How WWE Should Book WrestleMania Backlash 2021

 

Hey everyone! Ever since Night Of Champions 2015, through multiple accounts, before major WWE pay-per-views every month, I’ve come on here and booked the cards to make them as exciting, intriguing, and best possible scenarios for the future. I do both NXT and main-roster pay-per-views, as well as the occasional big milestone RAW or Smackdown weekly show. Without further ado, here is how WRESTLEMANIA…….. Backlash should be booked!

MY BACKLASH PPV POSTS OF PREVIOUS YEARS:

• 2016: https://howwweshouldbookit.blogspot.com/2016/09/how-wwe-should-book-backlash-2016-sdlive.html

• 2017: Didn’t do one.

• 2018: https://howwweshouldbookit.blogspot.com/2018/05/how-wwe-should-book-backlash-2018.html

• 2020: Didn’t do one.

MAIN SHOW

• THE GRANDEST STAGE OF THEM ALL. THE SHOWCASE OF THE IMMORTALS. THE SHOW OF SHOWS. THE GREATEST SPECTACLE IN SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT. WRESTLING’S SUPER BOWL. WELCOME… TO… oh, it’s only Backlash. Damn it. Let’s get into the show. There’s almost a negative level of buzz around it, but let’s see if we can change that. Let me have a go. AND GIVE ME THE BACKLASH HOOKS.

1ST MATCH: Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair (Triple Threat match for the WWE RAW Women’s Championship)

• Asuka is out first, followed by Charlotte Flair, and finally the RAW Women’s Champion, Rhea Ripley. We get formal ring introductions and the match gets 17 minutes. Whether you’ve got two HIAC matches, two TLC matches, two Royal Rumble matches or two triple threat matches on the same PPV, I will ALWAYS vouch for one to start off and one to close the show so that they’re as spaced apart and fresh as they can be and we get a nice sandwich with more variety in-between. And it’s for damn sure that this match has not been the 3-way with the build worthy of main eventing. Anyways, this match could go a lot of different ways. I think Asuka getting the belt back here is definitely out of the question. She carried both RAW and SmackDown during the beginning period of the pandemic, appearing on both shows every week and putting in awesome performances. She’s served her time, and she’s gotten her time. There’s no reason to put it back on her right now. And Charlotte Flair is Charlotte Flair. Rhea Ripley is the new star you’re trying to build up to represent the division on RAW so she’s the one that’s got to win if you don’t want to come across as incompetent; it’s really that simple. In posts before WrestleMania I had this 3-way match on my card as a match that should’ve actually happened at Mania. But now, here we are, and it IS happening at WrestleMania!!!!... Backlash. Oh damn. It got me again. The match ends when Charlotte and Asuka are in the ring going back and forth. Asuka is going off on Charlotte with kicks and strikes, and runs off the ropes to hit her Hip Attack, but Charlotte ducks and runs off the ropes herself and nails a spear on Asuka. Charlotte looks to end things and she locks in the Figure Eight on Asuka. Just as it looks like Charlotte is about to net herself yet another Women's Title on her resume, Rhea Ripley slides in, scoops up Asuka, LEGS STILL LOCKED IN THE FIGURE 8, and hits a Riptide on Asuka on-top of Charlotte, squashing Flair completely. Asuka rolls away and Rhea gets the pin on Charlotte and in the process, FINALLY gets her win back over Charlotte from Mania 36. Will Charlotte agree to take this pin? Probably not, no. But remember kids, these posts are all about what SHOULD happen, not what will! Reality is cruel! In the end, Rhea looks impressive and is now built up even more for having beaten two women, and she’s finally righted the wrong committed at Mania 36 by getting the pin on Charlotte that she should’ve gotten then. As you’ll see at the end of this post, on my card for MITB next month, I’ve put both the challengers here in the Women’s ladder match. That leaves either Shayna or Nia as challengers for Rhea at the PPV then, and I think that because Nia gets pinned so often, she should be the one who gets first because there’s no use in presenting her as a threat to anyone that’s stupid enough to believe it. The PPV after MITB could see Rhea vs. Shayna, in what will be a much better match than Nia, and a meeting on the main roster of two of the former most dominant NXT Women’s Champions. Ultimately at SummerSlam, I believe that Alexa Bliss is going to continue her Fiend tribute act schtick until she gets the title off whoever is champ in August. But for now, the nightmare is more… nightmarish than ever.

WINNER by PINFALL and STILL WWE RAW Women’s Champion: Rhea Ripley

• We go backstage to an interview with Paul Heyman. Heyman runs down Cesaro, saying that he will be beat by Roman Reigns, and addresses the Jimmy/Jey situation. He hypes up the Universal Title match and then walks into Reigns’ locker room and slams the door shut. We get an ad for WWEShop, and then we cut to a shot of the lumberjacks making their way out to ringside for the next match before we get a short recap video of the feud so far.

2ND MATCH: Damian Priest vs. The Miz (w/ John Morrison) (Lumberjack match)

• The Miz and Morrison are out first, followed by Damian Priest. The match gets 10 minutes. Yeah, this NEEDS to be the end of this feud. Get Priest onto bigger and better things, like the Men’s MITB Ladder match next month. We need Bad Bunny back. He will save the business. This is your usual Lumberjack match formula. The heel gets thrown out by the face, the heel lumberjacks all beat them up and throw them back in the ring, and vice versa. Not much to report here, maybe you can have some guy run out in a giant tomato costume and literally eat The Miz alive for the lol’z. In reality though, The match ends when The Miz and Morrison are trying to escape the match after having taken a beating from Priest, and amidst the chaos, Priest does his step-up front dive over the top rope onto all the lumberjacks and takes eeeeevvvveryone out. Priest hits a Broken Arrow on Morrison on the outside, and then catches Miz back in the ring with a Hit The Lights for the victory. That’s that. A dominant display by Priest and he goes over in the feud-ender. If you wanted, you could have ONE more Priest/Miz match on RAW, only if it acts as a MITB qualifying match in order to get Priest into the match. You’ll see my full field for the Men’s ladder match at the end of this post. I’d aim to get a midcard belt on Priest by the end of the summer, and Miz from here can continue teasing dissension with Morrison and them eventually breaking away from each other. Maybe Miz can pair up with Maryse as an act on TV again, since that’s usually when he’s been at his best.

WINNER by PINFALL: Damian Priest

• We get an ad with all the superstars about getting the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as a teaser trailer for WWE2K22.

3RD MATCH: The Dirty Dawgs (Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode) (c) vs. Dominik Mysterio and Rey Mysterio (Tag Team match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships)

• The Mysterio Family is out first, followed by the champs, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. We get formal ring introductions, and the match gets 15 minutes. Dominik starts things off with Dolph Ziggler. I absolutely hate that The Mysterios are challenging for the titles this early, especially at a PPV before fans have returned for good, such as SummerSlam. I really think that big father and son moment with Rey and Dominik winning the titles together should be saved for a huge pop from a live crowd in front of fans that can really soak in the moment. I just don’t think it should, OR needs to happen right now, right here, in this match. The match ends when Rey hits a 619 on Ziggler, and almost gets the 3 count, but Roode jumps in to break it up at the very last second. Dominik is right in there and sends Roode to the outside, and Dominik ends up sending the both of them tumbling over the barricade with a clothesline. Rey and Dolph Ziggler still in the ring, and Ziggler tries to go for a ZigZag, but Rey hangs on to the top rope. Ziggler recovers and comes from behind with a rollup. Rey reverses it, 2 count. Ziggler reverses it, 2 count. Rey reverses it, 2 count. Ziggler reverses it again, PULLS DOWN REY’S MASK TO GET THE EXTRA LEVERAGE, and Ziggler gets the dirty pin to retain the titles for The Dirty Dawgs. A finish like this with a series of rollups with Ziggler going dirty, pulling on the mask to make sure he gets the advantage gives credence to another shot for the Mysterios down the line. Whoever happens to be holding these titles by SummerSlam, put them against The Mysterios, and let them win the titles there, for that big pop that would add even more emotion to the moment. And plus, SummerSlam is the perfect event for this to happen, seeing that 16 years earlier, Dominik’s custody was put up for grabs in a ladder match with Uncle Eddie. What could you do to come more full circle than that?

WINNER by PINFALL and STILL WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships: Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode

• We get an ad officially announcing NXT TakeOver: In Your House II, coming up next month.

4TH MATCH: Bianca Belair (c) vs. Bayley (Singles match for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship)

• Bayley is out first, followed by the champ, Bianca Belair. We get formal ring introductions, and the match gets 14 minutes. If for some paranormal reason Cesaro vs. Roman just absolutely shit the bed, oh man, THIS, this right here, could be the best thing on the show. If Bianca can replicate her absolutely stellar performance from Mania, and she can again hold her own against someone like Bayley, who is not too far off from Sasha Banks in that she can make all of her opponents look good, then this will be an absolute treat to watch. It definitely seems like the plan for SummerSlam is leaning towards Bianca vs. Sasha II again for the championship, so Bianca is not going to be dropping the title until then. Bayley is probably more than happy to put over Bianca, and that’s exactly what I see happening, and what I would have happen. The match is built around Bayley trying to mess with Bianca and throw her off her game by grabbing her hair, wrapping it around the ringpost, just Bayley being Bayley. The match ends when Bayley goes for a BTB, but Bianca twirls out of it, whips Bayley with her braid just like she did to Sasha at WM, and then hits the KID for the pin. The reign of the EST continues, may it live long and prosper. The connection she seems to have formed with fans in such a short amount of time is pretty special. Keep feeding her those challengers. And who knows, maybe one of the 4 SmackDown women in the ladder match on my MITB card could unhook that briefcase and get next for Bianca.

WINNER by PINFALL and STILL WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion: Bianca Belair

• We go to the commentators, who plug the official theme song of the PPV. We get a video package for our Universal title match up next.

5TH MATCH: Roman Reigns (c) (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. Cesaro (Singles match for the WWE Universal Championship)

• Cesaro is out first, followed by the Tribal Chief, with his special counsel. We get formal ring introductions. The match gets 22 minutes. LET’S GO. Roman and Cesaro have only ever had two other televised singles matches, both on RAW, both were absolutely fucking incredible. I can’t wait to see them go at it on PPV, over a World Championship, in Cesaro’s first real main event program. Now, whether it’s this or the WWE Championship triple threat match that actually goes on last I won’t complain too much, but there’s a few reasons why this isn’t closing out the show If I’m really booking things here. First, I mean, it’s nice to have dreams and all, but it’ll be a cold day in hell before Cesaro really wins the Universal Championship, especially while this current Roman Reigns is the one holding it. Nobody is beating him right now. Nobody is beating him for a year. That being said, there are still a lot of people with hope for Cesaro, so when he doesn’t do it here, you’d rather not want to close out the PPV on a sad note. Also, I think it’s fair to say that Roman Reigns alone is worth more in star power than all 3 men in the WWE Title match combined, but the challenger Cesaro is further down the totem pole than any of them. As much as I hate to say it, I think Cesaro sort of weighs this down a bit from being worthy of being on last. This is probably going to be the best match of the night and might very well be what most people are going to be watching for, but if it were me, I’d want to have the match that’s not as instantly predictable as the main event, but that’s just me. After a high-tension clinic mixed full of drama and some awesome wrestling, The match ends when Cesaro tries for a Very European Uppercut/Swiss Death on Reigns, but REIGNS HITS A SUPERMAN PUNCH MID-AIR ON THE COME-DOWN before the Uppercut can connect. Reigns strikes first, and ultimately this would be Cesaro’s undoing, as Reigns wastes no time locking in the Guillotine Choke and Cesaro passes out in the hold to give Roman the retain. Just because Roman is still champ doesn’t mean you have to end the dream for Cesaro and end his push again. Keep him as a guy that floats around the main event and can come in at any time. He’s out of contention for now though, and Roman moves on to a new challenger for his title defense at MITB. I’d put Cesaro in the ladder match, and as for Roman at that PPV, it’s time for the other Uso to get the same due as his brother. I think that the story is carrying us naturally to a Roman Reigns vs. Jimmy Uso match for the title. And it can fit in just fine for a PPV like MITB, where the selling point is the briefcase ladder matches themselves, so you can get away on having a bit of a less high profile World Title match like that. It can be very similar to the original Reigns vs. Jey Uso match from last year’s Clash Of Champions, only this time Jey is there and he’s in neutral corner, dictating the match and torn between his Tribal Chief, and his own brother, who’s defiant against his Tribal Chief. The story is so natural for this match to happen. Go the same route as with Jey, Reigns vs. Jimmy at MITB for the Universal Championship, and Reigns beats the acknowledgement out of him. After MITB Jimmy still hasn’t learned, and all this sets up for us to get Jey vs. Jimmy in a singles match at SummerSlam, No Disqualification. Roman defends against Seth Rollins. It doesn't have to be a permanent breakup of the team either. Just one match between two brothers that just want to beat the hell out of each other. You can build it around Jimmy's jealousy of Jey getting the main event spot. AFter that match is over, THAT’S now when you can start The Usos going after the SmackDown Tag Titles, held by the Mysterios after SummerSlam, leading to the Usos winning and the bloodline being draped in gold. See WWE, it’s really not that hard to come up with long-term plans. I just wrote your top storylines on SmackDown through the summer. ACKNOWLEDGE ME.

WINNER by SUBMISSION and STILL WWE Universal Champion: Roman Reigns

• We get an ad for the Money In The Bank PPV next month, and then a video package for our main event match.

6TH MATCH: Bobby Lashley (c) (w/ MVP) vs. Braun Strowman vs. Drew McIntyre (Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship)

• Drew McIntyre is out first, followed by the Strowman Express, and out last is the C.H.O. of The Hurt Business and the WWE Champion, Bobby Lashley. The match gets 19 minutes. The build, as is the case for most of this card, has not been there for this match. But goddamn do I get IMMEDIATE vibes of the fatal 4-way that main evented SummerSlam 2017, Lesnar/Reigns/Joe/Braun in that ABSOLUTE HOSS CIVIL WAR. I feel like this could be very much alike. Let’s have Braun throwing the announce desk chairs at Lashley and Drew for old times sake. This is a match in which absolutely everything that can be broken or destroyed, IS broken or destroyed. Bodies smashed through announce tables, barricades broken down, fighting throughout the thunderdome screens, battling up onto the stage, the fight even spills into the backstage area at one point. The ending stages of the match sees Strowman scoop up McIntyre for the Running Powerslam, but Braun turns right around into a Spear from Lashley. McIntyre falls off his shoulders, and then goes for a Claymore Kick on Lashley. Drew misses it and crashes and burns, but Lashley is quick to take advantage and locks in the Hurt Lock on McIntyre. Drew tries to fight out of it, and Lashley lets it go when he sees Braun rushing back in and he tries to plow both men down but Lashley sidesteps and Strowman goes right into the ringpost. Strowman backs up and now he is the one locked in the Lashley Lock. As Braun is about to fade, McIntyre bursts into shot with one last desperation Claymore, but IT MISSES AGAIN as Braun drops down to his knees, and the referee calls it in favor of Lashley. Right, I’m going to be fully transparent about what my plans would be for SummerSlam with the WWE Championship if I’m actually booking things. BOBBY LASHLEY. BROCK LESNAR. WWE CHAMPIONSHIP. SUMMERSLAM. FIGHT PIT. MONEY. MONEY. MONEY. But let’s slow ourselves down here, there’s still MITB next month. As much as I’d love to just put the Hurt Business back together in full and pretend like nothing bad ever happened, it just doesn’t look like that’s the route WWE are looking to go with Cedric and Shelton in that group. If you wanna set Lashley up to go against a Lesnar, I’d have Lashley defend against Shelton and Cedric next month at MITB, so that you can give Lashley a dominant win and wrap up the Hurt Business breakup arc at the same time. Again, this might not be the strongest of World Title PPV matches, but at a PPV like MITB, just like for the Rumble, you can get away with a more story-driven undercard World Title match that might not have the strongest challengers in the world. The only reason I’d go with a Handicap match over a triple threat match here is because we’ve already had SOOOOO many Triple Threats on PPV so far this year, with one in the main event of Mania and TWO on this very show. If we were to get yet another in Lashley’s defense at MITB, it would not feel very special at all. A handicap match with Lashley overcoming the odds would make him look like even more of a killer and position him to be more than able to handle someone like Brock at SS. For now, the All-Mighty Era continues on.

WINNER by SUBMISSION and STILL WWE Champion: Bobby Lashley

FINAL RESULTS:

No.	Results	Stipulations	Times
1	Rhea Ripley (c) defeated Asuka and Charlotte Flair by Pinfall	Triple Threat match for the WWE RAW Women’s Championship	17 minutes
2	Damian Priest defeated The Miz (w/ John Morrison) by Pinfall	Lumberjack match	10 minutes
3	The Dirty Dawgs (Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode) (c) defeated Dominik Mysterio and Rey Mysterio by Pinfall	Tag Team match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships	15 minutes
4	Bianca Belair (c) defeated Bayley by Pinfall	Singles match for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship	14 minutes
5	Roman Reigns (c) (w/ Paul Heyman) defeated Cesaro by Submission	Singles match for the WWE Universal Championship	22 minutes
6	Bobby Lashley (c) (w/ MVP) defeated Braun Strowman and Drew McIntyre by Submission	Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship	19 minutes

 

MY CARD FOR WWE MONEY IN THE BANK 2021 (June 20, 2021, Yuengling Center, WWE Thunderdome)

No.	Matches	Stipulations
1	Aleister Black (SmackDown) vs. Angel Garza (RAW) vs. Big E (SmackDown) vs. Cesaro (SmackDown) vs. Damian Priest (RAW) vs. Drew McIntyre (RAW) vs. Keith Lee (RAW) vs. Seth Rollins (SmackDown)	Men’s Money In The Bank Ladder match for a World Championship match contract
2	Alexa Bliss (RAW) vs. Asuka (RAW) vs. Bayley (SmackDown) vs. Charlotte Flair (RAW) vs. Liv Morgan (SmackDown) vs. Naomi (RAW) vs. Ruby Riott (SmackDown) vs. Sasha Banks (SmackDown)	Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder match for a Women’s Championship match contract
3	Roman Reigns (c) (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. Jimmy Uso with Jey Uso in a neutral corner	Singles match for the WWE Universal Championship
4	Bobby Lashley (c) (w/ MVP) vs. Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin	1-on-2 Handicap match for the WWE Championship
5	Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Nia Jax	Singles match for the WWE RAW Women’s Championship
6	Sheamus (c) vs. Jinder Mahal	Singles match for the WWE United States Championship
7	AJ Styles and Omos (c) vs. Elias and Jaxson Ryker vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) vs. RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle) vs. The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar)	Tag Team Battle Royal for the WWE RAW Tag Team Championships

• No Intercontinental Championship or SmackDown Women’s Championship matches on this PPV card, because unfortunately that’s a good ¾ of the entire SmackDown women’s division in that ladder match. I suppose if you really wanted to get Bianca onto the PPV you could put her up against Carmella, but I don’t think anyone is really gonna buy that as any more than a bridge or a transition feud for Bianca. Carmella is in the Ziggler spot, where she’s always brought in to fight for the title when there’s literally no one else at the moment. You could have a big IC Title and SmackDown Tag titles match on the SD go-home show, to make that show feel more important.

Well, that was the post. Thanks for reading! As always, let me know what you liked and/or what you didn’t like from the post, and what from the post you’d like to see actually happen on the show! Be sure to look out for my next post for the upcoming PPV, “How NXT TakeOver: In Your House 2021 Should Be Booked” the weekend of the PPV. Enjoy the show, everyone.