his" world title around his waist ever since the days of Evolution. Batista was always Triple H's trump card. I was thinking after the promo that Batista was going to let Legacy win and cost Triple H his WWE title so he has a shot against Orton. It was funny when the crowd started chanting at Triple H "Na,Na,Na,Na. Hey,Hey,Hey...goodbye!"
The "Santina" promo was just too funny. When "Santina" said that J.R. calls "her" his "little slobber knocker",I just died. That was just priceless. I just find it ironic that the WWE is a PG program now but they have a man dressed in drag. I hope it doesn't cause any confusion with the kids at home,LOL.

Excellent job with these predictions! Coming out of WrestleMania and going into an ill-placed WWE Draft, I was not entertained by this setup or the event itself, but I am very impressed that you got all but the worst match on the money. I hope that means you're still thoroughly enjoying the shows!

Anyway, Jack Swagger may be the only reason I have to watch WWE in the future (not the near future, but like after HBK/Taker retire). He dominated the vast majority of the match, but the thing that impressed me the most was how he made himself *look* like a rookie! Most guys are so obsessed with proving themselves that they want to be perfect from day one, but Swagger did a lot of things that I'd expect from a rookie in professional wrestling. If his understanding of the business is that deep now, I cannot imagine how great he could look after coming out of programs with the real teachers.

well as always ur predictions were dead on which a lot not to be surprised being that Cena's making another movie their is no way you can keep the belt on him i don't know how long he'll be gone but im thinking atleast 30 days is to long to got without your world champ. For the Punk/Kane match what really is the point if the briefcase is not on the line. I am really glad that HHH got heckled out of the arena after his loss to Orton it shows im not the only fan who is tired of his political games. other than that im glad to see Christian win I don't know about Swagger though I liked him as champion I wish either one of them were on Smackdown because if Swagger doesn't have the belt on him what more can they do with him and on the other hand if this is just a 2 day reign for the Capt then what was the point.

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About Kevin Eck
The Baltimore Sun's Kevin Eck blogs about professional wrestling.
E-mail Kevin.
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