SummerSlam turned out to be a mixed bag for WWE as a major portion of the fan base was not happy with how the pay-per-view played out. The injury to Finn Balor and certain other problems underlined that WWE was going through a tough phase, but they have picked up some momentum ahead of Backlash.
It will be now up to the company to deliver big at the show and being the first brand-specific pay-per-view in a long time, there is a good amount of pressure on them as well. WWE could come up with some interesting booking decisions for the pay-per-view but here is a look at the things that they shouldn’t do.
Daniel Bryan gets back in the ring to help Ziggler
The storyline angle that WWE sparked between Daniel Bryan and The Miz during 'Talking Smack' was brilliant. It made the fans talk about it but unlike what we wanted, WWE completely killed off the angle on the week that followed.
Miz was coupled into a program with Dolph Ziggler afterward and the two men will now fight for the Intercontinental championship at Backlash.
Though it would be exciting to see Bryan getting back in the mix, Ziggler deserves better. Interference from Bryan will take all the attention to him while Ziggler just becomes a supporting character.
Ziggler is the already an underdog in this fight, and Bryan getting the spotlight would be the last thing he’d need.
Heath Slater and Rhyno winning the Tag team titles
Heath Slater and Rhyno have scripted an excellent underdog story as of now. If they go on to win the title at Backlash, it would be a great ending as well. However, if WWE lets them win the title at the pay-per-view, then they will be throwing away the Heath Slater angle.
Slater, ever since the draft, has been must-watch television and winning the Tag team championships, will put an end to his gimmick.
He will be restricted to SmackDown for the time being whereas a loss could let WWE use him on Monday Night Raw as well. Also, Usos winning the championship will make sense on the longer run as they just turned heels recently.
Baron Corbin missing the card
The efforts to push Baron Corbin have been going nowhere. After his big Battle Royal win at WrestleMania, Corbin has been going through a roller coaster ride. Whenever he starts getting a push, it is stopped in the middle due to some reason. Some time back, it seemed like Corbin was going to get a spot on the SummerSlam card against Kalisto but it also ended up being a false dawn.
Missing another pay-per-view would be a big blow for Corbin. Irrespective of his opponent Corbin should get a place on the card and a win would be even better. With SmackDown in need of some credible heels, Corbin could step in with the right push.
The regular Usos entrance
WWE made a bold move with the Usos this past week on SmackDown. By attacking Chad Gable and Jason Jordan, the Samoan Twins turned heel and in turn, booked their place in the Backlash card. Usos will face the Hype Bros at the show and what WWE should avoid is the regular entrance that the Usos have.
The way they came out till now was perfect for their babyface run. Pulling off the same interactions while being the bad guys is not going to look good on paper and in execution. This is something that WWE needs to address and if they are indeed going with the heel run for Usos, a full-fledged change such as this is required.
Randy Orton getting a clean loss
Randy Orton will be going up against Bray Wyatt at Backlash. He suffered a forgettable defeat at the hands of Brock Lesnar back in SummerSlam. The Viper has a rematch against Lesnar coming up but before that, he will have to settle the score with Bray.
Due to the Bray match being stuck between two showdowns, and as Orton lost his first match with Lesnar so convincingly, Orton should not take a clean defeat in this one. A good portion of the fans was not happy with the weak booking that Orton got and Backlash should be seen as a platform for him to bounce back.
Another clean loss would be too much for Orton and WWE would destroy his momentum completely by doing so.
