WWE Backlash 2018: Final Picks, Predictions for Entire Match Card
The first of WWE's true co-branded pay-per-views in this new initiative to make special events even more special is Backlash 2018, airing live on the WWE Network at 7 p.m. ET Sunday.
It has been advertised incessantly as "the best of both worlds" and an event that will give fans the most magnificent card possible with the full scope of the Raw and SmackDown rosters, but that remains to be seen.
Also, given the somewhat randomized nature a lot of WWE's booking has been subject to over the past few weeks, it's up in the air as to what will happen with the outcomes of these matches.
However, with some educated guesswork, we can try to predict who will walk out of Backlash 2018 victorious.
Let's gaze into our crystal balls and give one final round of picks for the matches set to take place at Backlash 2018.
Bayley vs. Ruby Riott
1 of 9
The whole concept of the "best of both worlds" should have been to make sure every single match on the card was something special, yet the sole match on the kickoff is something you'd see on a regular episode of Monday Night Raw and potentially skip.
Bayley and Ruby Riott have a basic feud going on right now just to help serve the storyline between Bayley and Sasha Banks, which has gone on for so many months that if neither one of them turns heel at this event, it will be another stalling tactic and nothing more.
This could have been accomplished on Raw without taking up a spot on this card that could have gone to Mickie James vs. Ronda Rousey, a Cruiserweight Championship match, either of the tag team titles being defended or plenty of other options.
Because of that, there must be a reason for WWE to have opted to put this on the card, unless it will just be something we look back on and say it was a mistake.
If it's not a meaningless mistake to throw a random match on the card for no reason other than personal preference and prioritizing something that has little value over any of the other options, then Bayley has to lose because of Banks interfering and costing her the match so the two can officially split as friends.
Anything short of that will feel like a copy and paste of what we've seen these two do for months.
Final Pick: Ruby Riott is victorious.
Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
2 of 9
On Monday Night Raw, Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley teamed up with Roman Reigns to defeat Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Jinder Mahal.
Logically, the size difference and the fact that they've already beaten them should dictate that Strowman and Lashley come out on top of this match yet again, although WWE could just as easily go the opposite route.
Nothing at all is on the line in this match, so there is nothing disqualifying a win from either side because of some kind of storyline deficiency or lack of direction following that decision.
This is entirely dependent on whether WWE has a plan for what to do with these guys or if the match was put on the card simply because the creative team couldn't think of anything better for them to do and felt like these wrestlers needed to be at the pay-per-view.
If there's a plan, Lashley could turn heel and start a feud with Strowman, in which case they could lose here because of that tension.
If this is just a means to get these performers on the card, then the easy call is to say Strowman and Lashley dominate and this is as meaningful as your average Raw match.
Final Pick: Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley are victorious.
United States Champion Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton
3 of 9
So far in this feud between Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton, The Viper has been made to look like the lesser of the two.
Originally, Hardy interrupted Orton's entrance, which was counteracted with Orton doing the same, but he's the one who suffered a loss to Shelton Benjamin, not The Charismatic Enigma, who retained the title against Jinder Mahal at the Greatest Royal Rumble.
To help balance this equation out, Orton hit an RKO on Hardy following their tag team victory, giving him the edge going into this event.
However, standard operating procedure for WWE's creative team is to have the person who is going to lose at the pay-per-view look strong on the go-home show of that television episode, so by that logic, Orton is going to lose here.
It also makes sense for the title to stay around Hardy's waist because if the plan was just to have Orton as the champion in June, one would think WWE never would have had him drop the belt to Mahal just so he could drop it to Hardy just so he could drop it back to Orton in the first place.
Final Pick: Jeff Hardy retains the United States Championship.
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Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins vs. the Miz
4 of 9
The Miz might tie and even surpass Chris Jericho's record number of Intercontinental Championship wins during his career, but that sadly isn't going to factor into Backlash's results.
The United States Championship is already on SmackDown and being contested in a match featuring two wrestlers on the blue brand, so there is no chance of it going back over to Monday Night Raw.
With that in mind, if The Miz were to win the intercontinental title here, he'd either bring another midcard title over to SmackDown—leaving Raw without one—or he'd move back over to the red brand, which would deprive SmackDown of one of its major stars and tip the scales even more in Raw's favor.
There is just no way that happens just so The Miz can win this title right here, right now, instead of being patient and winning it two or more times further down the line.
Seth Rollins has been on a roll, and he'll continue to keep those wins up by pulling out a victory here, before moving on to a new challenger such as Baron Corbin, Elias or anybody else on Monday nights.
Final Pick: Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental Championship.
Raw Women's Champion Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss
5 of 9
At WrestleMania 34, Nia Jax defeated Alexa Bliss to win the Raw Women's Championship in what seemed like one of the guarantees for that card.
With Backlash, oddly enough, that isn't as much of a certainty, even though the easy bet is to say Jax will simply retain the title not only because of her size and her newfound role as a babyface, but also because her championship reign is still in its infancy.
The problem with being too sure about that is Bliss has a track record of being on top more often than being a challenger, holding her brand's championship four times since moving up to the main roster.
She could just as easily take the title back from Jax because of some sort of shenanigans, screwing Jax out of a longer run with the belt.
However, the momentum is on Jax's side, so even though it isn't a guarantee, she's still the more likely winner.
Final Pick: Nia Jax retains the Raw Women's Championship.
SmackDown Women's Champion Carmella vs. Charlotte Flair
6 of 9
For all intents and purposes, the way Charlotte Flair and Carmella have been booked throughout their careers should make everybody assume there is no way The Princess of Staten Island leaves the Prudential Center still the champion.
That is what is going to happen, though, as Billie Kay and Peyton Royce have been a perpetual thorn in Flair's side since they made their main roster debuts.
Since partnering up with Carmella, The IIconics have been able to tilt the odds in the champion's favor, and there's no stipulation in this match that will definitely put a stop to their potential interference.
For Flair to win the title back so quickly after losing it would just feel like Carmella was a pointless transitional champion to reset the status quo, whereas someone like Asuka is more likely to be the one to dethrone her in the future.
That may happen sooner, rather than later, but it dictates a scenario where Carmella has to retain here. With Royce and Kay potentially by her side to cause a distraction, that could be how The Queen loses to The Princess.
Final Pick: Carmella retains the SmackDown Women's Championship.
Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass
7 of 9
Rest assured, even though Daniel Bryan is the more popular star in his match against Big Cass, he's not the one this feud's purpose is revolving around.
This is less about giving Bryan a big challenge to overcome and more about using his status to get over Big Cass as a villain so he can be a worthwhile name on the SmackDown brand.
What's strange about this circumstance, though, is that both men could potentially win this match and the same basic storyline could continue, just with a few minor tweaks.
If Cass is able to score a win over Bryan, he'll tout himself to have proved all that he had boasted about. It will be an example of how he's bigger, stronger and better, while Bryan doesn't measure up.
Then, Bryan would have to fight from the underdog position to try to offset that notion that he's a lesser performer just because he's smaller, setting up a rematch David vs. Goliath situation where the fans will want to see their hero conquer the villain.
On the other hand, if Bryan is able to score a pin, Cass could simply beat him up after the decision and attribute it to a fluke that he wishes to prove wrong, demanding another opportunity to showcase his superior stature.
The former story is much easier to do, but it's lazier and will repeat much of what has already been done. The latter is a little more difficult to pull off but would result in a more interesting dynamic for the feud to continue with.
In either fashion, whoever wins here will probably lose in a rematch of sorts, whether it happens on SmackDown or if this stretches all the way to Money in the Bank in June.
Final Pick: Flip a coin. This is the hardest match to determine the outcome for.
Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe
8 of 9
For some reason, WWE decided to reignite the feud between Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns right after WrestleMania and revolve it around Joe talking about how great Brock Lesnar is.
Since then, Reigns has continued to keep his focus on Lesnar while also having a spat with Jinder Mahal, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
Meanwhile, Joe has moved over to SmackDown, making this a cross-branded match with nothing on the line, even though both men were fighting for championships at the Greatest Royal Rumble.
Since they both came up short, both of them are somewhat needing a victory to get them back on track, although that can be said more for Joe than Reigns, as Joe has had nothing of value to his name in months.
Still, just because Joe is the smarter choice to go with in order to preserve the SmackDown main event scene's integrity, that doesn't mean WWE is beyond giving this win to Reigns just because the powers that be prefer him.
With Reigns losing twice to Lesnar, there may be a bit of uneasiness and a feeling that he needs a victory to prove that he's still The Big Dog.
That type of mentality would be sad, as it would mean Joe would have been set up for failure just so more people could boo Reigns and zero progress could be made in trying to help turn things around.
Even with that warning that things aren't going to end well if it happens, it's still easier to go with Reigns as the winner just because he's the top priority.
Final Pick: Roman Reigns defeats Samoa Joe and the WWE Universe collectively groans, even more eager for a heel turn or something different.
WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
9 of 9
When Shinsuke Nakamura won the Royal Rumble, it seemed like it was set in stone that he would defeat AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania, but he was unable to do so, turning heel after the match.
This brought on a whole new dynamic to the feud between the two, which carried into a rematch at the Greatest Royal Rumble.
Since Backlash was coming just a few days after that event, WWE most likely opted to go with the double count-out ending for that match entirely to set up another match here, rather than try to figure out some other alternative feud to rush.
With that in mind, the next step would have to be that Nakamura must win the WWE Championship, unless this story is about to end and Styles is scheduled to move on to a different opponent.
For the most part, this depends on whether WWE plans on having Samoa Joe challenge Styles at Money in the Bank or if the writers are hoping to stretch this feud out just a little longer by having Nakamura win the title here and Styles get his rematch at that event.
Either scenario could happen and be justified, but for the sake of something interesting happening at this event instead of all the champions retaining and no surprises taking place, there exists more of a chance Nakamura takes the title than that he loses for the third time in a row, especially now that his low blows are perfectly legal in the No Disqualification stipulation.
Final Pick: Shinsuke Nakamura wins the WWE Championship.
Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.
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