Hey kids! I know it’s been a minute since I’ve graced the pages of The Chairshot. What can I say, it’s been a busy stretch. Work is picking up, sports are picking up, pretty much everything is picking up!

Well, not everything, if the WrestleMania Backlash card tells me anything. Not that it’s new for the Backlash shows to have a large number of WrestleMania re-matches, but it doesn’t exactly make one more excited to talk about the same things one talked about for weeks heading into WrestleMania. On the bright side, one can also be busy for weeks, drop right in to do some Backlash coverage, and feel like they haven’t missed anything. Life is too short to be bothered.

This column is being written on Thursday night/Friday morning, which means three things you need to keep in mind. One: WWE typically adds matches to their Premium Live Events in the hours leading up to the show. Two: Our odds provided by BetOnline are certainly subject to change. Three: As always, all of these picks are for entertainment purposes.

As the card stands, we’ve got four WrestleMania re-matches and two new ones. We’ll lead and close with the new ones, while covering the old ones in the middle. Makes sense to me, which is what counts since I’m the one driving the bus here.

Madcap Moss (-200) vs. Happy Corbin (+135)

You had to know this friendship wouldn’t last for ever. For one thing, it was a friendship formed on a wrestling show, and I’m pretty sure none of those ever last. For another thing, Happy was bound to get jealous of Madcap’s recent success in the ring, his good humor, his connection with the fans, and his six-pack. These are not things that Happy Corbin is familiar with, so he & Madcap Moss were never going to be able to remain on the same page too long.

If I know one thing about Happy Corbin feuds, it’s that they all last forever and a day. Moss seems to have some potential and could be headed to big things, but a Happy Corbin win via chicanery forcing the feud to continue seems like a good bet to me.

Edge (-145) vs. AJ Styles (+100)

Edge’s Triple H/Undertaker mishmash thing he has going on is kind of weird, but does serve the purpose of making him a heel. Which is great since he’s always been more interesting in that role. The idea seems to be building Damian Priest as his protege, but unfortunately for Edge, Priest is banned from ringside here due to Style defeating him on Raw.

A temporary setback though. Edge will likely win here, the question is who will help him win. Will Priest come in under a disguise? Will AJ’s clubhouse buddy Finn Balor do the dirty deed? That guy’s always seemed a bit shady. Or, will it be someone else entirely? I’m not sure of much, but I am sure that we haven’t seen the full roster of Edge’s associates.

Cody Rhodes (-300) vs. Seth Rollins (+200)

Cody is still generating goodwill during his time in WWE, which is a good thing for us all. Would we rather see a wrestler popular and doing good things in one company, or unpopular and doing meh things in the other? Seems like an easy choice to me, and Cody definitely seems on his way to being part of WWE’s main event scene for a long time to come. Granted, WWE fans could turn on the guy just like AEW fans did, but let’s worry about that when it happens.

If anybody knows about the fans turning on them, it would be Seth Rollins. The number of suits Rollins owns doesn’t equal the number of times fans have changed their minds on his abilities or lack thereof. He’s at his best as a smarmy prick, and has done his best to get under Cody’s skin of late. Will it be enough for Rollins to get a win at WrestleMania Backlash? Nah, I think they save Cody Rhodes‘s first defeat for another time.

Omos (-300) vs. Bobby Lashley (+200)

MVP decided to pull the ol’ Mr. Fuji move after WrestleMania. Even though Lashley got the win at that show, MVP believes that Omos has more upside. Not sure how smart a move that is, as I remember Fuji’s decision to back the younger Powers of Pain over the established Demolition and how poorly that went for him. Omos is a tall boy, but he hasn’t proven to have the versatility in the ring that Lashley has.

Maybe it’s Omos’ time to get the win, but if you’re giving me Bobby Lashley as an underdog I’m taking that all day.

SmackDown Women’s Championship I Quit Match
Ronda Rousey (-700) vs. Charlotte Flair (+360)

Since the start of her mixed martial-arts career, Ronda Rousey has not lost a match via submission. She’s been knocked out, but has never quit. It’s easy to see why she’s such a huge favorite against Charlotte, who has given up in multiple championship matches. Saying “I Quit” wouldn’t be a new thing for Charlotte, while one doubts the words have ever crossed Ronda’s lips.

That said, there’s always a first time for everything. One could make the argument that if anybody is capable of making Ronda Rousey submit, it would be Charlotte via her figure-eight hold. I won’t be making that argument, but one could make it if they wanted to.

Drew McIntyre & RK-Bro (-275) vs. Roman Reigns & The Usos (+185)

WrestleMania saw Roman Reigns combine the WWE & Universal Championships by defeating Brock Lesnar. Naturally, the next goal for the Bloodline would be for the Usos to combine the Raw & SmackDown Tag Team Championships. They seemed on course to do that until Roman interrupted the contract signing & helped beat Randy Orton & Riddle up. One can only assume that Reigns has no faith in his cousins to defeat RK-Bro, which might be a fair opinion for him to have.

Drew McIntyre came to the save of RK-Bro and Riddle convinced Drew & Randy to bury the hatchet, so we’re getting a trios match in Providence. It’s a means of stretching the issue out to at least the next Premium Live Event, probably longer. Should be a solid match, all the combatants are reasonably over, and I’m not a fan of combining all the titles anyway. No complaints here.

Drew & RK-Bro winning seems to make sense to keep them strong, but so does the Bloodline winning because they usually win things. I’d count on one of the Usos getting pinned.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy making money off the rasslin!