The John Cena Era is here once again, and he's planning on leaving WWE with the WWE Undisputed Championship when he retires at the end of the year. Attempting to foil those plans is Randy Orton, one of Cena's fiercest and most legendary opponents, ready to square off with the new Bizarro World version of Cena that is sticking it to the crowd.
What looks to be the final Cena/Orton showdown will take place at Backlash on Saturday, May 10th, at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO. Screen Rant is here to help you sort out what's going on in the WWE Universe and provide you with our picks and predictions for the match card.
1 John Cena vs. Randy Orton (WWE Undisputed Championship Match)
Winner: John Cena
John Cena, whose path of destruction through the WWE Universe begins in St. Louis after defeating Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41 and dethroning Ric Flair as the most decorated WWE Champion in history, is planning to make good on his threat to leave with the title in December. Randy Orton, desperately trying to get through to Cena to make him see his flawed ways, is ready to put the brakes on his plans, and the stage has been set for, maybe, the last fight between them.
2009 is calling in, and these two titans in WWE are ready to lock horns once more in what will surely be an incredible face-off. Cena seems likely to retain the championship, as his story will play out throughout the year until the eventual return of a vengeful Cody Rhodes to retrieve what's his, or The Rock shows up and fills us in on what's going on, whichever comes first. It won't be an easy fight, but Cena's Revenge Tour marches on.
2 Lyra Valkyria vs. Becky Lynch (WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship Match)
Winner: Lyra Valkyria
In the first PLE defense of one of the new Women's Championships, no better opponent could have been chosen for Lyra Valkyria than Becky Lynch, who returned to WWE during Night 2 of WrestleMania 41, replacing Bayley after attacking her. Lynch handed Valkyria a vicious beating after losing the Women's Tag Team Championships the night after they won them from Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, and Lynch thinks she's fully undeserving of the Women's Intercontinental Championship.
WWE has a great opportunity to help elevate both Valkyria and the Women's Intercontinental Championship, and Becky Lynch is the best option available right now to make her, and the title, look as strong and as important as possible. Bayley's still in the mix somewhere, and it feels like an imminent change in tone is afoot for her coming back after the WrestleMania 41 debacle that saw her moved off the card in favor of the returning Lynch, so we expect to see these three tangled up for quite some time.
3 Gunther vs. Pat McAfee
Winner: Gunther
Gunther, having lost the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to Jey Uso at WrestleMania 41, had grown tired of Michael Cole and Pat McAfee's perceived disrespect towards him after his loss, and after he tried to choke out Cole, McAfee got involved and took the beating for Cole, getting choked out in the process. With Gunther being suspended, McAfee gave an imioned speech last week on Monday Night Raw saying he'd never back down from a challenge, and the match between the two was set.
Poor Pat McAfee, we genuinely don't know how well this is going to end for him, as Gunther is seemingly set to put the boots to him in the most serious way possible. It seems almost destined to be a squash match here, unless Michael Cole finds his way into the mix somehow, but it's unlikely there's any other outcome but a bloody beating for McAfee.
4 Jacob Fatu vs. Drew McIntyre vs. LA Knight vs. Damian Priest (United States Championship Match)
Winner: Jacob Fatu
The title picture for the WWE United States Championship continues to heat up, as LA Knight looks to regain what was taken from him at WrestleMania 41 at the hands of current champion Jacob Fatu. Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre, however, have other ideas on the subject, and after the continued involvement of Solo Sikoa in their matches, General Manager Nick Aldis created a fatal four-way at Backlash to see who would actually come out on top.
This match absolutely has the potential to go any which way with regard to the winner, and we already know how great of matches each of these four can put on with one another (see the WrestleMania 41 matches to confirm that, and the banger that Knight and Priest put on during the May 2nd SmackDown episode.) Ultimately, it doesn't seem like they'll make the move to strip the title off of the Samoan Werewolf this quickly, especially if they want him to look strong in the division.
5 Dominik Mysterio vs. Penta (Intercontinental Championship Match)
Winner: Penta
One of the most popular recent signees to WWE in the past three years, Penta has blazed a new path for himself with the company, establishing himself as one of the top singles stars both on Raw and the main roster. He finds himself in the crosshairs of the Judgment Day, and specifically Dominik Mysterio, who defeated him, Finn Balor, and Bron Breakker for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 41.
Our gut wants to believe that Mysterio will retain the championship, especially as over as he now seems to be with the live crowd and with as much length of track he has in front of him as a heel champion. However, we have a sinking suspicion that the final implosion of the seemingly fragile alliance that still exists between Balor and Mysterio comes to an end on Saturday night, which ends up causing him his new championship to Penta.