From the top, five writers from around the Pulse share in some good old-fashioned thoughts about who will win tonight at Backlash…
World Heavyweight Championship
Undertaker vs. Edge
Paul Beasley: Totally underwhelming build-up to this one after all the Mania hype, and I can’t see them changing the belt back over so quickly. Taker retains, and I don’t really care.
Winner: The Undertaker
Raffi Shamir: Last year an injury screwed Taker of what was supposed to be his last great title reign. His current reign should make up for that, so don’t expect to see it end any time soon. Edge and Taker can put up another top notch performance like they did in Wrestlemania (Actually, Edge did most of the work, Taker was just kinda also there) and the end will be the same.
Winner and still champion: Undertaker
Matthew Michaels: Taker seems ready for a good year-long run, so…
Winner – The Undertaker
Danny Cox: It is simple enough here to know that Taker is not losing the belt this damn soon after getting it at Mania. This will be a pretty big match as they have a good history of putting on an enjoyable show together. My guess here is that this match will end in some kind of controversy leading to Taker’s next feud which I think will be with Big Show. If I’m wrong and Show doesn’t make his presence known, then expect that feud to start happening shortly. I do think though that Edge is going to get fed up and pull out a win by getting Taker counted out or DQ’ed or something.
Expect Edge’s Thing 1 and Thing 2 to interfere as well.
Winner by DQ – Edge
Still Champ – Dead Man
Paul Marshall: Who knows, Vince Russo may be working for the WWE as well. I can feel a swerve coming…and this feud has to continue.
Result: No Decision
Still Champion – The Undertaker
WWE Championship
Fatal Four Way Elimination Match
Randy Orton v. Triple H v. John Cena v. John Bradshaw Layfield
Paul Beasley: I was glad that they actually had the guts to keep the belt on Orton last time round, but with a draft coming, the only one that’s certain to be still coming out to play on Mondays is Triple H. Well, they won’t move JBL yet either, but he’s not going to win realliy, is he? So I I expect Trips to win gold here, and then go straight into a reverse form of punishment for the returning Jeff Hardy. Plus, if Trips transitions the belt to Jeffykins then he’d still stay strong.
Winner: Triple H
Danny Cox: Oh the choices the choices. But I already know who I’m going to pick here. The WWE “fooled” us all by having Orton keep the belt at Mania, and then decided to throw JBL into the mix as a wild card. I don’t know the order they will be eliminated and it kind of confuses me how they added that stipulation all of a sudden…but if there is a God above, then the result can only be one.
Winner and NEW Champ – Triple Haitch
Matthew Michaels: Cena’s still filming his movie, HHH winning here would be anticlimactic (although this being an elimination match makes the winner come out stronger), and Bradshaw? BRADSHAW? Nah.
Winner – Orton
Raffi Shamir: WWE shocked pretty much everyone by keeping the title on Orton last month. Reports said they did it only to surprise the fans. Even if those reports are true, WWE must follow through and have Orton retain. Not only is Orton the first heel since Triple H to walk out of Wrestlemania with the title belt (The real belt, the Raw belt) but he did it by beating H himself and the golden boy, John Cena. It was one hell of a move and having Orton lose the title now would just ruin that. Besides, Orton is doing a pretty good job as champion and still has a lot to do with the belt. Besides, I never saw JBL as real championship material when he held the title on Smackdown, Triple H is still stale as ever and like I said last month, they should hold off the Cena title win until Wrestlemania 25. The fact that it’s an elimination match helps the others save face while Orton gets even bigger bragging rights – Cena and Triple H can get one pinfall each and then Orton can make the final elimination.
Winner and still champion: Randy Orton
Paul Marshall: 92% of the masses were wrong last month. I was wrong last month. I went to Wall Street and found me a sweet deal…
Winner and NEW Champion: John Bradshaw Layfield
United States Championship
MVP vs. Matt Hardy
Paul Beasley: I expect a great, fun match out of these two to finally get the pay-off for this feud, and Matt’s going to win the belt. Backlash is usually the place for ending old feuds, and with Matt winning they’ll probably give MVP one rematch on TV (which he’ll lose) before elevating him to face Taker (or moving him to RAW). This will be a big year for MVP, but he’ll start this phase by losing his belt.
Winner: Matt Hardy
Raffi Shamir: Until Hardy’s injury this was the hottest feud not only on Smackdown but in all of WWE. Hardy’s comeback at Wrestlemania may not have been a big surprise but it was very well done and their feud is back to where they left. One would think that Hardy should not win the belt so soon after his return and has needs to chase it a little more. I disagree because he’s basically been chasing it since the middle of 2007. I heard rumors that MVP is headed up the card and I wouldn’t mind seeing that. And since I predict the three main champions to retain, this will be the mandatory title change.
Winner and new champion: Matt Hardy
Matthew Michaels: It’s time.
Winner – Matt Hardy
Danny Cox: MVP has held onto the title for an insane amount of time in today’s wrestling world. I like the guy and think he is great in the ring and awesome on the mic, but I do feel as if it is time for a change. Matt has proven his worth and needs to grab the US Title now which I think he will. Especially after falling to Punk in the King Of The Ring tourney.
Winner and NEW Champ – Version 2.0
Paul Marshall: The question remains is that are they willing to let Hardy have a singles title reign that means something?
Winner – Mattitude
Big Show vs. The Great Khali
Paul Beasley: It was inevitable and it will be painful to watch. But if they have any sense here Big Show will pick up the win. He’s had one PPV so far since returning, against a loud-mouthed midget boxer, and lost it. Khali’s heat is pretty dead anyway, so the last thing they need is to kill Show’s heat as well. But I’m glad I won’t be watching it.
Winner: Big Show
Danny Cox: Isn’t Khali going away for a while or something? And Show got punked out at Mania.
Winner – Big Shooooooooowwwwww!
Matthew Michaels: Khali’s supposedly really hurting so I can’t see them giving him a new push here, especially with Show the new guy making his comeback.
Winner – Big Show
Raffi Shamir: Ugh. Big Show should get some sort of reward for the way he carried the Mayweather feud and the loss. This is it.
Winner: Big Show
Paul Marshall: This is what should had taken place at Wrestlemania 24.
Winner – Big Show
ECW Championship
Kane vs. Chavo Guerrero
Paul Beasley: Honestly – who cares? Neither of them would have a significant title-reign on either of the other two brands, but Chavo as a “heavyweight” champion is simply laughable. Kane’ll retain, and the World will keep turning whatever.
Winner: Kane
Raffi Shamir: Notice how the overrated CM Punk isn’t even on the card, just one month after winning MITB and one week after losing in the King of the Ring finals. And that King Regal himself is also off the card. I thought that the briefcase will give Punk a real push and an opportunity to show what he can do. Yeah right, even if he challenges Kane here for the ECW title it would be a complete waste, so I don’t see that happening. Anyway, when I saw the ECW “match†at Wrestlemania my first thought that Chavo violated the wellness policy (again) and that’s how they can not only take him off TV but also humiliate him on the way out. To my surprise that wasn’t the case. Still, Kane would retain here, perhaps via DQ, because a one month title reign would be useless.
Winner and still champion: Kane
Matthew Michaels: Oh I don’t care.
Winner – Kane
Danny Cox: This won’t be the squash that the Mania match was, but I’m willing to bet it will be more entertaining then many think. Chavo’s new bodyguard is going to get involved a good bit here, but come on…Kane can’t lose the title just yet.
Winner and STILL Champ – Kane
Danny Cox: This won’t be the squash that the Mania match was, but I’m willing to bet it will be more entertaining then many think. Chavo’s new bodyguard is going to get involved a good bit here, but come on…Kane can’t lose the title just yet.
Winner and STILL Champ – Kane
Paul Marshall: Since when am I’m supposed to care about this when Chavo was made a laughingstock last month in losing the ECW Title in ten seconds?
Winner – Kane
RAW vs. SmackDown
Batista vs. Shawn Michaels
Special Referee: Chris Jericho
Paul Beasley: Probably the only match with any sort of real thought put into it in terms of booking (which is a bit of a change from Dave’s Mania match with Umaga which was kind of thrown together for no real reason). Should be highly entertaining, and having thought throughout that Shawn was in the right, I now think he’ll lose. I think Dave’s going back to RAW in the draft, and when he moves he needs to be carrying some heat with him. He’s been going cold faster than a steak dinner in Alaska. Plus, much as all the viewers thought Shawn was right, the WWE will still think they ought to get some “revenge” on Shawn.
Winner: Batista
Danny Cox: You know, there is nothing I would like more then to see HBK beat the ever living hell out of Batista and even teach DAVE a lesson. They both are coming off of big wins at Mania…Shawn which needed to happen and was awesome. DAVE’s was stupid and he should have been demolished by Umanga. The thing is that DAVE got superkicked by HBK this past Friday which pretty much calls this match already. Not to mention that DAVE has been traveling down the heel pathway a bit lately and there is a severe lack of heel winners on this PPV.
Oh…and Jericho is officiating so can we say…Face HBK Vs. Heel Y2J feud? I think so!
Winner – Lunchbox
Matthew Michaels: Is it possible for Dave to “get Ric’s win back?”
Winner – Batista
Raffi Shamir: As I’m writing this Wrestlemania is finally making its debut on Israeli TV (Thank god I don’t rely on the networks here for my wrestling fix) and the HBK/Flair match is about to start. I swear to god, I’m not making this up – it’s the exact timing. Someone is definitely having fun up there, I guess. I’m starting to feel a little choked up just watching Flair’s ring entrance, so I’ll take a timeout from writing and resume after the match.
And 25 minutes later I’m back. The Sports Channel chose to run a crawler with scores and schedules at the bottom of the screen during that match. A$$holes. Anyway, how awesome is Ric Flair that even after his retirement he’s still responsible for the best feud on WWE. While I absolutely hate Jericho’s role as special guest referee, it’s still the best feud right now and HBK is more than capable (to say the least) to carry Batista to a decent match. Unless he plays into the ending of the match somehow I fail to see the point behind Y2J’s involvement, so I guess he’ll give Batista the dirty win here and perhaps they both complete a heel turn. I wouldn’t mind another HBK/Y2J program this summer, if this is the direction they’re headed in.
Winner: Batista
Paul Marshall: This is the best built feud on the card. However, why is Jericho involved? Too bad he got kicked and planted in one week, that does not give you the right to be a special referee. Let’s see if Shawn can carry Batista to a watchable match, though.
Winner – HBK
12-Diva Tag Team Match
Mickie James, Maria, Ashley, Michelle McCool, Cherry & Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix, Melina, Jillian, Layla, Victoria & Natalya Neidhart
Paul Beasley: This should be a massacre for the heels. Nobody will care anyway (this really is an uninspiring PPV, ain’t it?) but despite the obvious mis-match in ability, the faces will win. Mainly because the heels won at Mania. But many piss-breaks will be taken when this is on. If only the water companies could measure the surge in flushes.
Raffi Shamir: Let’s say that Mickie James pins Natalya Neidhart on her PPV debut.
Winner: Mickie’s team
Matthew Michaels: The babyfaces will win here.
Winners – Team Mickie
Danny Cox: Bewbs bewbs everywhere! Let’s see…I enjoy Mickie of course, Maria, Beth Phoenix, Jillian, Nattie, Victoria, and have grown a new fondness for Cherry. She is just so damn hot. I’d actually like to see them give these girls a good bit of time…maybe even just fifteen minutes so they can show what they have. At least Mickie, Beth, Nattie, and Victoria can.
Winner – Evil Chicks
Paul Marshall: 24 boobs, 12 sets of asses, plenty of material for the younger crowd. This is as close to softcore porn as it gets. For those that know there’s better out there, it’s a piss break match.
Winner – The Bad Girls
That’s our thoughts. Check back on the Pulse later this evening when Steve Murray will bring you the play-by-play of tonight’s show and don’t forget to stop back on Monday to see how we fared and catch up on the post-PPV discussion on WWE RAW!
