WWE Backlash Rumor Roundup: Vince McMahon making big changes, Surprising title change coming?

WWE Backlash 2020 is nearly upon us and we have an exciting show ahead of us. Both the WWE Championship and the Universal Championship will be on the line as well as a number of other titles. The biggest match going in has to be Edge vs. Randy Orton, which WWE have promoted as the 'Greatest Wrestling Match Ever' - and it's pretty easy to say it will almost be impossible to live up to that billing.

The biggest story heading into WWE Backlash has to be Paul Heyman being removed as Executive Director of RAW. How could that affect the show? According to one report, it already has.

Length of 'Greatest Wrestling Match Ever' between Edge and Randy Orton at WWE Backlash

Edge will face Randy Orton

Bryan Alvarez recently discussed the upcoming match between Randy Orton and Edge at WWE Backlash. According to Alvarez, he said the match has already been taped and lasted between 30 and 35 minutes. He added that his source told him that the match was taped because WWE wanted it to be "perfect".

Alvarez did add that WWE may cut the match down a little at WWE Backlash during the editing process if they felt a particular part dragged too much.

Here's what he had to say:

I was given the impression that the match was 30-35 minutes. Now, it was taped, and there was a reason that they taped it, I believe last Sunday for airing the following Sunday. They want this match to be perfect, at least until whatever they do for the finish.

So, however long they wrestled, if they watched the match, it's dragging here, Orton's 8th headlock, you know, too much blah blah blah, they can chop the match down. I don't know how long the match is going to be when they are done; I'm just telling you how long it appears when they went live. They could edit this down to 25 minutes, and they could edit this down to 18 minutes, or maybe the full 35 minutes. So, I'm only telling you what I was told in terms of the actual length of the match that they did live.

Vince McMahon has already made changes to WWE Backlash

According to reports, Vince McMahon has already made some changes to WWE Backlash

The big news ahead of WWE Backlash this week was Paul Heyman being replaced as the Executive Director of RAW. The creative for both RAW and SmackDown will be consolidated under the leadership of Bruce Pritchard, who has been handling SmackDown since Eric Bischoff was fired.

According to Paul Davis of WrestlingNewsCo, Vince McMahon has already made changes to WWE Backlash, including the finish to one of the matches on the card.

A WWE source told Paul Davis the following about Paul Heyman and Vince McMahon:

Vince put up with some of Paul’s ideas for a while but then Vince would kill off so many good ideas and anyone who has watched Vince and Paul’s interactions knew that this arrangement was not going to last very long. Paul seemed stressed out around Vince.

It will be interesting to see how WWE handle creative going forward. Some are saying that WWE may have more SmackDown Superstars and RAW and vice-versa going forward in a way to boost ratings.

Reasons behind the "Greatest Wrestling Match Ever" branding at WWE Backlash

The 'Greatest Wrestling Match' tagline for Edge vs. Randy Orton has surprised a number of fans and critics, the feeling behind it being that the tagline is likely to cast a shadow over the match, no matter how good it is.

According to Sportskeeda's Tom Colohue, the reason behind the tagline for the match at WWE Backlash could have been done in a way to create a footprint on Google searches:

"Both the branding of the match between Edge and Orton at Backlash and the recent drunk driving arrest storyline for Jeff Hardy have being written in a way so as to create a long-term dominance of internet airwaves. The branding of the "Greatest Wrestling Match Ever" has apparently been written so that a casual viewer is more likely to stumble upon Edge Vs Orton - rather than a match from an alternative wrestling company. Edge and Orton’s match has seemingly been selected for this purpose due to the longevity of both men's connection with the casual wrestling audience."

A separate report states that the 'Greatest Wrestling Match' tagline was initially meant for WWE's show in Saudi Arabia, which had to be canceled because of COVID-19 and that the company simply decided to have the match at WWE Backlash instead.

Surprising title change coming at WWE Backlash

Drew McIntyre will put the WWE Championship on the line at WWE Backlash against Bobby Lashley

The biggest moment at WrestleMania 36 has to be Drew McIntyre pinning Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Championship. What should have been McIntyre’s crowning moment was definitely hurt a little bit by the fact that it was behind closed doors. But the Scottish Psychopath has done a fantastic job as champion when you look at the restraints imposed by having shows in the Performance Center.

However, it looks like there is a chance McIntyre could lose the WWE Championship to Bobby Lashley at WWE Backlash, according to Tom Colohue who said there’s a “large amount of speculation” that Lashley will leave Backlash as WWE Champion:

There is a large amount of speculation at the moment that Bobby Lashley may be coming out of his feud with Drew McIntyre as the new WWE Champion. This is something that I won't be totally against seeing. Drew McIntyre as a face is very good chasing a Championship. Also, he has defeated a lot of the RAW roster. The Brand vs. Brand invitational may be essential just to keep him with opponents for a while, and that's probably one of the reasons why we've seen Baron Corbin so far really use it in the men's division.

We will have to see if this indeed does go on to happen. Taking the title off Drew McIntyre at WWE Backlash does not seem like a good idea this soon. McIntyre has done well so far as champion, despite the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.