WWE Backlash 2020: 5 things that must happen – Title change, Brock Lesnar's next opponent lined up

The first WWE Backlash pay-per-view in two years will take place on Sunday, June 14, with seven matches currently being advertised for the event.

Much of the promotion for this year’s WWE Backlash revolves around Edge vs. Randy Orton, which has been heavily pushed as “The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever”.

In the WWE World Championship storylines, Drew McIntyre will put his WWE Championship on the line against Bobby Lashley, while The Miz & John Morrison are set to challenge Braun Strowman in a handicap match for the Universal Championship.

Elsewhere on the WWE Backlash card, the following matches have been announced: Asuka vs. Nia Jax (RAW Women’s Championship), Apollo Crews vs. Andrade (United States Championship), Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus, and Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. Billie Kay & Peyton Royce (Women’s Tag Team titles).

In this article, let’s take a look at five things that must happen at Sunday’s WWE Backlash event.

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#5 Bobby Lashley looks strong in defeat

As you can see in the video above with Sportskeeda’s Gary Cassidy, Bobby Lashley always speaks very positively about his position in WWE whenever he gives interviews to the media.

However, from a storyline perspective, very few WWE Superstars have been miscast as much as Drew McIntyre’s WWE Backlash opponent since he made his return to the company after WrestleMania 34 in April 2018.

From the sisters segment to the Lana wedding, it appears that WWE has been trying to place Lashley in ‘entertaining’ storylines in an attempt to bring out more personality in his on-screen character, even though the man behind the Superstar simply views himself as a fighter.

This is a guy, let’s not forget, who has repeatedly stated that he returned to WWE with the aim of going one-on-one with Brock Lesnar – something which, somehow, has still not happened.

With rumors suggesting that Lesnar could make his in-ring return two months after WWE Backlash at SummerSlam, is there anybody more suitable to face “The Beast” right now than Lashley?

Now is not the time to take the WWE Championship off McIntyre, of course, so some kind of shenanigans (involving Lana, perhaps?) would have to unfold for the Scot to retain his title at WWE Backlash.

If that does happen, Lashley must look strong in defeat at WWE Backlash if he is to be considered a serious threat to Lesnar.

#4 One title change at WWE Backlash

Will Bayley & Sasha Banks' reign end at WWE Backlash?

The RAW Tag Team titles and SmackDown Tag Team titles underwent a brief resurgence in 2017 when the likes of The Bar, The Hardy Boyz, The Shield, The New Day and The Usos were involved in some of the best WWE PPV matches of the year.

Unfortunately, men's tag title storylines have largely felt meaningless since the beginning of 2018, and the same can be said for the majority of Women’s Tag Team Championship storylines since the titles were introduced in February 2019.

The difference with the Women’s Tag Team titles is that, for the first time in a long time, there is an interesting story playing out on both RAW and SmackDown involving the women’s tag team division.

Last week’s SmackDown ended with Bayley & Sasha Banks winning the Women’s Tag Team titles from Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross, and the two teams will do battle again at WWE Backlash in a Triple Threat match – also involving The IIconics – with the titles on the line.

This lengthy Bayley and Banks storyline has revolved around "The Boss" quietly watching on as her tag team partner becomes more and more confident as SmackDown Women’s Champion.

A tag title defeat at WWE Backlash would allow either Bliss & Cross or The IIconics to become two-time Women’s Tag Team Champions, whilst also furthering the Bayley-Banks split storyline in the process.

#3 Jeff Hardy must defeat Sheamus at WWE Backlash

This heated rivalry will be settled at WWE Backlash

Jeff Hardy’s last three years in WWE have produced some memorable moments, most notably his WrestleMania 33 return and his Hell in a Cell match against Randy Orton in September 2018.

Now aged 42, Hardy continues to state in media interviews that this is his last run in WWE and he wants to have one more reign as a World Champion – either the WWE Championship or Universal Championship – before his career comes to an end.

If that dream really is going to become a reality, he needs to put together a series of victories to make it look like he is a legitimate World Championship contender. Right now, with all due respect to Hardy, he is not presented in a way that makes him seem a viable threat to the WWE Championship or Universal Championship.

Granted, a defeat at WWE Backlash would hardly be great for Sheamus, especially as he has been booked questionably ever since he returned to in-ring action in January 2020, but it is worth bearing in mind that his main goal is to win the Intercontinental Championship.

A loss to Hardy would not hurt Sheamus’ chances of getting involved in the Intercontinental Championship picture again soon, but Hardy’s World Championship aspirations would definitely be hurt by a WWE Backlash defeat.

#2 Shayna Baszler makes a statement at WWE Backlash

Shayna Baszler is not advertised for WWE Backlash

Not many WWE Superstars have been booked stronger than Shayna Baszler during her two reigns as NXT Women’s Champion between April 2018 and December 2019.

It looked as though that strong booking would continue when she ate through her rivals (literally) after moving to RAW earlier in 2020, but the former UFC star’s underwhelming loss to Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 36 made her seem like just another member of the roster.

Who knows, if Lynch remained RAW Women’s Champion, perhaps we would have seen Baszler win the Money in the Bank briefcase and eventually cash in on “The Man”? Now, due to Lynch’s pregnancy, the storyline with Baszler has abruptly ended and the former NXT Women’s Champion’s dominant character has not yet recovered from her WrestleMania setback.

Looking ahead to Asuka vs. Nia Jax at WWE Backlash, it is difficult to envisage either one of these losing on Sunday.

Asuka has been one of WWE’s most impressive and entertaining Superstars in 2020, so it would be a huge surprise if her RAW Women’s Championship reign ended after just one month, but it is also tough to see Jax losing in clean fashion.

That, perhaps, is where Baszler could enter at WWE Backlash and make a big statement by submitting Asuka and/or Jax to remind everybody what she is capable of.

This would be one of the most unpopular WWE Backlash finishes, but it would help rejuvenate Baszler’s character and protect Asuka and Jax at the same time.

#1 Edge vs. Randy Orton must be a Match of the Year contender

"The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever" is set for WWE Backlash

Have you been wondering why the WWE Backlash encounter between Edge and Randy Orton is being promoted as “The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever”? Well, you needn’t wonder any longer.

Sportskeeda’s Tom Colohue reported this week that WWE is using “The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever” tagline at WWE Backlash to produce favorable outcomes on search engines such as Google.

"The branding of the ‘Greatest Wrestling Match Ever’ has apparently been written so that a casual viewer is more likely to stumble upon Edge vs. Orton - rather than a match from an alternative wrestling company."

Regardless of WWE’s logic behind the promotion of the match, it will make for fascinating viewing to see whether Edge and Orton can live up to the hype at WWE Backlash.

Does anybody really expect them to produce the greatest wrestling match ever? No. But, if we’re looking at this realistically, Edge and Orton are two of the most decorated Champions in WWE history for a reason.

Both guys have proven to be excellent in-ring performers throughout their careers, especially Orton, and the only thing holding them back from producing a Match of the Year contender is Edge’s nine-year absence from the ring.

This might not turn out to be the greatest wrestling match ever, but it needs to at least be in the Match of the Year reckoning for fans to look back at this match – and its bizarre tagline – with any fondness.