SmackDown gets the honor of opening up Season 6 of Henry's Universe Mode, as the blue brand hosts Backlash. The brand has a new GM, as with Edge cleared to wrestle, former Raw, SmackDown and NXT Women's Champion Paige will take up the mantle in his place. She's booked eight matches for her first pay-per-view in charge, so there's plenty for us to unpack.
Backlash 2020 Card
Chad Gable vs Mustafa Ali
Both Raw and SmackDown will be featuring plenty of Money in the Bank qualifying matches over the next two months, with every wrestler galvanized to earn a chance to hold one of those two briefcases. This is the first, a clash of styles between a former amateur wrestler in Chad Gable and the high-flying Mustafa Ali. After Paige announced the match, the two men met face to face on the go-home show, where they both showed respect to the other's skill, though Gable did seem perturbed by the crowd cheering more for Ali than him.
The War Raiders(c) vs Demolition- SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match
Erik and Ivar took over the mantle as the blue brand's resident monsters at WrestleMania IV where they dethroned Harper and Rowan, but that spot is immediately under siege. Enter Braun Strowman, former three-time Universal Champion, and Killian Dain, who held these titles while he was a part of SAnitY. "The Monster Among Men" and "The Beast of Belfast" form an intimidating duo, taking the name Demolition and living up to it by destroying Heavy Machinery in Tucker and Otis' SmackDown debut. Another impressive win, this time over the new team of Jeff Hardy and Matt Riddle, earned Braun and Killian this championship match.
Bayley vs Shayna Baszler- No Holds Barred
As part of Shayna's feud with Sasha Banks since the beginning of 2020, these two women have butted heads, with Bayley costing Shayna her Money in the Bank cash-in and Baszler trading back by putting Bayley on the shelf at Fastlane. Bayley returned from her injuries with a new, more serious look on the SmackDown following WrestleMania IV, going straight after Baszler. Both women have brawled multiple times in the weeks since, setting up this grudge match where everything is legal. In addition to a big win over a rival, both women are also fighting for a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match, which Baszler has already won twice.
Samoa Joe(c) vs Kofi Kingston- Intercontinental Championship Match
Backlash presents a big opportunity for Kofi Kingston, who could achieve revenge and claim championship gold in one fell swoop. Samoa Joe has gotten the upper hand on The New Day several times now, including taking Big E's IC strap at WrestleMania, and Kofi has had enough. After Joe continued his war by choking out Xavier Woods, Kingston issued a challenge, but the champion wasn't going to give him a golden chance that easily. He demanded that Kofi prove his worth by surviving the Coquina Clutch for ten seconds. It seemed like Kingston had failed this test when he went limp in the hold after just half that time, but when Joe released, Kofi sprung back up to his feet and nailed the Trouble in Paradise!
The Bar vs Edge and Christian
"The Rated R Superstar" was ecstatic to announce that he had been cleared to return to competition, but the roof really blow off the building on SmackDown when Christian made his return to announce that he had been cleared as well. Both men immediately declared their intention to go for the tag titles, but were interrupted by Cesaro and Sheamus. The Bar have now come to SmackDown, declaring that Edge and Christian were embarrassments, two broken down old men who had no business taking roster spots away from actual talents. They then followed up by laying out the returnees with a Brogue Kick and a European Uppercut, and Paige made this tag match official. Will Edge and Christian's big return to active competition be spoiled by Cesaro and Sheamus?
Sasha Banks(c) vs Sonya Deville- SmackDown Women's Championship Match
Shayna Baszler may have come up short against Sasha Banks at WrestleMania, but she has picked up a new ally in Sonya Deville. The former tag team partner of Mandy Rose in NXT made a quick impact, picking up wins over Lana and Liv Morgan, before she and Baszler teamed up to defeat Bayley and Sasha Banks in a tag match, with Deville pinning the champion. "The Jersey Devil" is now next in line to challenge "The Boss", and is riding a significant wave of momentum after an excellent start to 2020. Will her winning ways finally see her claim gold at Backlash?
Johnny Gargano vs Kevin Owens
Obviously, Johnny Gargano's loss in the main event of WrestleMania IV was devastating, but he's tried to spin the defeat into a positive. That hasn't exactly worked, with Gargano losing again, this time in quick fashion to Drew McIntyre in a Fastlane rematch, before suffering a Pop-Up Powerbomb at the hands of Kevin Owens one week later. KO sees a path to an immediate title match after re-signing to SmackDown, picking on the demoralized Gargano. Paige, though, informed Owens that all he would get for beating Gargano was a Money in the Bank spot, but Kevin was fine with that, as he seems confident he could thrive in that environment and use the briefcase to his advantage. For his part, Johnny seemed inspired when Paige told him the stakes of this match, and was shown talking on the phone with someone on the go-home show...
Robert Roode(c) vs Drew McIntyre- WWE Championship Match
"The Glorious One" remained WWE Champion coming out of WrestleMania's main event, and was all set to celebrate, splashing the cash to construct a statue of himself to be placed on the stage of every SmackDown set. During the big reveal, though, Drew McIntyre casually tossed the statue off the stage before confronting an irate Robert Roode later backstage. Drew demanded a title match, since he was the winner of the Royal Rumble, but Roode reminded him that he put that title shot on the line at Fastlane against Johnny Gargano, whom only the champion had beaten. McIntyre rectified that by beating Gargano on the May 15th edition of SmackDown, and Paige decided that Drew was now worthy of a championship match. Two weeks later, the two men had a contract signing, where the challenger left his mark on the champion, delivering a crunching headbutt before Roode was tossed to the outside of the ring, leaving Drew to stand tall, raising the gold high in the air.
- Henry
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