By Dr. Wrestling on Saturday, April 26 2008

This week for That's My Story and I'm Sticking To It I'll be telling you who I think the winners will be at Backlash.

When you look at the card on paper, it seems very average considering that there are some matches that have potential but then there's other matches that probably shouldn't be on PPV. Another thing to consider is that just a few weeks ago many wrestling fans paid $55 to watch Wrestlemania so there might not want or be able to pay another $40 to watch another wrestling PPV. That being said, it also seems like since there's only been a few weeks since Wrestlemania there hasn't been too much of a build up or an emphasis on the PPV as a whole and Backlash doesn't really seem like one of those "must see" PPVs.

Kane is defending the ECW title against Chavo and let's just hope Kane wins as fast at Backlash as he did at Wrestlemania because let's be honest here, nobody is ordering this PPV just to see Chavo wrestle. I'll pick Kane to retain the title and I hope he gets a good run with the title because he deserves it. As I've said before, Kane is one of the most underutilized and under ratted wrestlers currently on the WWE roster so hopefully he gets a decent run with the title. Despite not being given a major push other then the ECW title win Kane is still one of the top stars in the WWE and deserves a top spot. While Kane as champion can help add credibility to the ECW brand, you can't really consider any main event feud involving Chavo a legitimate main event feud. The reason I say this is because at best Chavo is a mid card wrestler and his reign even as a transitional champion has to be considered a flop. The subject of the ECW title is an interesting one considering that former champion, CM Punk won the Money in the Bank title shot but with Kane as the champion it doesn't seem like Punk will cash in the title shot for the ECW title, which would be a waste of a title shot anyway and it does lead to the discussion of which brand Punk could possibly switch to for a title shot. At this point it seems like The Undertaker will finally get a long run as champion on Smackdown and with Punk currently a face it doesn't seem like a jump to Smackdown is a possibility atleast at this moment in time. The Raw main event for Backlash is a good example that Raw doesn't really need any other main event challengers at the moment and it seems like it would almost be too crowded in terms of star power for Punk to get a good push on Raw. Time will tell as to which title Punk goes after then he cashes in his title shot but it should lead to some interesting storylines.

The Big Show v.s. The Great Khali will probably be a train wreck and let's hope it's a short match. The only real hope for this match is that it might provide some comic relief because this match definitely won't resemble Flair v.s. Steamboat. I understand that the concept of the match is supposed to be a giant v.s. a giant but Big Show isn't exactly known for having great matches and I don't think I've ever seen a Khali match that wasn't terrible so I don't think it's going to be a thirty minute classic. As for a winner, I'll pick the Big Show because it's been reported on various sites that Khali is taking some time off to go back to his home country of India where he is reportedly a member of the Punjabi police. Since Khali will be off T.V. for a few weeks it wouldn't really make sense to have him win a PPV but it's also possible the WWE might have there been a DQ or count out for the match.

The Batista/Shawn Micheals storyline has been really good and I think one of the reasons is that it's based just on promos. Batista and HBK haven't even wrestled yet but there's been an interesting build up to their match, which shows how good the promos for the match have been to lead up to the match. Besides the promos, the actual concept of the storyline with the resentment of HBK for retiring Flair is a really good base to build a storyline. As far as the actual match at Backlash, I expect it to be atleast decent, if not a good match because as I've said many times before, as long as Batista has an opponent that can carry him through a match it should be an okay match. I'll pick HBK to win the match but that's more of a guess then a solid prediction. Since it's a really great storyline, I think it would be wise for the WWE to continue the storyline for atleast a few more months because just based on the promo value it seems like the WWE could get some mileage for the feud.

Despite the U.S. title storyline being one of the longest in recent years, for some reason I'm not really considering the match at Backlash a "must see." I guess I can narrow it down to a few different reasons as to why this match might not have as much steam as might have been expected. Before Hardy was injured the feud had really been stretched to the limit in terms of the time it was given and when Hardy was injured it seems as though everything was literally put on hold during the five or so months Hardy was out of action. The problem with this, atleast as I see it is that the WWE had MVP do nothing with the U.S. title other then have the belt when he went to the ring. In fact, the only notable thing MVP really did during the time Hardy was injured was lose a match when he wrestled Ric Flair at the Royal Rumble. MVP not defending the title for months really makes the title seen not as important as it once was or as important as it could be so now the fans are supposed to care about the U.S. title just because Matt Hardy returned? It's tough to pick a winner here because the feud was delayed but I'll pick Hardy to win the title because he has chased the title since the start of the feud.

There's not much to say about the twelve diva tag match other then it probably won't be an epic match. Nattie Neighthart is in the match so it will be cool to see her wrestle on PPV but with her on Smackdown you can't really expect her to get a push anytime soon because the Women's title is defended on Raw. Another note about the Women's title is that Mickie James recently won the title on Raw. Mickie and Beth Phoenix both have alot of wrestling skill so a Mickie/Phoenix feud for the Women's title could be a good feud. As for a winner...we are all winners in this match...Ha Ha

It seems really obvious that The Undertaker will retain the World Heavy Weight title at Backlash and hopefully he has a good run with the title. That being said, you have to wonder who will be the next challenger for the title? It doesn't seem like there's too many options for main event level heels on Smackdown so it will be interesting to see if anyone jumps to Smackdown to challenge for the title. If you look at the Smackdown roster, the only wrestler that could logically be considered a somewhat legitimate challenger for the title might be The Big Show but I don't think the Big Show should have a top spot in the main event considering basically all of his title runs as a main event wrestler have been a flop. If Backlash is the conclusion of the Edge/Undertaker feud you also have to wonder where Edge goes from here? He is without a doubt the only major heel on Smackdown and there's not really any other major stars he could feud with on Smackdown. Matt Hardy could be considered an option but the feud was done three years ago so there's not much they could build on for it. All things considered The Undertaker/Edge feud will probably continue for as many PPVs as it can because of the lack of star power on Smackdown.

It's tough to pick a winner for the WWE title match because there's three challengers for the title. As I said in a column about Wrestlemania, I thought Orton was going to lose the title in the triple threat match but to the surprise to many fans he retained the title. That being said, it's possible the WWE could have Orton retain the title again in an attempt to make him a legitimate champion and not just a wrestler who won the title while Cena was injured. It would also be logically for either Triple H or John Cena to win the title because they are arguably the two top stars on Raw. I'll pick John Cena to win the title but that's just a guess because as I said there are other logical predictions for the match.

Overall I think Backlash will be an okay PPV but I don't think it will be worth the $40 it cost to watch the PPV.

Until next week
That's My Story and I'm Sticking To It
Dr. Wrestling

If you have comments or questions e mail me drwrestlingallpro@yahoo.com