Look at Backlash PPV
And here it is, after some time off, Mysterious A is going to write about the happenings on WWE television over the past two weeks. And I now it's slow comparing to the other sites, but I am just here to give my opinion.
Let's start with the show I have to write about the least - ECW.
As all the wrestling fans know, the main storyline in ECW (and probably the only storyline) is the New Breed vs Originals feud. And this feud received another dimension when the biggest fan favorite in ECW - CM Punk decided to join the heel New Breed faction. I didn't think of it as the greatest decision by the WWE creative team becuase in my opinion CM Punk should have a role of a 'lone wolf' in ECW - he should work there on his own.
But maybe that is just the thing that the creative team is thinking as well because it could turn out that Punk is there just to screw over New Breed. I started to suspect this on the 17th April show Punk 'accidentally' slid the chair right into RVD's hands. Of course, RVD capitalized on this chance and struck Elijah Burke with it to gain victory in their encounter.
And my suspicions were correct when 7 days later Punk got tired of listening to Elijah Burke's orders and screwed the New Breed in their 8-man tag team elimination match against the ECW Originals. And it's great to see Punk take orders from nobody. This guy deserves a huge push.
Also on, ECW this past Tuesday, the ECW World champion Bobby Lashley took on RAW's Umaga in a non-title match which was nothing more than a warm up for the 3 on 1 handicap match for the ECW title at Backlash PPV tonight. BTW, Lashley won by DQ after Umaga's manager Armando Alejandro Estrada interfered. Anyway, I'll be cheering for the McMahons and Umaga to win against Lashley because Bobby is simply being overpushed.
Don't get me wrong, Lashley is a fine athlete but I think nobody should win in a 2 on 1 tables match against guys like Randy Orton and Mr. Kennedy.
And on a quick note, I think that this was the first wrestling appearance by Lashley on ECW since I don't know when. Could it be that Vince McMahon has gave up from his ECW project? If he is, I think it would be for the better. Three brands are just too much and CM Punk deserves to do more than wrestling on WWE's C show.
And now let's take a look at what happened on last to RAW episodes. The 16th April show which took place in Milan, Italy was quite shocking in its opening moments. When Vince McMahon open challenge to anyone in the locker room to face Umaga for the Intercontinental title received no answer, he turned his attention to the fans and then a volunteer from the audience answered the challenge. Then Mr. McMahon changed the match into a No Holds Barred match trying to destroy the young fan who said his name was Santino Marella. But in the end, the only thing destroyed was McMahon's ego when the ECW champion Bobby Lashley ran down the ramp and hit Umaga with the chair 3 times and then he put Santino's body over Umaga, The ref made the 3 count and Santino Marella became the new Intercontinental champion.
Now, for those of you who wonder wo this guy is - he is really an Italian, who has been wrestling for some time now in WWE's developmental territory OVW (Ohio Valley Wrestling) in the gimmick of a Russian called Boris Alexiyev. But it's a great thing that the WWE decided to have him debut as what he is - an Italian.
And some people may think that this isn't very good. I think that time will show, but from what I can read, this guy gets a lot of praises for his wrestling abilities.
So 'YES' is the answer to the question - 'Is Santino Marella good enough for the IC title?'
But 'NO' is the answer to the question - 'Is WWE doing a good thing with him right now?'
And I say 'NO' because WWE should've started to build Santino immediately as a good wrestler and deserving IC champion. But instead on the 23rd April show in London, England, Santino didn't make an appearance. Bad decision if you ask me. He could have easily defended his title against somebody like Nitro or Chris Masters - but instead they decided to waste 5 minutes of TV time for a useless squash match between Great Khali and Carlito. (Somebody might say that the match wasn't useless because it continued the 'boiling' feud between Carlito and Ric Flair. However, their match won't take place at Backlash so the Great Khali/Carlito match should've been postponed so that Santino could show his potential.
That's mistake #1 by WWE regarding this young Italian. I hope that I won't have to write about mistake #2.
Also on RAW on 16th of April the match between Melina and Mickie James for the Women's title at Backlash was announced. (Should be good - I always thought that this match should've happened at Wrestlemania 23). Lance Cade defeated the WWE World Tag Team Champion Jeff Hardy, and John Cena defeated Edge and Randy Orton in a handicap match with a little help from Shawn Michaels and his Sweet Chin Music. Whether he was aiming for Cena or not is left unclear.
But the RAW show form April 23rd definitely is a candidate for the show of the year in my view. And the answer lies in the main event match between Shawn Michaels and John Cena. A great bout that lasted almost an hour in which Cena proved to everyone that he has what it takes to be the champion. And HBK as usually proved why he is one of the best wrestlers in the history.
Cena hit an FU on Shawn Michaels but only got a 2 count. Shawn Michaels hit a Sweet Chin Music on Cena but it wasn't enough. Then Cena took control of the match trying to force Michaels to submit, but over and over, he managed to get to the ropes. In the end, HBK hit his second Sweet Chin Music of the night and gained a victory over Cena.
If I said that this is the show of the year candidate, then this is definitely a match of the year candidate. I would say that it was even better then their Wrestlemania 23 match. And this just makes me more interested in Backlash. Other than that, on this RAW Melina Perez defeated Maria in a non-title match, and Trevor Murdoch defeated the WWE Tag Team champion Matt Hardy. It should be mentioned however, that Murdoch botched the finish when he messed up the move that looked similar to Petey Williams' Canadian Destroyer. Matt Hardy was taken out of the ring by EMTs but there wasn't any serious injury.
And for those wondering how come Edge and Orton didn't have their announced match on RAW, it's because Randy was taken off European tour for unproffesional conduct a few days before RAW aired. I just hope that he won't be removed from the main event at Backlash.
And on Smackdown!, except for Finlay and Mr. Kennedy joining forces and trying to take out Batista and The Undertaker, as well as London/Kendrick losing their titles after holding onto them for almost a year (4th longest tag team title reign in history) to the team of Deuce and Domino, not much has happened. MVP and Benoit continued their feud over the US title and they will meet again at Backlash. (I expect MVP to win).
So here it is, Backlash is set to start and 6 matches are announced - all six title matches. It should be a good PPV and I would order it just for the RAW and SD! main events. Here is the full card:
Four Way For The WWE Championship:
John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Edge
Last Man Standing For The World Championship:
Undertaker vs. Batista
3-on-1 Handicap Match For The ECW Title:
Bobby Lashley vs. Umaga, Vince McMahon & Shane McMahon
World Tag Team Title Match:
The Hardyz vs. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch
WWE United States Champion:
Chris Benoit vs. MVP
WWE Women's Title:
Melina vs. Mickie James
And here it is, I'm done for today. The card looks promising but I'm saddened to see that there is no Mr. Kennedy, Finlay, CM Punk and Elijah Burke on the card. These guys are the future (OK, Finlay is 48, but he is just like fine wine - he gets better with age).
I hope you'll enjoy Backlash!
Thank you and see you.
