As per reports collected from CBSNew York, WWE’s latest pay-per-view, Backlash, is promising to have the greatest wrestling match ever. That’s a lot of pressure to put on Edge and Randy Orton, who are being tasked with living up to the billing. But the two veterans will almost certainly deliver something special on Sunday from a fan-free Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
The only match that would possibly come close to equaling that performance is the showdown between Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles in the tournament finals for the Intercontinental Championship. However, WWE is choosing to have them square off two nights earlier on SmackDown instead. Perhaps the company isn’t willing to risk having Bryan and Styles upstage the main event.
Other matches of note on the Backlash card include Asuka defending the Raw Women’s Championship against Nia Jax, Drew McIntyre defending the WWE Championship against Bobby Lashley, Jeff Hardy facing Sheamus to settle a feud that some say is hitting a little too close to home for Hardy, and a triple threat match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship featuring incumbent champs Bayley and Sasha Banks defending against The IIconics and Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross.
In all, five championships will be defended with oddsmakers unanimously favoring the current title holders. The show comes amid another major behind-the-scenes shakeup in WWE, as Paul Heyman has been relieved of his duties as Executive Director of Raw. Bruce Prichard, who has been in charge of SmackDown, will assume Heyman’s duties. The move was announced Thursday evening.
“In an effort to streamline our creative writing process for television, we have consolidated both teams from Raw and SmackDown into one group, led by Bruce Prichard. Paul Heyman will concentrate on his role as an in-ring performer,” a statement issued by WWE read.
The decision was made by Vince McMahon, according to Mike Johnson of PWInsider. The WWE Chairman and CEO had reportedly grown frustrated with the flagship Monday night broadcast recently. The show has shed a substantial number of viewers since the coronavirus pandemic forced WWE to broadcast from an empty arena.
It is unclear whether other members of the creative staff will be let go or reassigned.
Both Randy Orton and Edge paying respect to Eddie Guerrero with the three amigos #WWEBacklash pic.twitter.com/1t9ghX4JtM
— Alastair McKenzie🏴 (@mckenzieas93V2) June 15, 2020
Will this truly be the greatest wrestling match ever? That might be asking a little bit much. But coming off of a show-stealing battle at WrestleMania, it would be no surprise if Edge and Randy Orton have one of the greatest matches of the year. For Edge, the clash marks his first true wrestling match since returning from a nine-year retirement. His previous two appearances came in this year’s Royal Rumble match and the aforementioned last man standing bout against Orton. The Rated R Superstar may have come up victorious in April, but look for The Viper to strike back here. The good news? This could set up a rubber match to break the tie and put the feud to bed.
Prichard’s influence over the Raw brand will begin to be felt following Backlash, which is set for Sunday at 7pm ET.
Norman Pearlstine is the Chief Editor of News Raise and focuses on Business news. His responsibility is to oversee the editorial content including business, commodities, personal investments and the stock market.
