Backlash 2008

Backlash (2008) was the tenth annual Backlash professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on April 27 2008 at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The official theme song was "All Summer Long" by Kid Rock. The tagline for the event was "Every Action Deserves a Fierce and Aggressive Reaction."

The main event and main match on the Raw brand was a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match for the WWE Championship between champion Randy Orton, Triple H, John Cena, and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL). Triple H won the match after last eliminating Orton. The predominant match on the SmackDown brand was The Undertaker versus Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Undertaker won by forcing Edge to submit with the Gogoplata. The primary match on the ECW brand was Kane versus Chavo Guerrero for the ECW Championship, which Kane won by pinfall after a chokeslam. The featured matches on the undercard included Batista versus Shawn Michaels and Big Show versus The Great Khali.

Background
The main feud heading into Backlash on the SmackDown brand was between The Undertaker and Edge, with the two feuding over the World Heavyweight Championship. In February, at No Way Out, The Undertaker won an Elimination Chamber match to become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXIV. At WrestleMania, Undertaker defeated Edge to win the World Heavyweight Championship and extend his WrestleMania undefeated streak to 16-0. On the April 4 2008 edition of SmackDown!, SmackDown! General Manager Vickie Guerrero booked a WrestleMania rematch between Undertaker and Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship at Backlash.

The predominant feud on the Raw brand was between Randy Orton, Triple H, John Cena, and John "Bradshaw" Layfield, with the four feuding over the WWE Championship. On the April 7 2008 edition of Raw, after General Manager William Regal announced that Randy Orton would be defending the WWE Championship against John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) at Backlash, Triple H said that he deserved another title match. Regal then booked a Handicap match between Triple H and Orton & JBL later that night. The stipulation of the match being if Triple H won, he would become a part of the WWE Championship at Backlash. Triple H won, and made the one-on-one title match between Orton and JBL, a Triple Threat match. After the match, however, John Cena stated that he also deserved another title match, which led to Regal booking Cena in a Handicap match against Triple H and Layfield. Cena won the match, and the match became a Fatal Four-Way match. On the April 21 2008 edition of Raw, Raw commentator Jim Ross announced that the match was going to be an elimination match, instead of a standard one-fall match.

The primary feud on the ECW brand was between Chavo Guerrero and Kane, with the two battling over the ECW Championship. Before WrestleMania XXIV aired live on pay-per-view, Kane won a 24-Man Battle Royal to earn an ECW Championship match against Chavo Guerrero later that night. Kane would go on to defeat Guerrero and become the new ECW Champion. On the April 4 2008 edition of SmackDown!, SmackDown! General Manager Vickie Guerrero booked Kane to defend the ECW Championship against Chavo Guerrero at Backlash. The feud intensified on the April 8 2008 edition of ECW, where during a contract signing for Backlash, Guerrero, with assistance from Bam Neeley, Curt Hawkins, and Zack Ryder, delivered a Frog splash on Kane through a table. Two weeks later on April 22 2008, the feud again intensified during an edition of the Cutting Edge, in which Edge, Hawkins, Ryder, and Neeley ganged up against Kane. The gang-up allowed Guerrero to attack Kane with a steel chair.

Another feud leading up to Backlash was between Shawn Michaels and Batista. Upset over the retirement of Ric Flair at the hands of Michaels at WrestleMania XXIV, Batista interrupted Michaels' address on the April 4, 2008 edition of SmackDown! and called him a "selfish" person for what he did at WrestleMania. Batista blamed Michaels for not laying down for Flair and thus protecting his career instead of retiring him. Michaels defended his actions by saying Flair had called upon him to bring his best to WrestleMania, which he did. The conflict continued on an edition of Chris Jericho's "Highlight Reel" interview segment that featured both men on the April 7, 2008 edition of Raw. Following another tense verbal standoff, Batista left the ring saying he had something in store for Michaels. Moments later, Raw General Manager William Regal said he had confirmed a match with SmackDown! General Manager Vickie Guerrero between Michaels and Batista at Backlash. In addition, the following week Jericho had a confrontation with Shawn Michaels who ended up kicking Jericho in the face. Frustrated, Jericho went to Regal in an effort to possibly add himself to the match. Regal did indeed add Jericho to the match, but not as a competitor. Instead he announced Jericho as a Special Guest Referee for the match.

Event
The event unofficially began with WWE Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz defeating Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore in a dark match. The first match to air live on pay-per-view was a contest between reigning champion, Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) and Matt Hardy for the WWE United States Championship. MVP took control towards to beginning of the match, focusing on Hardy's left leg. MVP controlled most of the match until Hardy delivered a Side Effect to MVP. More back and forth action took placed until MVP attempted a Playmaker onto Hardy, however Hardy escaped the move and hit MVP with a Twist of Fate. Hardy then pinned MVP to win the match, and the United States Championship.

The next match was for the ECW Championship, with reigning champion Kane, competing against Chavo Guerrero (with Bam Neely). Throughout the match, Guerrero would target Kane's leg. Neely got involved midway through the match by throwing Kane's leg into the ring post. Kane attempted a Chokeslam, which Chavo escaped from. Chavo attempted a Spike DDT, and successfully delivered it. Chavo later attempted a Frog Splash but Kane caught him by the throat as Chavo jumped from the top turnbuckle. Kane then hit a chokeslam onto Chavo to win the match and retain the ECW Championship. The third match of the event was The Big Show versus The Great Khali. The match held back and forth action until Khali attempted a Khali Bomb onto Big Show. Big Show countered and body slammed Khali. The Big Show delivered a chokeslam to Khali and pinned Khali to win the match.

The next match was between Batista and Shawn Michaels with Chris Jericho as the special guest referee. Jericho would only become involved in the match during a few spots to break up Batista and Michaels. During the match, Michaels performed a Crossface onto Batista. The match left the ring for a little while as Michaels maintained control over Batista. When the match re-entered the ring, Michaels attempted a Sweet Chin Music, however, Batista countered and delivered a spinebuster to Michaels. Michaels recovered and delivered the Sweet Chin Music to Batista, to get the pinfall and win the match.

The fifth match of the event was a 12-Diva Tag-team match featuring the team of Beth Phoenix, Melina, Natalya, Victoria, Layla, and Jillian facing off against the team of Mickie James, Ashley, Maria, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly, and Cherry. A back and forth match was held, which led to a spot in the match where every diva entered the match and delivered their signature moves to a Diva from the opposite team. After the situation, Ashley delivered a spear to Layla, only to receive a Fisherman suplex from Phoenix, who then pinned Ashley, earning the victory for her team. The following match was for the World Heavyweight Championship featuring reigning champion The Undertaker facing Edge. This match featured back and forth action including various strikes, and different parts of the match taken to outside of the ring. The beginning of the match was controlled by the Undertaker until Edge exposed the steel turnbuckle, and allowed Undertaker to run into it head first. As Undertaker lie in the ring, Edge escaped and grabbed the title. He placed it down at ringside as Curt Hawkins would come down to the ring, grab the title, and hit Undertaker with it while the referee was distracted. Hawkins immediately fled the ring. The Undertaker then recovered and delivered a chokeslam to Edge. Zack Ryder ran down to the ring, but fell from the apron after being accidentally knocked down by Edge. The Undertaker then applied the Gogoplata onto Edge for the tap-out victory. After the match, Vickie Guerrero and Teddy Long would come to the ring followed by the medics to put Edge onto a stretcher and take him backstage.

The final match of the event was the fatal-four way elimination match for the WWE Championship featuring reigning champion Randy Orton facing Triple H, John Cena, and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL). Towards the beginning of the match, Cena was thrown into the Raw announce table from the ring apron, while in the ring, JBL and Orton teamed up against Triple H, but Triple H countered and delivered a clothesline to both men. Cena recovered and got back into the ring, and applied the STFU onto Orton. As the hold was being applied, Triple H placed JBL into a crossface. Triple H and Cena released the hold and continued on to fight one-another. Back and forth action took place until Cena forced JBL to submit to the STFU, eliminating JBL. Orton immediately ran in and delivered a punt to Cena's head. With Cena down, Orton pinned and eliminated Cena from the match. With Triple H and Orton remaining, more back and forth action took place. Triple H eventually was able to hit the Pedigree on Orton and pinned him to win the match, becoming the new WWE Champion.

Aftermath
The feud between Triple H and Randy Orton continued. On the April 28 edition of Raw, Orton challenged Triple H for the WWE Championship later on in the night. However, William Regal stopped the match midway through, and later booked the two in a Steel Cage match for the title at Judgment Day.

On the May 2 edition of Friday Night Smackdown!, Vickie Guerrero cancelled a scheduled World Title match between Undertaker and The Great Khali and stripped The Undertaker of the World Heavyweight Championship, and Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder stole the physical belt and handed it to Guerrero. The next week on SmackDown!, Vickie Guerrero booked a "Championship Chase" where the winner would face the Undertaker for the vacant World Championship at Judgment Day. Batista originally won, but his victory was cut short after Guerrero came out and announced that Edge had been medically cleared and would be able to compete. Thus, the match continued, and Edge defeated Batista, gaining the championship match at Judgment Day.

Results

 * Dark match: John Morrison and The Miz defeated Jimmy Wang Yang and Shannon Moore
 * Miz pinned Moore.
 * Matt Hardy defeated Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) to win the WWE United States Championship (11:24)
 * Hardy pinned MVP after a Twist of Fate.
 * Kane defeated Chavo Guerrero (w/Bam Neely) to retain the ECW Championship (8:48)
 * Kane pinned Guerrero after a chokeslam.
 * The Big Show defeated The Great Khali (8:03)
 * Big Show pinned Khali after a chokeslam.
 * Shawn Michaels defeated Batista (w/Chris Jericho as Special Guest Referee) (14:59)
 * Michaels pinned Batista after Sweet Chin Music.
 * Beth Phoenix, Melina, Jillian Hall, Layla, Victoria and Natalya defeated Mickie James, Maria, Ashley, Michelle McCool, Cherry and Kelly Kelly in a 12-Diva Tag Team match (6:30)
 * Phoenix pinned Ashley after a fisherman suplex.
 * The Undertaker defeated Edge to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (18:23)
 * Undertaker forced Edge to submit with the gogoplata.
 * Triple H defeated Randy Orton (c), John Cena, and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match to win the WWE Championship (28:11)
 * Cena forced JBL to submit with the STFU (10:29)
 * Orton pinned Cena after a punt to the head (10:41)
 * Triple H pinned Orton after a Pedigree to win the title (28:11)