From The Webmaster: WWE Vengeance Matches And Predictions, Live Coverage This Sunday
This Sunday's is WWE's Backlash, the first PPV in which every match is a title match with every title being defended. We will have live coverage and match by match results for the PPV right here on WrestlingInc.com. Make sure to be here Sunday evening at 8 PM EST / 5 PM PST, when coverage begins. Here's a look at the card:
Women's Champion Melina vs. Candice Michelle: Melina is one of the best, if not the best, female performer in WWE right now. However, she has held the belt for a long time. The fact that she went over in the tag match on Raw last Monday night makes me go with Candice Michelle walking away with the belt. Prediction: Candice Michelle.
Cruiserweight Champion Chavo Guerrero vs. Jimmy Wang Yang: The Cruiserweight division has been pretty much dead for awhile now, and it really doesn't matter who holds the belt as neither the belt nor the person holding it gets over. I'll still go with Guerrero to win. Prediction: Chavo Guerrero.
World Tag Team Champions Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch vs. The Hardys: The long term plan looks to be to keep the Hardy's as singles wrestlers, so look for Cade & Murdoch to retain here. Prediction: Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch.
United States Champion MVP vs. Ric Flair: This should be an interesting match to watch. Michael Hayes, who books Smackdown, is high on Flair and seems intent on making Flair a major player on the show as opposed to a big name jobber like he was on Raw. However, MVP has been doing well in his role as champion, and I expect him to leave the PPV as champion. I don't expect a clean finish here. Prediction: MVP.
World Heavyweight Champion Edge vs. Batista (Last Chance Match): This should be the end of Batista's chase for the World title which has been going on since WrestleMania. Batista went over Edge on Smackdown, so look for Edge to go over here. I wouldn't be surprised to see The Great Khali (who hasn't appeared on Smackdown since the draft even though he was the first one drafted) involved in the finish as Batista and Khali are scheduled to be working a program soon. Prediction: Edge.
CM Punk vs. Chris Benoit for the vacant ECW World Title: This match could be the show stealer, although the ECW title is probably as prestigious as the Intercontinental title right now. Benoit almost always has great matches and CM Punk can have great matches with the right opponent. Benoit is the biggest name on ECW right now, which still isn't saying much. I go with Benoit winning the ECW World title. Prediction: Chris Benoit.
Intercontinental Champion Santino Marella vs. Umaga: Marella is about as over as Eugene at this point, and his title run has been a total flop. Umaga has been kept strong despite not having a real program since his feud with Bobby Lashley ended. I would look for Umaga to win this one. Prediction: Umaga.
WWE Championship Challenge Match: This match is being pushed as the main event. With Mick Foley, Randy Orton, King Booker, Bobby Lashely and John Cena involved in the match, this match definitely has more star power than any PPV main event in recent history. Foley's return has been rushed and is not even special after just two weeks. He deserves more than that. However, I expect a great match here as WWE PPV main events have really been delivering over the past several months. With five people in the match, it makes it easy for John Cena to drop the title without actually being beaten, which I would expect to happen here as Cena has been getting stale on top. With Orton upsetting Lashley on Raw this past Monday night in the main event tag match, I'm going for a surprise here and picking Bobby Lashley to win the title. Prediction: Bobby Lashley.
In addition to the eight matches listed above, there will be an open challenge for the WWE Tag Team Championship. The card looks fairly solid, with the main event, MVP / Flair, Edge/Batista and the main event all expected to be good. Once again, we will have live coverage and match by match results for the PPV right here on WrestlingInc.com. so make sure to be here Sunday evening at 8 PM EST / 5 PM PST, when coverage begins.