WWE Backlash 2016: Full Match Card

WWE Backlash 2016 is proving to be an exciting event for the WWE Universe. Let’s take a look at the full match card on tap for Sunday night.

Backlash will be making a return to WWE for the first time since 2009 and it’s coming back with a bang. SmackDown will have a full slate of exciting match-ups this weekend. Backlash will be the first SmackDown only pay-per-view of the New Era. The brand split, which occurred back in July, still has the WWE Universe bustling.

Multiple championships will be on the line this Sunday night on the WWE Network. Titles which include the WWE World Championship, Intercontinental Championship, as well as two new ones to WWE. Both the SmackDown Tag Team Championships and the new Women’s Championship will be decided. Expect an exciting card with some fireworks. Let’s get into it. Here are the matches for Backlash 2016.

WWE World Championship Match
Dean Ambrose (c) vs AJ Styles

The Phenomenal One, AJ Styles will get his first opportunity at the WWE World Championship at Backlash this Sunday. Styles is fresh off of his victory against John Cena at SummerSlam. After Styles finished off Cena, he has dubbed himself as the “new face that runs the place.” He has walked around like he has taken over the place and that has bothered others, including current WWE World Champion, Dean Ambrose.

Styles was granted this opportunity on SmackDown, two nights after SummerSlam for beating John Cena. He also had to hold off Dolph Ziggler to avoid this becoming a triple threat match that same night. Styles and Ambrose have since had their issues, which has resulted in multiple faceoffs as well as match interference. This match should steal the show Sunday night. Styles and Ambrose should put on a high flying and hard fought match up.

Bray Wyatt vs Randy Orton

The Viper, Randy Orton, after a few weeks of recovering from his brutal beat down at the hands of Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, has since been called out by the “Eater of Worlds,” Bray Wyatt. Wyatt approached Orton days after SummerSlam, seemingly calling him out for a match at Backlash. Orton was not shy to back down from this challenge.

This is a must win for Bray Wyatt this weekend. Wyatt has not yet won a match on SmackDown since the brand split. If Wyatt does not win this match, what is SmackDown ultimately doing with him? The “New Face of Fear” would not have beaten anyone. How can you fear that? This match up is to establish dominance on the SmackDown brand. Who will be the true predator on Tuesday nights?

must read: 5 Reasons Dean Ambrose Should Defeat AJ Styles at Backlash

SmackDown Women’s Championship: (Six Pack Challenge Match)
Nikki Bella vs Carmella vs Becky Lynch vs Natalya vs Alexa Bliss vs Naomi

This is a match up that can certainly steal the show at Backlash. It is a match at will help establish this women’s division on SmackDown and really put on an exciting show for the fans. With all six women vying for the title simultaneously, this match can call for the most action Sunday night. This match will also be an elimination style match, where we will ultimately be left with two competitors in the ring.

Nikka Bella and Natalya are the only two competitors to hold the gold around their waste previously. Bella, of course, was the longest reigning Diva’s Champion in WWE history. Lynch, Bliss, Carmella and Naomi will all be looking for their first WWE championships. Lynch is being looked at as the overall favorite to win this match this weekend. She certainly seems like the most durable of the six. With all six of them in the ring at the same time, expect the most exciting women’s match in SmackDown history.

SmackDown Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals
Heath Slater and Rhyno vs TBD

The Cinderella of the tag team tournament has indeed made it to the finals. The unlikely tandem of Heath Slater and Rhyno are just one victory away from being the new SmackDown tag team champions. Slater is also this one win away from receiving a SmackDown Live contract. The hottest free agent in sports entertainment has been in search for a contract since the brand split where he was left undrafted.

Slater and Rhyno have defeated the returning Head Bangers in the opening round and subsequently beat the Hype Bros in the semi’s on Tuesday in order to advance to the finals. With a knee injury to Chad Gable, America Alpha was forced to withdraw from the finals. Now, the Usos and the Hype Bros will duke it out at the start of Backlash. This match will decide who goes on to the finals to face Slater and Rhyno later on in the evening for the tag team gold.

Intercontinental Championship
The Miz (c) vs Dolph Ziggler

This is one of the more intriguing match ups on the Backlash card this weekend. The Miz, now has a new nickname, “The King of Soft Style.” After SmackDown General Manger, Daniel Bryan called out the Miz on an episode of Talking Smack for wrestling like a coward, The King of Soft Style has been on recent trend throughout social media. This feud arose when Ziggler called out Miz, in hopes to rejuvenate his career. A statement to which, Miz ran and fled like a coward.

This is an attempt to make the Miz relevant again. If Miz wishes to be respected by the fans as a heel, he will need to change up his style and become more aggressive. This is his chance to silence his critics and make his championship reign mean something. Miz will need to use every move in his arsenal, or his wife, Maryse, to win this one. Hopefully, if Miz is to win, it will be a fair fight. Otherwise, the fans will never get behind Miz and will always call him a coward. A Ziggler victory this weekend too, could bring new found meaning to the coveted title as well.

Tag Team Championship Qualifier
Hype Bros vs The Usos

As previously mentioned, the Usos and the Hype Bros will do battle to see who will move on to the tag team tournament finals. With the Usos being former two-time WWE tag team champions and with their recent heel turn, they are certainly the favorites to win in this one. Expect an entertaining match to open the show.

With Raw’s Clash of Champions just a few weeks away, SmackDown will need to put on a great show in order to show off their superiority as the top brand in WWE. With Styles and Ambrose headlining and being two of the top performers WWE has today, the main event will be one to watch. Will the champion, Ambrose hold off yet another competitor or will it be the Phenomenal one coming away with the only title that has eluded him throughout his career, the WWE World Championship?