WWE Backlash 2020: Could Edge vs. Randy Orton Actually Be The Best Match Ever?

Short answer: no.

Long answer: hell no.

Edge and Randy Orton are not rolling into Backlash on June 14 and having anything remotely close to the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever. In fact, WWE likely did both of those performers a great disservice by plastering that tagline all over the match, heightening expectations for a contest that never had a chance in hell of delivering.

Are Edge and Orton phenomenal professional wrestlers? Absolutely. They have resumes to support it. Any fan of the last 20 years can readily name a great match of theirs and few would disagree with the selection.

They are students of the game, cerebral workers who understand when and where to place the right spot, execute the babyface comeback or cut their opponent off for some quality heel heat. 

No one is denying their accolades, attributes or abilities. No one doubts that, under the right circumstances, they could have a genuine classic match. Unfortunately, the circumstances presenting themselves Sunday night at Backlash are anything but ideal, nor is history on their side.

A History of Good...But Not Great

WrestleMania 36 hosted Edge and Orton's most recent battle, a Last Man Standing Match that tried too hard to be an epic and ran entirely too long. While it was still a very good match, the setting, lack of fans, and too much walking around in between spots prevented it from achieving the level of success everyone involved likely hoped for.

That match was reflective of their previous encounters, most of which had been very good but never quite reached classic or historic status.

Their Intercontinental Championship Match at Vengeance 2004 was 26 minutes long and easily could have lost 10 of it. It was long, slow, and did not live up to the hype of the announce team, which had all-but declared it a modern classic.

Ditto their April 30, 2007, Raw match.

Smarter and more experienced now than they were then, there is certainly reason to believe the result will be different when they clash at Backlash. History, though, suggests plenty of hype and expectation ahead of the match but little in the way of results.

Even if they finally deliver that iconic match they have sought while working with each other, it may all be for nought as the limitations placed on the product during the coronavirus pandemic may doom it to a footnote in history.

No Fans, No Energy

It is becoming increasingly difficult to imagine a classic, all-time-great match held under the current circumstances. Not without heavy cinematography, and even then, one has to wonder exactly how history will look upon the Boneyard Match between Undertaker and AJ Styles or the Firefly Funhouse Match pitting John Cena against Bray Wyatt from this year's Showcase of the Immortals.

Surely a match dubbed "The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever" will focus more on in-ring content, playing up Orton's claims that he is a better wrestler than his opponent. If that is the case, not having the fans to feed off would be a hurdle for the performers to overcome.

Yes, there is a basic layout of a match that includes the hot start, heel heat, babyface comeback and finish, but fans are so integral in fueling them and making the dramatic near-falls mean more. Without them, the match almost instantly fails to eclipse other "best ever" candidates like Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker, Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair and Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin, regardless of how great it may be. That electricity is so incredibly significant to the overall presentation of those bouts that the idea of a contest without that accompanying noise and passionate response being the best ever is unfathomable.

Unnecessary Hype

The greatest thing hindering the match is the hype slapped on it by WWE.

There is enough recent hatred between Edge and Orton that their rematch could easily have been billed as The Viper's redemption. Instead, the company opted to throw the most asinine tagline ever on it in an attempt to drum up interest for a C-level pay-per-view that also features Miz and John Morrison fighting for the Universal Championship in a Handicap Match and Bobby Lashley climbing out of the creative abyss to challenge for the WWE Championship on a short build.

With that undercard, it was going to be difficult to create anticipation for the event, so the company going way overboard with its promotional tactics has placed an unnecessary burden on two guys to have this unforgettable match.

No good can come from such a brazen label. Edge and Orton will not have the classic Michaels and Taker did, or anything approaching Steamboat and Flair's legendary trilogy, and as a result, their match will be open to ridicule and criticism.

They will be a punchline across social media.

Even if the match is the best they have ever had and a contender for Match of the Year, they will face scrutiny because it was not the very best to ever unfold inside a squared circle. That is unfair to them, unfortunate to Edge in particular as he continues his previously inconceivable comeback, and wholly unnecessary.