WWE Backlash is this Sunday night at 8pm/epm PST, live from the Duncan Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. To my mind, out of all of the pay-per-views WWE Backlash is the toughest sell of the year for fans.


Why it's Doomed: The whole concept of the show is that almost every contest is a Wrestlemania rematch with a tweak to it - a six man tag instead of a one-on-one, or a one-on-one instead of a handicap match. That already sounds lukewarm and watching it demands another $40 on the heels of fans paying $50 for the biggest show of the year just three weeks ago. That's $90 in a one month period. That's a lot. The storylines in recent weeks have been low key and centered largely around the draft, which won't take effect until after the show and therefore has no baring on it. The biggest storyline last night on Smackdown involved The Big Show winning a no contest decision over The Undertaker. Neither of them is no the show. In fact, if the show were headlined by Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker in a stipulation match fans who adored their Mania match might not be able to resist, but neither of them is on the show. Instead, the headliner pits John Cena against Edge, which has been done to death. Fans who have already paid to see that one ten times before may say $400 for a match I wasn't that excited about to begin with is enough.

Why it's Going to Exceed Low Expectations: The show may well be eventful. Since both world title belts are currently on RAW logically one of them almost has to change hands. One plausible scenario would have CM Punk cashing in his Money in the Bank contract to clear up some sort of unjust win by Edge, taking the belt back to Smackdown where he can feud with the man he dethroned.  I'm also expecting Triple H, Shane McMahon and Batista to split somehow, creating a fresh feud there. Ricky Steamboat and Chris Jericho in a one-on-one setting Chris Jericho may be able to carry him to a surprisingly good match. Presumably the Jack Swagger experiment will come to an end and Christian will take ECW in a slightly better direction.

World Heavyweight Championship Match
John Cena vs. Edge
Should win: Edge - I have no enthusiasm for this but one of the belts does need to be on Smackdown.
Will win: Edge - CM Punk isn't going to squash John Cena, which means that either Edge wins it and immediately loses it to Punk, or Edge wins it and loses it next month at Judgement Day in Punk's hometown of Chicago

WWE Title Match
Triple H, Shane McMahon and Batista vs. Randy Orton and Priceless
Should win: Triple H (but for my money he badly needs to turn heel in the midst of these miscues with Batista, Shane McMahon and himself)
Will win: Randy Orton - It's a crapshoot but I think Batista and Shane may cost Hunter the title

ECW Championship Match
Christian vs. Jack Swagger
Should win: Jack Swagger - He's finally starting to 'get it' and I'd like to see him feud with Evan Bourne
Will win: Christian - Because obviously the big money feud everyone wants to see is Christian and Vladimir Kozlov

I Quit Match
Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy
Should win: Jeff Hardy - Matt isn't going to get anywhere on RAW but Jeff might be able to use the momentum on Smackdown
Will win: Jeff Hardy - Good guys almost never win "I Quit" matches (look at The Rock over Cactus Jack or Bob Backlund over Bret Hart.) But in this particular case I think the obvious outcome is probably correct. Jeff regains some of his dark edge by putting Matt's ankle in the joint of a steel chair and stomping on it until he screams.

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat vs. Chris Jericho
Should win: Chris Jericho - He can't be allowed to lose to Steamboat if he's going to maintain any credibility
Will win: Chris Jericho - The bookers know that

Intercontinental Title Match
CM Punk vs. Kane
Should win: CM Punk - He's right about where he needs to be right now
Will win: Kane - The WWE seems to want to push CM Punk to the next level and the Intercontinental Title is holding him back. Kane is just an available villain to take the belt off of him.

Verdict: All in all I expect WWE Backlash to be a slightly underrated show but to sink like the Lusitanian in terms of buyrates. On paper it's one of the worst shows the WWE has designed in the past year. This whole treading water thing just isn't working. The WWE needs big changes and big storylines almost for the sake of them because the creative direction of the company seems to be idling. In this economy no one can afford to roll down the hill in neutral.




 -Henry Jenkins, BuddyTV Staff Writer
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