WrestleMania Backlash 2022 predictions

WWE WrestleMania Backlash is all set to take place tonight (Sun., May 8, 2022) from the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. It begins at 11:00 am ET with the Kickoff show leading right on into the main course at 12 pm ET on Peacock in the U.S., WWE Network everywhere else, or your local cable pay-per-view provider.

Luckily for you Cagesiders, our staff of learned wrestling blowhards is here to help figure out just how the event is going to play out with predictions for each match on the card.

Let’s get to it.

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WWE WRESTLEMANIA BACKLASH PREDICTIONS

SmackDown Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Ronda Rousey

Geno Mrosko: I keep thinking about that entrance Lacey Evans had on SmackDown, and am imagining a win for Rousey here followed quickly by a feud with the returning mother, sister, wife, United States Marine, damn sure ain’t better than her, you know the whole thing. Pick: Ronda Rousey

Sean Rueter: Especially given the stipulation, I’m having a hard time visualizing either of these two taking an L here. But barring a schmoz triggered by a Lacey Evans run in or something, they can’t have the UFC Hall of Famer lose this match. Pick: Ronda Rousey

Kyle Decker: I was surprised Rousey didn’t win at WrestleMania. Betting against Charlotte Flair is always tough and not following the rule to avoid that has burned me before, but I would be extremely shocked if Rousey didn’t just lose her first two Premium Live Event matches, but uttered the word “I Quit” in the second one. Pick: Ronda Rousey

Claire Elizabeth: Ronda is the most awkward human being on the planet. For real, what happened? She had her awkward moments but in her first run she generally looked like she had solid fundamentals to build on, and now it’s like she’s always at least a half step out of sync and sometimes even worse, like that disastrous WrestleMania match. I’m hoping and praying and picking that the Queen continues her reign. Pick: Charlotte Flair

Cain A. Knight: WWE has a bunch of stadium shows coming up soon, and they probably want Ronda Rousey to be holding championship gold for that stretch. Also, she’s a mother and won’t be losing on Mother’s Day. Pick: Ronda Rousey

Stella Cheeks: Under normal circumstances my response would be LOL Charlotte, but sadly Ronda seems to be the only one impervious to her powers. Especially since this is an “I Quit” match. If I had my way Ronda would scream I quit and we’d never see her again, but thankfully I do not work at WWE and am not in charge. Pick: Ronda Rousey

Marcus Benjamin: Let’s keep this short and simple: Ronda isn’t saying “I Quit” in any ring, much less a WWE ring on an uninteresting PLE. Yup, PLE is a thing now. Pick: Ronda Rousey

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The Bloodline vs. RK-Bro & Drew McIntyre

Geno Mrosko: There was an actually interesting thing going when they were talking about unifying the tag titles. Now that they aren’t doing that anymore, I’m having a hard time caring about this. It’s also likely means the heels go over. Pick: The Bloodline

Sean Rueter: Truly don’t think it matters, and not just because there are no belts on the line. Nothing that happens here will change our perception of either squad, or whoever takes the pin. With that in mind, why give the face of the company a loss? Pick: The Bloodline

Kyle Decker: If Drew McIntyre is going to eventually face Reigns, he needs to pick up a victory over him somehow to push that forward. Plus, it’s a good time to give RK-Bro a win before they inevitably lose their titles to the Usos. Pick: RK-McBro

Claire Elizabeth: Yeah, with no titles on the line we’re prime for a babyface win to deepen the stakes for the next round of title matches. Easy-peasy, the only real question is whether Roman drops the L to Drew directly or if one of the Usos catches heat from the Tribal Chief and gets yelled at some more. Pick: Drew McIntyre & RK-BRO

Cain A. Knight: This is the one match where Roman Reigns can take a loss, but he probably won’t. Pick: The Bloodline

Stella Cheeks: If they are headed toward Drew vs. Roman they need to give us some reason why. If Drew is the reason RK-Bro wins that seems like a good reason for Roman to retaliate. Pick: Drew McIntyre & RK-Bro

Marcus Benjamin: Let’s go with RK-Bro and Drew getting the dub. Drew is primed for a feud with The Tribal Chief, and RK-Bro is still the hottest tag team in the territory. Pick: Drew McIntyre & RK-Bro

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AJ Styles vs. Edge

Geno Mrosko: Damian Priest is banned from ringside but the NEW MEMBER of Judgment Day is not! But whoever will it be?!? We’ll find out here! We’re outta time! Pick: Edge

Sean Rueter: Assuming Styles is going to eventually get a meaningful win at the end of this program (which isn’t a lock, but I’m old and still expect good to conquer evil despite being dumb), no need to give him a win on a technicality here. Keep the big bad new faction rolling with another victory. Pick: Edge

Kyle Decker: This match is probably the toughest on the card to pick. Beating AJ Styles in this feud twice does him no favors. But on the other hand, Edge losing so early in the formation of the stable hurts them a bit. I think protecting AJ is a bit more important here as Edge can add another group member to get back any excitement he losses in defeat. Pick: AJ Styles

Claire Elizabeth: I’m thinking Judgment Day are going to want to send a message here, and that message is probably “here we have a third guy and care more about beating AJ up than actually winning”, so Ciampa or whoever will run in and Styles will get the win by DQ and then Tom will get renamed Scrappy Gary and the best we can hope for is that maybe they string AJ up and do some cool Age of the Fall shit as a post-match angle. Pick: AJ Styles w/ Finn Balor turning heel.

Cain A. Knight: Edge’s new group still needs to be established as a top level act, and having the leader lose this early won’t help them get there. Pick: Edge

Stella Cheeks: I can see the arguments for either of them to win so I’m not totally sure. What I do know that this will go at least ten minutes to long. Rolling the dice here... Pick: AJ Styles

Marcus Benjamin: Taking what Kyle said and running with it, I’m going with protecting AJ through Edge adding another member to his stable. Damian Priest is barred fro ringside, meaning the door is wide open for someone to fill the void. Ciampa? Rhea Ripley? Someone we’re not thinking about? Finn Balor recently entered the fray and him joining the group, while turning on his Bullet Club bro intrigues me. Pick: AJ Styles.

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Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes

Geno Mrosko: If they’re doing a series, and it seems like they just might be, Rollins needs to score one here, right? Pick: Seth Rollins

Sean Rueter: There’s no better way to welcome someone back than with some good old fashioned 50/50 booking. Pick: Seth Rollins

Kyle Decker: Cody losing his second big match back would be very WWE, but I think they’re going to book him a bit stronger than I’d usually expect. The more I think about it, the more it feels like it’s going out on a limb, but going with the American Nightmare here. Pick: Cody Rhodes

Claire Elizabeth: Eventually WWE is going to do something that will take the shine off of Cody’s debut and make it clear that despite getting to keep his entrance and his music and the American Nightmare tagline and just generally his whole AEW presentation, it’s still Vince behind the wheel, but I don’t think that’s happening just yet. Pick: Cody Rhodes

Cain A. Knight: Cody should be protected for a future match against Roman Reigns. Pick: Cody Rhodes

Stella Cheeks: Pretty sure it’s in Cody’s contract that he won’t lose for at least six months. Pick: Cody Rhodes

Marcus Benjamin: Cody isn’t losing this match. Dude is clearly the guy on Monday nights, and aiming for a big title match down the line. Pick: Cody Rhodes

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Happy Corbin vs. Madcap Moss

Geno Mrosko: The story seems to be trending toward Corbin losing the Happy and Moss becoming something more interesting. That makes for an obvious outcome. Pick: Madcap Moss

Sean Rueter: No way they would devalue the Andre winner by having him lose his first PLE match after winning the trophy, right? Even if it did get stolen already. Pick: Madcap Moss

Kyle Decker: WWE clearly likes Madcap Moss, but I don’t think they like him enough to beat Corbin on pay-per-view. Pick: Happy Corbin

Claire Elizabeth: Once again I am asking if a pit could just open in the earth and swallow both of them? I kid (if nothing else my wife and girlfriend both like Corbin enough that I can’t wish him away) but also I feel like this feud has lasted twenty years already and I’m done with it. So babyface picks up the shine and maybe we blow it off at the next show in a gimmick match. Pick: Madcap Moss

Cain A. Knight: This could’ve been the most important match on the card if they just put that prestigious Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal trophy up for grabs. Pick: Madcap Moss

Stella Cheeks: If Moss loses here they will kneecap whatever momentum they are tryin to build with him. Corbin has proven he can bounce back from anything and is really adaptable. Moss has not. Pick: Madcap Moss

Marcus Benjamin: Madcap Moss is a big deal in WWE...eventually. Eventually isn’t here just yet. Especially at an event of this magnitude. Everything holds serve. Pick: Happy Corbin

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Bobby Lashley vs. Omos

Geno Mrosko: The idea here has been to get Omos over as the big monster, but Lashley has been beating him at every turn, first at WrestleMania, then in an arm wrestling match. MVP turning and aligning with the big fella makes for the wrinkle that could sway things in his direction but doesn’t that kill the idea of him as the big unbeatable monster? It’s all pretty dumb. Pick: Bobby Lashley

Sean Rueter: Maybe they should pull the plug on the Omos experiment, but I don’t think they will pull the plug on the Omos experiment. Pick: Omos

Kyle Decker: I think Omos has no business beating Bobby Lashley. It was a pleasant surprise to see The Almighty defeat him last month. But the MVP factor means it’s likely not going to be two for two for Bobby. Pick: Omos

Claire Elizabeth: Please do not sacrifice Bobby “Walking Armageddon” Lashley on the altar of a man that has all the articulation of a 1992 ToyBiz X-Men action figure. Please. Commander Azeez? Sure. Shanky? Hell yes. You have wonderful athletic big men on the roster, why are we pushing the one that can’t move? Anyway, Bobbo has outlined a path where he goes through Omos to get to MVP and I like the sound of that so let’s go with it. Pick: Bobby Lashley

Cain A. Knight: Like Cody Rhodes, Lashley should be protected for a future match against Roman Reigns. But I think we’re going to a third match here. Pick: Omos

Stella Cheeks: Why is this happening? Who is this for? Who does his serve? Pick: Omos

Marcus Benjamin: Omos all day here. MVP is the deciding factor, setting up an eventual rubber match. Pick: Omos.

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That’s how we see the card playing out.

You?