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We're officially 1-1. The main event of Backlash saw Randy Orton take on his old tag team partner and rival Edge in what was dubbed as "The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever". Naturally, that only increased the weight of expectations on both men's shoulders, but we felt that they did the best they could to deliver as good a match as possible.
Ultimately, it's subjective, but most will agree that this was not, in fact, the greatest wrestling match ever. We're not sure why WWE needed to use that tagline, but it certainly helped in bringing attention to the match. There were rumors that their SummerSlam clash was brought back a few months due to the undeniable lack of star power on the card.
Either way, it was a good bit of storytelling that saw Orton finish the match with his infamous "punt", slapping his legs as a taunt to NXT's Tommaso Ciampa. Here are a few reasons why Randy Orton defeated Edge.
#5 To set up an Edge-Randy Orton trilogy
This is the most logical conclusion behind the finish. When there's a big-money match, why not make the most of it? We would have preferred Edge to work with a younger and fresher opponent, but there's no denying the effort and chemistry that the two have and put together.
They had a great deal of pressure on their back, more so Edge, as he had to prove that he still belongs after 9 long years away. He managed to do that successfully in this 45-minute classic.
We anticipate that they'll conclude their trilogy at SummerSlam should Edge be healthy. There were rumors about Edge suffering a tricep injury during his match against Orton. We certainly hope this isn't true, but it could delay SummerSlam plans.
#4 The storytelling aspect of it
Wrestling is all about in-ring storytelling and nobody knows that better than two veterans in Randy Orton and Edge. What we're seeing with Edge in 2020 is a completely different character. Long gone are the days of the "Ultimate Opportunist".
What Edge is now is more of an "old grit" type of character - the legend who's returning to complete unfinished business. We're going to see a different side of Edge and this defeat to Orton was very much a part of his character work and story going forward.
The commentators mentioned that ring rust could play a big role for Edge, not only because he was back in the ring after 9 years, but the fact that this was his first "conventional" wrestling match in just shy of a decade.
The next encounter that they have will feature some more fantastic storytelling and it'll be great to see Edge play out this different side of his character. He still has a lot to offer.
#3 An unpredictable finish to a predictable PPV
WWE knew that they had to plan something big for Randy Orton vs Edge. Not only did they add pressure by giving it "The Greatest Wrestling Mach Ever" tag, but they had to surprise fans with the outcome.
Many believed that Edge winning was all but certain. After all, there wasn't much incentive to have him return and lose only his second singles match in 9 years. However, the storytelling alone was a reason to do it.
As mentioned, many fans including us would have preferred to see Edge feud with a younger star, but we can't blame WWE for wanting to put two major stars together due to the clear lack of star power on the card.
The finish came off as an unexpected one and you could argue that Orton winning itself was a surprise. Given how predictable the overall Backlash PPV was, WWE needed something big to end the show. And this was how they decided to go about surprising fans.
#2 To protect Randy Orton
Randy Orton revealed to Sportskeeda's own Riju Dasgupta that he plans to stick around for another decade. He said:
I’ve been doing this twenty years and I’ll do this another decade. I just turned 40 and my plan would be to keep going till my 50th birthday. And I think I would be able to do that. I’d be able to support my family for thirty years of wrestling under Vince McMahon because of the way I tell stories in the ring. The facial expressions, the little transitional things that you do on the fly or you ad lib, so to speak during the match. Those are the things that people remember.
While Edge is on a 3-year contract, he could always renew it, health permitted. However, it's safe to assume that he won't be around for ten years. Moreover, we're not even sure when Orton plans to transition into a part-timer, especially since one could argue that he's already deserving of the privilege for his years of service to the company.
The move to have Orton win may have been to protect him since he's going to be around longer.
#1 To set up Randy Orton as a possible opponent for Drew McIntyre
This is perhaps the most exciting reason for Randy Orton to beat Edge. As mentioned, we don't expect Edge to return until summertime at the very least, and we can't even be sure about that since we don't know how serious his alleged triceps injury was.
However, Bobby Lashley proved to be an excellent opponent for Drew McIntyre. He was made to look strong and was even protected in defeat as it was a distraction from Lana that ended up costing him the WWE Championship.
While he could make a case for a rematch against McIntyre, we would much rather see him go on a tear and squash every other Superstar to lead up to a dream Brock Lesnar match at SummerSlam 2020.
Lashley vs Lesnar at SummerSlam is a better direction. However, Orton vs Drew McIntyre for Extreme Rules would be an incredible match as well. Hopefully, he's back in the hunt for gold.
