RAW:GOD SAVE THE KING

Just days before they meet at Backlash, Triple H and Randy Orton were joined in the ring for a brawl in London that only ended when The Legend Killer took advantage of the chaos to hit The King of Kings with a RKO.
For months, Randy Orton and The Legacy (Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase) terrorized Triple H’s extended family, all in an effort to aid The Legend Killer in his quest to win The Game’s WWE Title at the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania. The WWE Champion rebuffed Orton’s challenge, but over the months leading up to The Greatest Spectacle in Entertainment, their rivalry grew far too personal to be settled with a single match. At Backlash, two factions with deep-seated enmity for one another will meet as WWE Champion Triple H, Batista & Shane McMahon take on Randy Orton & The Legacy, with The Game’s WWE Title at stake.

The night after the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania saw a bitter Orton take to the ring, incensed over his loss to Triple H. As he railed against the manner in which The Game obtained victory, the venomous Superstar was interrupted by the man he had incapacitated with a brutal punt, Mr. McMahon himself. The WWE Chairman denied Orton’s request for a rematch and instead placed him in another contest at Backlash, where The Legend Killer & The Legacy would go up against McMahon, his son Shane & his son-in-law, WWE Champion Triple H. Orton continued to hurl invective at his employer, prompting the WWE Chairman to place himself in a match against Orton later in the night. 

Later in the evening, Vickie Guerrero announced that during the Six-Man Tag Team Match, the WWE Title would be on the line. Raw’s new GM clarified that if anyone from Triple H’s team won the match, he would retain the title, but if Orton or his cohorts tasted victory, then The Legend Killer would become the new WWE Champion. Closer to Backlash, Guerrero also stipulated that Orton can still capture the title if his team wins by count-out or disqualification. Whether because Orton was right about his employer, or the viper-like Superstar’s underhanded tactics were just too devious, things didn’t go well for Mr. McMahon. 

As The Legacy joined their leader in the ring, The Legend Killer prepared to deliver another sadistic punt to the WWE Chairman’s head. Though both Shane McMahon and Triple H attempted to stop the cruel act, it was the returning Batista who was able to defend his employer, chasing the multi-generational Superstars from the ring. After The Animal’s shocking appearance, McMahon revised the match once again, replacing himself with Batista.

Though Randy Orton might not be taking place in the match he wanted, he will have another opportunity to obtain the WWE Title at Backlash, as he and The Legacy take part in a Six-Man Tag Team Match. But with Shane O’Mac and the returning Batista at WWE Champion Triple H’s side, will even Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase be enough to turn the odds in Orton’s favor?

To find out of Orton can continue his Legacy, make sure to watch Backlash, live on pay-per-view.

SMACKDOWN

Face Off:Although WWE Champion Triple H was drafted to Raw, he comes back to SmackDown to go face-to-face with Randy Orton. With tensions running high before their WrestleMania rematch on Raw, what will unfold?

No escape:
In the first match of the premeire episode of "WWE Superstars" on WGN America, Matt Hardy faced off against Undertaker. Hardy left the ring and was counted out, but was then attacked and chased back into the ring by his brother Jeff, where The Deadman was waiting ...

Backlash Prelude:In a prelude to their Backlash Six-Man Tag Team Match, Batista faces off with The Legacy’s Ted DiBiase. After being pinned by Triple H on Raw, can DiBiase build momentum for his team, or will The Animal crush him in his tracks?

Big Challenge:After a punishing loss to his own brother in a Stretcher Match last week on SmackDown, Jeff Hardy goes up against the World’s Largest Athlete, Big Show. Can the Charismatic Enigma find a way to win, or will Big Show stop him cold?

WWE Champion Triple H, Batista & Shane McMahon def. The Legacy; The Game earned an opportunity to go one-on-one with Randy Orton on the next Raw

In Raw’s main event, there wasn’t a Draft pick on the line, but instead something far more valuable to the competitors: An opportunity to exact retribution from Randy Orton. With the ring warrior scoring the pinfall earning a match against The Legend Killer on the next Raw, WWE Champion Triple H, Batista & Shane McMahon were more concerned with getting a victory for themselves than with working as a team. As Cody Rhodes,Ted DiBiase did their best to take advantage of their opponents’ strife, their opponents did themselves no favors, with Shane going so far as to break up Batista’s pin. As The Animal and Shane O’Mac argued, however, Triple H took advantage of the situation to pin Ted DiBiase after a devastating Pedigree, dashing The Legacy’s hopes of keeping their leader out of competition the following week.

FAMILY VS LEGACY AT BACKLASH

At Backlash Randy Orton will have another opportunity to grasp the WWE Title when he & The Legacy take on WWE Champion Triple H, Shane McMahon & Batista, who took Mr. McMahon's place in the match.

For months, Randy Orton and The Legacy (Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase) terrorized Triple H’s extended family, all in an effort to aide The Legend Killer in his quest to win The Game’s WWE Title at the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania. The WWE Champion rebuffed Orton’s challenge, but over the months leading up to The Greatest Spectacle in Entertainment, their rivalry grew far too personal to be settled with a single match. At Backlash, two factions with deep-seated enmity for one another will meet as WWE Champion Triple H, Batista & Shane McMahon take on Randy Orton & The Legacy, with The Game’s WWE Title at stake.

The night after the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania saw a bitter Orton take to the ring, incensed over his loss to Triple H. As he railed against the manner in which The Game obtained victory, the venomous Superstar was interrupted by the man he had incapacitated with a brutal punt, Mr. McMahon himself. The WWE Chairman denied Orton’s request for a rematch and instead placed him in another contest at Backlash, where The Legend Killer & The Legacy would go up against McMahon, his son Shane & his son-in-law, WWE Champion Triple H. Orton continued to hurl invective at his employer, prompting the WWE Chairman to place himself in a match against Orton later in the night. 

Later in the evening, Vickie Guerrero announced that during the Six-Man Tag Team Match, the WWE Title would be on the line. Raw’s new GM clarified that if anyone from Triple H’s team won the match, he would retain the title, but if Orton or his cohorts tasted victory, then The Legend Killer would become the new WWE Champion. Whether because Orton was right about his employer, or the viper-like Superstar’s underhanded tactics were just too devious, things didn’t go well for Mr. McMahon. 

As The Legacy joined their leader in the ring, The Legend Killer prepared to deliver another sadistic punt to the WWE Chairman’s head. Though both Shane McMahon and Triple H attempted to stop the cruel act, it was the returning Batista who was able to defend his employer, chasing the multi-generational Superstars from the ring. After The Animal’s shocking appearance, McMahon revised the match once again, replacing himself with Batista.

Though Randy Orton might not be taking place in the match he wanted, he will have another opportunity to obtain the WWE Title at Backlash, as he and The Legacy take part in a Six-Man Tag Team Match. But with Shane O’Mac and the returning Batista at WWE Champion Triple H’s side, will even Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase be enough to turn the odds in Orton’s favor?

BATISTA RETURNS WITH POWER

Batista recently approached company officials to inform them he was way ahead of schedule with his physical therapy and ready to get back in the mix of things as soon as possible. This explains why he was brought back to television last Monday. Batista has been working out at Florida Championship Wrestling’s headquarters in Tampa to get rid of some of his ring rust.

Before going down with an injury last year, he was said to be on the verge of burnout and had asked for some time off from the road. However, several other wrestlers were dealing with injuries of their own so company officials kept asking him to put off his time off from the road. In December, Batista incurred a hamstring injury, which forced WWE to shoot an angle for him to get his time off.

While the Raw Superstar looked bigger in his return than he has in quite some time, he was noticeably limping and at his age, returning to action before he is 100% ready could be a bad move in the long run.