Hey, guys, football season is not too far away. I know it's
May, but football season will be back before you know it. And what
better time to get into a football podcast than right now? And that podcast
is called Root of All Eagles. It's a podcast that's available on really any
podcast streaming app but the best way you can find them is on Apple and
or Spotify. And it's hosted by James Webb, who was originally born in
San Diego. He grew up in Hawaii, and in Hawaii they didn't have
any NFL teams to root for, but for as long as he can remember,
he's been an Eagles fan and some of his favorite memories include watching players
like Donovan McNabb, Brian westbook t O, Brian Dawkins and others as well.
And nothing thrilled him more than, of course, seeing the Eagles get
to the Super Bowl two times in five years and finally winning in twenty seventeen.
It has been a dream come true for James and I'd really check out
this podcast, guys. His passion comes through his authentic passion for football comes
through it specifically for the Eagles, just like it does on the w W
podcast. Guys. It is the equivalent over there and very listenable. And
it's called Root of All Eagles. If you're an Eagles fan or you're just
a football fan, there's no better place and time to go check out a
football podcast. Get yourself ready for the NFL season again. It'll be here
in just a few months, believe it or not, and I would really
recommend you check it out. Guys. It's called Root of All Eagles.
Check it out on Apple and Spotify. Today. This is ww superstar Drew
McIntire and you're listening to the WWE podcast show, but one that everybody wants
me definitely. Sixteen says Roots is modern. You're gonna acknowledge me, all
right, everybody. Welcome to the WWE podcast Official Backlash twenty twenty three preview
and prediction show. And it is also Synco de Mayo for those that celebrate
or pretend we do, or just use it as a data to drink and
an excuse to drink. So for those of you that are then a rebo,
okay, as far as I go anyway, I hope all you do.
Everybody's doing well and we've got a lot to cover today as Backlash is
tomorrow night. As I record this. I'm it's a Friday morning, okay,
So I have not seen SmackDown. I would imagine there's not too many
last minute, last second changes to any matches or stipulations added. So if
there are, then they aren't accounted for here. But let's let's dive into
it, and let's just start reviewing and previewing rather the backlash event. And
you know, one thing that I'm really excited for crowd reaction. You know,
I have heard through just news outlets and interviews and everything else that the
Puerto Rican crowd is intense, and that's awesome. It's a good thing.
They're passionate, and they're passionate for their their brethren, right, meaning especially
bad Bunny, who should get a monster reaction like it's Stone Cold coming out
of retirement again or something like that. And it's going to be a lot
of fun to listen to and hear how they react. Is it bizarre world?
Do they chant cheer heels and boot baby faces? Or is it just
you know, an amplified version of what wants cheering the baby faces, booing
the heels. We'll see, you know, we'll see. It's going to
be a very interesting night at the office, so to speak, and I'm
really excited to see how that plays out. The crowd is such a massive
part of the show, and I'm going to be paying special attention to that.
Also, we are going to be doing a review show. I'll try
to do it immediately after. It's not always plausible because my body shuts down.
I can't tell you how many times I have fallen asleep during pay per
views. I even fell asleep during WrestleMania because it's just it goes late into
the night. My body has just kind of had it by then. But
I will do my damnedest to make sure that there's a review show for Backlash
as quickly as possible. Up, I here on the feed and that's going
to be available to you, hopefully late Saturday night, but I can't promise
anything. It may come Sunday morning at the very latest, So keeping ear
out for that. All right, let's dive into it. I'm going with
Let's see where do I want to start. I'm using what am I using?
I'm using the Torch and their full card here. I really love the
Torch. By the way, I'm sure you guys are you know if you
are into wrestling podcast. Then you guys obviously know about them. They are
there's such a joy to listen to. Yeah, I'd love their team there.
And this is not a this is not a paid plug of any kind.
I mean, they're the reason I'm here. Wade Keller and his team
do such a great job, and I admire all the work they do,
and I know how hard they all work being a fellow podcaster. They are
just you know, they're the gold standard in wrestling podcasts. I really believe.
All right, let's get to it. So let's start with Austin Theory.
Bronson read him Bobby Lashly for the United States Championship. Let me just
say, off the bat, this looks like a sleeper of a pick to
be I don't know. It may be in the conversation at least for match
of the night. While the story in this is lackluster, to be kind,
the match quality should be very good. Austin Theory, we all know
his talent. Bobby Lashley, I don't think often gets the credit he deserves.
About how good he is in the ring and how muscular he is,
yet how agile he is is really a crazy combination. So this should be
awesome, and then of course you have Bronson Reid, who's going to play
the monster. Now, this match is going to be about a couple things.
Number One, it's going to be about building Bronson read. Okay,
building Bronson Reid. He's obviously not going to take the pinfall here, so
this is about building him as a monster, giving him a lot of time
to dominate the match, and that's what it's going to be, I believe,
And it's gonna be a lot of Bronson versus Bobby, which is the
kind of the side program going on. Bronson read attacking Bobby, brawls,
all that, and it's been fun and Bronson read I believe he' undfeated right
now, as he should be, and so that's going to be something to
watch as Austin theory probably takes a backseat to maybe half the match as he
gets slammed through a table on the outside and then it's Bobby and Bronson going
at it something like that. That's what I expect probably for part of the
match. And you know that's number one. Number two, of course,
wrestling quality, and that really is not going to be a concern here.
I'd imagined this match is probably gonna go fifteen minutes, twelve to fifteen minutes,
and I expect Austin Theory to walk out US Champion by pinning Bobby Lashley.
And what I think is going to happen is Bronson Reid is gonna get
a He's gonna hit the tsunami on Bobby not be able to make the cover.
Austin Theory is going to steal the cover on Bobby and get the victory
in Austin Theory is going to retain. Thereby, Bronson Reid was never pinned
and also caused the pinfall, but Austin Theory retains, so you get the
best of both worlds, and I think that's what's gonna happen. I don't
think Bronson Reid is ready. We all know Bobby Lashley has no chance.
He is the least likely to win, followed by Bronson and then Austin Theory,
who I believe he is the most likely. It just doesn't make sense
that you would have Austin Theory beat John c And at WrestleMania. And yes,
he's been a little bit cold since that victory, which is bizarre given
that the victory overseen and was meant to do the exact opposite. But I
think Austin theory needs a bit of a reboot, and him going and winning
the United States Championship makes total sense to me. I don't see any reason
why he would lose it here outside of a shock victory just to get Bronson
Read a little bit more momentum. I don't. I mean, to me,
that doesn't even make much sense because people would look at that as too
much, too soon. All right, So also, as I'm typing this
in, let's see Bronson Read is on Oh yeah, Bronsonry was also drafted
to draw, so you know, there's there's even less of a chance of
Bronson Read winning here because the US title is going to SmackDown and the Icy
title's going to Raw. So that's also another massive factor. Yes, Bobby's
on SmackDown, So now that I'm thinking about it, my odds have been
reversed where Bronson Read is the least likely to win simply because of the draft
and he's not ready yet. And also Bobby Lashley is on SmackDown and the
US title is gonna live on SmackDown, so Bobby has a much better chance
of winning. So I still believe Austin theory should win. Otherwise, what's
the point of the victory over Sena at Mania. That's a massive victory given
well, not given how how he won, but he's still won. So
there Austin theory. I'm gonna pick to retain, followed by Lashley and then
Bronson read okay, Seth Rollins versus Omas, Okay, this this definitely is
not going to be Match of the night. And it's not really pointing fingers.
It's just the fact of physics. With Omas, he's too big of
a dude to have the quote unquote five star match that we need, or
well desire his fans, It's not gonna happen. They'll probably get eight minutes
or so, I'd say eight. If it goes longer than ten, I'll
be shocked. Seth Rollins is going to get the victory. I mean,
how can he not? Which also scares me when there's one that you look
at and go, that's a lock that said, this isn't a game,
or this is not the time to play games with finishes. This is not
a time for Seth Rollins to lose. In some kind of wonky fashion,
somebody interferes causes Seth to lose. No, that's not what should happen here.
Okay, there's no hanky panky. Seth Rollins should just get the plane
victory. I don't care how he does it. He needs the victory.
And why well, you know that new shiny old title that's on Monday night
raw. Yeah, they got to continue to build him for the for the
Championship, which he's in the top two contenders or favorites to win the belt.
So Omas getting a victory here it's absolutely no sense at all. I
mean, the only way that we could have a wonky finish is Omas getting
disqualified by you know, using a weapon or something, or a low blow
on Rollins or just not listening to the referees five calendar or something. But
Seth Rollins gets the victory here. That's that's it. This is probably the
most underwhelming Seth Rollins match that we've had in quite a while. But it's
about the championship next and that's coming at Night of champions all right. Re
Reply versus Alina Vega another match that you look at and go an absolute lock,
one hundred percent lock, and this one also to me is one hundred
percent. There's this one again. There's no time or there's no place here
for Hankey Pankey at all, even more so than Seth Rollins and Omas.
How can it not be Rear Ripley? How can it not imagine the uproar
and the booing that would ensue. People would boo the hell out of Selena
Vega because they're not ready for Ria Ripley. They've barely got in a chance
to hear from her. I mean, Ria Ripley isn't even cutting promos yet,
and the people still love her, and she's in a heel group,
acting as a heel. But people want to love her, they're ready to
love her, but she's still being masked as a heel. And Ria's got
so much more to go here. There is a ton of track left on
this title run, and Rea Ripley hasn't even started. I have said before
and I'll say it again. Rii Ripley is probably going to go into WrestleMania
forty as champion. I believe that, and she deserves it, and maybe
beyond we're getting way ahead of ourselves, but I think it's deserving. I
mean, hell, they've kept Bianca Bellair, who's been ice cold and boring
as a champion for the last six months or more and they've kept the belt
on her. What's the argument against keeping it on Ria. Yeah, there
isn't one. So Selena have an ice showing, and you know what,
if I were her, I look at this as, Yeah, the fans
know I'm not going to win. I know I'm not going to win,
but this is a chance for me to get back into the conversation of being
in title matches. And this is arguably Zelena Vega's biggest match of her career.
So that's the way I would look at it if I were Zelena and
the fans and go, hey, you know what, let's just see what
Zelena's got. This is the chance for her to have a breakout performance,
and that's what you can hope for if you're a Zelena fan. All Right,
bad Bunny and Damian Priest in a San Juan street fight. This is
gonna be fun. This is going to be This is gonna be a lot
of fun because we know the capability of a bad Bunny. Now he's no
longer going to surprise us with his ability. We know what he's capable of.
He's much better than he deserves. To or he has any business being
right, Bad Bunny is going to have a I think a very good night.
I think he's going to win this match, and maybe he gets beat
down at the end by the rest of the judgment day or something. But
I mean, this seems to be a one off, so I don't see
this continuing. I think Damian Priests is gonna lose, but lose in a
hell of an effort. This is gonna be physical, is gonna be a
lot of tables and chairs and you know, kendlesticks involved in this matchup,
and I expect it to be very good. I expect this one to be
ten to twelve minutes somewhere around that time. Yeah, Bad Bunny is still
as good as he as he's limited in the amount of maneuvers he knows and
that kind of thing, or being able to call a long form match without
the use of weapons anytime you see, by the way, a street fight,
especially with somebody that's not there a lot or hasn't been there in a
while, even in the case of Stone Cold's return, When you have the
ability to use weapons and go outside the ring, it expands your arsenal of
maneuvers and waste to tell the story, because if you're confined to the inside
of the ring and only wrestling maneuvers, your weaknesses could be exposed. So
I think Bad Bunny is going to win this match and send San Juan home
happy. There. They're not going to be the main event, but I
expect the crowd to be very hot for this one, given the ethnicity of
both men, and it's going to be interesting this one more specifically than any
other, what the crowd reaction is. And you know that's that's the most
one of the most interesting aspects. As I've said, all right, Bianca
Bela versus EO Sky for the Raw Women's Championship. This one's actually a little
more difficult than than than on the surface. I don't think Bianca loses here,
but there's a case to be made for EO Sky to win and for
Bailey to become jealous over the next several weeks or months and then eventually turn
on EO Sky. And that's one scenario. The other scenario is that Bailey
directly costs EO Sky the championship, thus Bianca retains. This is tough and
it shouldn't be on paper, but with Bianca so cold and boring as raw
women's champion over the last six months, and EO Sky I think ready to
break out, and really the fans are ready for the whole damage Control group
to break away from each other. They've been ready for months and months.
There's also that aspect, and it would benefit Yo Sky, to Kodakai and
Bailey everybody. Right now, the sum of the parts is not greater than
any individual one. Any individual part is greater than the sum of this group
right now, and that's usually the opposite. It's just the group didn't work
and it became ice cold quickly, and it's been ice cold for about a
year now, and it's just ready. Right. So that said, my
ultimate pick, I think Bianca retains, and I think she retains maybe by
Bailey inadvertently, at least on the surface, looking like she didn't cost EO
Sky, But ultimately we're going to find out that she did it on purpose.
So maybe it'll quote unquote be an accident from Bailey accidentally tripping Eo or
accidentally hitting her with an object that Bianca ducks or something. I think that's
what's going to be the case here. Bianca retains all right, final two
matches Sammy Zane and Kevin Owens and Matt Riddle versus the USOS and Solo Sokoa.
Okay, this one, on paper is likely to be likely to be
the match of the night if you're looking at it from if you're just ink
and paper perspective, and it probably will be given the talent of all these
men. It's just it's otherworldly. The question is this Roman show up?
Hey? Guys? Football season is not too far away. I know it's
May, but football season will be back before you know it. And what
better time to get into a football podcast than right now? And that podcast
is called Root of All Eagles. It's a podcast that's available on really any
podcast streaming app but the best way you can find them is on Apple and
or Spotify. And it's hosted by James Webb, who was originally born in
San Diego. He grew up in Hawaii, and in Hawaii they didn't have
any NFL teams to root for, But for as long as he can remember,
he's been an Eagles fan and some of his favorite memories include watching players
like Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook, t O, Brian Dawkins, and others.
As well, and nothing thrilled him more than, of course, seeing
the Eagles get to the Super Bowl two times in five years and finally winning
in twenty seventeen. It has been a dream come true for James. And
i'd really check out this podcast, guys. His passion comes through his authentic
passion for football comes through a specifically for the Eagles, just like it does
on the w W podcast. Guys. It is the equivalent over there and
very listenable, and it's called Root of All Eagles. If you're an Eagles
fan or you're just a football fan, there's no better place and time to
go check out a football podcast. Get yourself ready for the NFL season again.
It'll be here in just a few months, believe it or not,
and I would really recommend you check it out, guys. It's called Root
of All Eagles. Check it out on Apple and Spotify today. I'm gonna
say no, I've heard ever rumors of Roman possibly showing up. I don't
think he does. I think Roman doesn't come back until Hayman said he does,
which is the SmackDown in one week right, So May twelfth, I
think is when I believe he's going to return. I don't see a need
for it beforehand. So assuming Roman doesn't show up and nobody else outside interferes,
Sammy saying Kevin Owens and Riddle probably win here, maybe are returning Randy
Orton. Maybe maybe Orton comes out and returns here, And as the USOS
and Solo are attempting to do something wonky, we have Randy come out and
you know, even things out with whatever shenanigans they're trying to pull to get
the victory. So there's a chance that Randy does return here a chance.
But if nobody interferes, which I still think is the most likely that there's
no outside interference, I believe Sammy, Kevin Owen, and Matt Riddle,
Kevin Owens and Matt Riddle win because it furthers the story of what the hell
is Roman going to do with everyone losing and with the ten sin rising between
the USOS and Solo, which has been the main narrative since WrestleMania. With
an absent Roman is you want to further that. You don't want to make
it look like all as well right now? You want to continue the tension,
and how do you continue the tension by having a blind tag? Right
like say, Solo looks like he has an under control he's about to hit
the Smollan spike, and Jay tags himself in and tries to finish off Riddle
or something, and then it ends up blowing up in their face where Solo
had it completely under control and Jay screwed it up or Jimmy, doesn't matter
which one, and they end up losing the match because of the blind tag,
and then Solo is furious with them. I don't think they're going to
blow up physically, but there's gonna be a lot of death stairs with one
another, especially from Solo to the USOS. Ultimately, I think Kevin,
Sammy and Matt Riddle win, and it's going to be because of miscommunication or
just bad tag team management on the part of the USO s Solo or tension
or whatever that is how you further this story. And then what happens when
Daddy comes home in a week that's going to be just so much fun to
watch. So that's what I think. In a match that I believe is
going to be a lot of fun to watch, This one probably gets fifteen
sixteen seventeen minutes, should be I mean, a longer tag team match here
as it should. It's the semi main event, all right. Now we
get to the main event, which is no championship Matt, it's not a
championship match, but it's star power here and it's Brock Lesner versus Cody Rhodes.
Now again, I'm very disappointed, and I'm not accepting or dismissive of
the fact that they're or rather complacent with the fact that they did not tell
us why Brock attacked Cody, or rather Brock didn't bother to tell us,
and management and the creative team didn't bother to feel if there's any reason to
tell us Brock why he attacked Cody. All we were left to speculate as
well. The announcer should it's because of his position at Wrestlemanian Cody speculated is
because well, I'm an agent of change. None of those make any sense,
as I've described over the last several weeks, none of it's consistent,
and it's all speculative anyway. So it's it's like triple bad. And then
you have Brock, who could have just said, I'm Brock Lesner, I
do whatever the hell I want to do. While it's on the surface,
It may not seem like it's a reason, it kind of is because it's
from Brock telling you he just does what he wants. And I just don't
like the fact that we're just left to just make up a reason on our
own. That's lazy, creative. I don't forgive WWE for this. They
have done this in the past many times with Brock, and they feel that
his star power is just substitutive of him having to have any kind of deep
reason for attacking people. It's it's it's hurting the matches overall, even though
he's a massive star. We all know that. But that aside. Because
I do not forgive ww for that, I don't give them a pass at
all. Outside of that, this match should be a lot of fun.
I would imagine Cody Rhodes gets the victory here. The reason is Brock's not
going to be hurt by the loss. He just won't. Cody's on the
ascent, Cody's more of the future than Brock is. Brock can lose eight
matches in a row, go away for six months, and come back and
it's like he's just, you know, hit the reset button. There's no
problem. Plus, you know, Brock Lesner's schedule we all know is uh
kind of well, it's scattered at best. So I would imagine Brock probably
takes a break and comes back towards money in the bank or Summer Slam here
after the loss to Cody, Cody should get the victory. He came off
a massive loss of WrestleMania. He needs to get some momentum back. Cody
will do that. And when I think it's gonna be a fun match,
you know it typically with Brock it's been German German F five. You can't
do that with Cody here because there's too much to tell, there's or there's
too much skill there to be wasted away in the Oh, well, Brock's
gonna just you know, do his uh you know, German German German F
five, F five F five can't do that here. Okay, Brock is
capable so of more. It's not like he's Goldberg, where he's a one
or two trick pony. Brock is very good in the ring, and I
think we often forget that because they've morphed brocks matches into just a few moves
as well. But the thing is Brock is capable of a great match and
I think they should kind of change the change the style here and have Cody
and Lessner actually have a wrestling match filled with a bunch of power moves.
Of course, I'm not asking Brock to be a chain wrestler, but wrestle,
you know, don't don't just go for finish finish finish finishers. You
can do that in shockcases every once in a while, but not in this
case. Doesn't make sense because you're going to waste Cody in what I think
could be a really good main event and also in the running of the six
man tag with the triple threat for the US title. Those three matches are
probably going to be one of the matches of the night if you're looking and
care about such things. But Brock and Cody has the potential to be very
good if given enough time. And what I mean by that ten twelve minutes.
Okay, you know, I think that's fair for a main event,
and I think ultimately Cody wins. Now the question is how does he win.
You can't have him cheat to win, I mean you you just can't
do that. But I think Cody Rhodes wins here. And also the random
potential is Randy Orton attacks Cody here. The history with legacy, Yeah,
that's there. It's a very very dark horse prediction. I'm not saying that's
going to happen. That's not my official pick, but it's out there in
the ether as like a two percent possibility, five percent possibility. I think
Nobody interferes here. It's Cody beating Brock and beating him after getting pummeled by
Brock. Most of the match, Cody, you know, ends up maybe
getting a small package on Brock, maybe he doesn't win with his finish,
which protects Brock a little bit and makes it more believable that Cody snuck a
you know, a small package on Brock. For example. You can have
these, you have that. Most of the match, Brock is beating down
Cody. Cody has a couple hope spots that are ultimately you know, squashed
by Brock. Squashed by Brock. Oh, Cody's coming back. Oh he
gets hit with a clothesline. It looks dominant, dominant, dominant, and
that Lesner's just toying with Cody. F five. Yet Cody continues to kick
out maybe one or two of them. But then after Cody looks like he's
lifeless Brock, Lesner gets arrogant, he's kind of standing on the body of
Brock. Cody slips in a small package for the victory. This is one
I'd actually be okay with. While I hate the roll up, this is
one where you could protect Brock a little bit by being surprised by Cody and
not having Cody beat him with a finish. See, that's the most definitive
way to beat somebody's with your finish clean over. If it's a surprise maneuver
like the roll up, Cody could do it here. Brock is surprised and
loses his mind. Cody slips out of the ring, gets the victory,
doesn't pull the tights, but he does get the victory, and it protects
Brock. And that's the way I think this should go. After a beat
down of Cody for like, you know, several minutes. So those are
my picks to review. Austin Theory retains Seth Rollins beats Omas Ripley, retains
the SmackDown Women's Championship that will ultimately be the ROB Women's Championship. Bad Bunny
beats Damien Priest. Bianca Belair retains the rob will be the SmackDown Women's Championship,
Sammy, Kevin and Riddle beat the USOS and solo, and then Cody
beats Brock. So now that I'm looking at it, there's probably only going
to be two two heel wins and four baby face wins. So hey,
if you're looking to be to quote unquote go home happy, this could be
one of those shows for you. So again, as far as returns go,
Randy Orton is to me the only one that could possibly return in the
six man tag or against Cody Rhodes to cost him the victory. Here it's
I don't I'm not counting on Randy, but if you're thinking about big fun
returns, that could be one. But Triple H has shown that he hasn't.
He hasn't done a whole lot of those since he took over. Like,
I mean, how many times we thought the Rocks going to come back
or Randy Orton for the last year, Right, I'm still voting no on
that, but it's it's possible, so keep that in the back of your
mind. Those are my thoughts. Hope you guys enjoyed it. And by
the way, if you guys want to be able to talk with other fans
live in real time during the show. Join us on Patreon at Patreon dot
com slash w W podcast for not just the Discord server where you can chat
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if you want to go hire. So also, if you guys want merch,
we know have a merch store ww podcastshop dot com, or you can
just go to our website ww podcast dot com and there's a link for the
merch stores now open. You can click the button and join us there if
you want to. So thanks so much everybody for listening. I will talk
to you on the other side of Backlash and Joy and I'll talk to you
next time. Hey, guys, football season is not too far away.
I know it's May, but football season will be back before you know it.
And what better time to get into a football podcast than right now.
And that podcast is called Root of All Eagles. It's a podcast that's available
on really any podcast streaming app but the best way you can find them is
on Apple and or Spotify, and it's hosted by James Webb, who was
originally born in San Diego. He grew up in Hawaii, and in Hawaii
they didn't have any NFL teams to root for, but for as long as
he can remember, he's been an Eagles fan and some of his favorite memories
include watching players like Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook to Brian Dawkins and others as
well. And nothing thrilled him more than, of course, seeing the Eagles
get to the Super Bowl two times in five years and finally winning in twenty
seventeen. It has been a dream come true for James, and I'd really
check out to the podcast, guys. His passion comes through his authentic passion
for football comes through a specifically for the Eagles, just like it does on
the w W podcast. Guys. It is the equivalent over there and very
listenable, and it's called Root of All Eagles. If you're an Eagles fan
or you're just a football fan, there's no better place and time to go
check out a football podcast. Get yourself ready for the NFL season again.
It'll be here in just a few months, believe it or not, and
I would really recommend you check it out. Guys. It's called Root of
All Eagles. Check it out on Apple and Spotify today. Thanks for listening
to the WWE podcast. Don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast app so
you don't miss a show, or head to WWE podcast dot com and for
all of these shows add free head over to Patreon dot com slash WWE podcast.
Until then, we'll see you next time.