Veteran NFL writer and Pat McAfee Show correspondent Mark Kaboly gives his predictions for WWE Backlash, streaming live from Enterprise Center in St. Louis on Saturday at 7 ET/4 PT on Peacock in the United States and on Netflix everywhere else.
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Undisputed WWE Champion John Cena vs. Randy Orton
Though John Cena seems like the favorite to win after defeating Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania, it doesn’t take away from the magnitude of “Cena vs. Orton: One Last Time.” The two Superstars may have wrestled 21 times over their long and storied careers and have a combined 31 World Championships, but they haven’t stepped into the ring together for a singles match in more than 3,000 days. Throw in that the match is in Orton’s hometown of St. Louis and that Cena is doing his best to “ruin wrestling” during his farewell tour, and this has all the potential of one of those matches you will tell your grandchildren about. I don’t anticipate any weird outside help or some unforeseen disqualification. This is going to be a big helping of nostalgia with a twist of the “good guy” being the “bad guy” and the “bad guy” being the “good guy” for the first time. There will be no Travis Scott. There will be no Final Boss. Just two future WWE Hall of Famers doing WWE Hall of Fame-like things, and how can’t you get romantic about that? Give me a no frills, old-school, wrestling match and everybody wins.
Prediction: Cena retains the Undisputed WWE Championship
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Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio vs. Penta
It’s nice to see that Dominik Mysterio gets the spotlight to himself at a PLE, especially after the reception he received at WrestleMania 41 after winning the Intercontinental Championship. It’s difficult to imagine “Dirty” Dom losing the title three weeks after winning it. Multiple potential shady outcomes could emerge, including outside interference from some haters, and not one of them seems like it would benefit Mysterio. There have been nuggets dropped over the past few weeks that would behoove Dom to keep his head on a swivel. AJ Styles, Finn Bálor, or any of the Luchadores could make this a short-lived reign by Dom. They might, and likely will try, but Mysterio has managed to stay one step ahead of everybody as of late, and WWE Backlash won’t be any different.
Prediction: Mysterio retains the Intercontinental Championship.
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United States Champion Jacob Fatu vs. LA Knight vs. Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre (Fatal 4-Way Match)
All gas, no brakes would be fitting for this matchup. You have some heavy hitters in this lineup that should lead to some brutal results and some holy (blank) moments. All four either currently, or recently, have held championships, which makes this quite the unique quartet. Fatu will be hellbent on keeping the title just 21 days after winning it at WrestleMania 41 (just like Mysterio), but you have to be aware of a stipulation contest like a Fatal 4-Way Match with no disqualifications. That opens the door for plenty of shenanigans to occur well beyond using a chair or brass knuckles. We can be assured of that it is going to be a brutal, physical match. The crowd is going to be hot, and something from the outside is possible. But it’s not enough to keep me from running with The Samoan Werewolf.
Prediction: Fatu retains the U.S. Championship.
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Women’s Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria vs. Becky Lynch
Valkyria is the future and would greatly benefit from a win over Lynch. This match screams to me “passing the torch” but with one problem: The Man is nowhere close to being in a position to pass any sort of a torch. Lynch is still a main-eventer even if she has wandered over to the dark side since her surprising WrestleMania 41 return. With the Women’s Intercontinental Championship being a new entity, it needs to be somewhat legitimized by an established star like Lynch. That’s nothing against Valkyria, but she’s still relatively new to the main roster and has time to grow into being a Superstar, even if it means that Lynch defeats her for the title. This is not an easy match to predict. I can see a Lynch win that sets up a longer rivalry. I can see Lynch losing because of interference by Bayley. I can see Valkyria winning outright to push her up the food chain and closer to the elites.
Prediction: Valkyria retains the Women’s Intercontinental Championship because of interference from Bayley.
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Gunther vs. Pat McAfee
I might just have a rooting interest in this match, but that’s neither here nor there. This showdown has every indication that it could get ugly… really ugly. Even though McAfee has a resume of banger matches, albeit a small resume, he’s an athlete who has performed at the highest level in professional sports and also sports entertainment. Translation: Don’t count out McAfee when it comes to anything. Saying that, the odds are stacked against him at epic proportions. Very few have had as much success as Gunther since joining WWE, with The Ring General only being pinned by Jey Uso, Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn in his three years with the main brand. With Gunther quite upset with the YEETing duo of McAfee and Michael Cole, he promised McAfee that “by only the grace of God can lift my arms off your throat.” This could get ugly, right? There is no way that McAfee can avoid getting the beating of his life by a monster like Gunther, and I would imagine that will happen… eventually. The only thing that makes sense with this impromptu match at a PLE is somebody coming to the rescue of McAfee getting put to sleep. But who? Jey Uso? Michael Cole? Goldberg? Corey Graves?
Prediction: McAfee defeats Gunther, which leads to Gunther applying a Sleeper to McAfee before McAfee is saved by Wade Barrett.
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