Welcome to our live coverage of WWE’s Backlash pay-per-view live from Providence, RI.

As always, we’re looking for your feedback on tonight’s show via email on the address below, via our MySpace page at www.myspace.com/ifight365, or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ifight365.

- Kofi Kingston beat Dolph Ziggler in a dark match prior to the PPV.

Opening video package out of the way, we’re underway. The announce setup is similar to at WrestleMania 25 earlier this month, with a three man team comprising of Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole.

Jack Swagger (C) vs. Christian for the ECW Title opens the show. Swagger took it to the mat early. Christian quickened the pace up as the crowd got behind him. Swagger picked him up above his head and threw him over the top rope to the floor.

Back in the ring, Swagger took the match down to the mat again. He worked over Christian until he eventually made his comeback and came off the second rope with a sunset flip for a two count. He followed it up with a facelock into a DDT coming off the second rope but Swagger kicked out of the pin and took control again. He went for a belly to back suplex from the apron to the outside but Christian blocked it. He then went to the top rope and backdropped Christian into the ring. Christian went for the Unprettier but it got reversed. Swagger hit a Oklahoma Stampede for a two count. They both untied turnbuckles, with Christian taking one off as the referee tried to stop Swagger doing likewise. Swagger went into the exposed turnbuckle, Christian hit the Unprettier and got the pin. Winner and new ECW champion: Christian.

Real good opener. Crowd were into the match and popped huge for the pin. Good start to the show.

Backstage, Christian celebrated with Finlay, Dreamer and Evan Bourne. He saw Edge and approached him, which got a good reaction. Edge questioned whether Christian thought he was better than him. Christian said Edge used to be fun but now he’s just a bitter lunatic. Edge said John Cena has made him how he is and that he would be fun again when he wins the title from Cena tonight. Good promo.

- Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Steamboat is up next. Good reaction for Steamboat, who hit Jericho with a dive over the top rope to the outside early on. “You’ve still got it” chants started up as Michael Cole got his first ‘Vintage’ reference of the night in.

Steamboat (who appears to have been on the ‘Just For Men’ this week) dominated for a good portion of the opening few minutes, even skinning the cat only to be clotheslined back over the top rope. Jericho then dominated the match and slowed the pace a little. They worked a fairly basic match but the crowd were into it and they told a good story.

Steamboat hit Jericho with a side suplex from the top rope which led to several near falls. Jericho then caught him with a kick to the head for a two count. He went for the Lionsault but Steamboat caught him on his shoulders. Jericho rolled through and locked in the Walls of Jericho but Stemaboat countered and went for a figure four which he momentarily forgot how to apply. Steamboat went to the top and hit the cross body for another near fall. Steamboat came off the top rope again but straight into a codebreaker but he got his foot on the rope when Jericho made the cover. Steamboat with an inside cradle for a two count but Jericho then locked in the Walls again and Steamboat tapped. Winner: Chris Jericho.

Good match. Steamboat got a standing ovation as chants for him started up again.

Backstage, Santino was shown looking worried. Beth interrupted so Santino pretended to be on the phone to Santina and said she was a real woman. Santino tried to talk Beth into kissing Khali tonight. She said no and said she wouldn’t be kissing Santino anymore either.

- CM Punk vs. Kane is up next. Not much of a reaction for either guy and very little heat early in the match. Punk hit a few high kicks and Kane some punches. Punk hit a clothesline off the apron to the outside. Back in the ring, Punk was laid underneath the bottom turnbuckle and Kane hit a baseball slide into him. All just seemed real disjointed as these two again proved that they don’t mesh well. Nothing particular bad but it just seemed so slow and dull. Kane went for a chokeslam but Punk countered with an armbar. Kane went to the top but Punk hit him with a kick to the head. He went for the GTS but Kane escaped.

Kane caught Punk coming off the top rope with a right hand and went for a side slam but Punk countered into an armbar. Kane countered the hold and hit the side slam. He went for the chokeslam but got met with another couple of stiff kicks. Kane caught the final kick and hit the chokeslam. 1, 2, 3 and we’re done. Winner: Kane.

Not good at all. The crowd were dead until popping for the chokeslam and pinfall.

- Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy in an ‘I Quit’ match is up next. Thankfully, Jeff has ditched the ridiculous facepaint. They went to the outside early on with Jeff dominating before returning to the ring. Jeff connected with a mule kick to Matt in the corner but landed on his head when connecting with it. He hit a legdrop from the second rope before locking in a sleeper hold. Matt fell forward causing Jeff to hit the top turnbuckle. Crowd are really quiet at this point but woke up by chanting for tables.

Matt took control in the ring, working over Jeff’s leg and giving us our second figure four of the night. Crowd chanted for tables again as Matt locked in the figure four for the second time in this match as he continued to control the match. The crowd got distracted by something going on in the arena and for a couple of minutes paid no attention to the match. Jeff fought back and connected with Whisper in the Wind before locking in a Texas Cloverleaf. Matt tapped but wouldn’t say the words I Quit…isn’t tapping pretty much the same thing?

Jeff went the top and hit a Swanton. He then hit a second before going to the outside and bringing out a table. Crowd are finally happy. Jeff laid Matt on a table in the ring then rolled back outside and brought out some duck tape of all things. He taped Matt’s hands and legs together then  used some rope to completely tie Matt to the table. Jeff then brought out a ladder which got the biggest pop of the night so far. He brought the ladder in to the ring and climbed it but Matt got the mic from the referee and told Jeff he loved him and was sorry. Jeff listened, no-sold Matt telling him they could get back together. Matt talked about their mother watching them and father watching from home. Then before Jeff could do anything, Matt said he quit. The crowd booed like crazy but popped as Jeff came off the ladder anyway with a sitdown splash/legdrop thing of sorts which I guess was designed to get the pop as well as ensuring the table breaking didn’t lead to Matt getting hurt. Winner: Jeff Hardy.

Backstage, Todd Grisham interviewed Randy Orton who was with Priceless. Orton said to Batista not to disqualified so that Triple H didn’t lose his title, saying that to Dave, after all these years, “its all about The Game.”

I mentioned during the Hardy match that something was distracting the live crowd. A couple of people live in the arena sent word shortly afterwards that there was some kind of fight in the crowd which was the reason for that. 

- Santina Marella on Kiss Cam with Great Khali is up next. Khali came out first followed by Santina, who said that she wasn’t who she said she was and that she was in love with another man. Khali wanted to know who, so Santina said it was Jim Ross, who looked far from impressed. Khali understood and said Santina didn’t have to kiss him…providing Santina kissed Ross, who said it wasn’t going to happen. Michael Cole said “Come on, Mr BBQ Man” which led to Ross saying “Who fed you that line?”

Beth and Rosa came out with a referee. Beth wanted a match with Santina and told Khali that he wanted to kiss a man. She called him an idiot and said all women in Punjabi must be ugly if he wants to kiss Santina. Seriously, where do you start with what’s wrong with that?

Khali gave her the weakest shot to the head you’ll ever see and she sold it like she’d been shot. Santina then got the match started, pinned Beth right away and that was that. Khali then stripped Santina’s top off, with him/her running off as if her boobs had been exposed. Trainwreck of a segment.

- Triple H (C), Batista and Shane McMahon vs. Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes with the WWE title on the line is up next. So the stip here is that if HHH/Shane/Batista get the win, Trips retains. If Orton/Rhodes/DiBiase get the win, Orton is the new champion. Lilian Garcia announced the belt can change on a DQ or countout as well.

The match started with a brawl. HHH and Orton went up the ramp with Orton going backstage as HHH returned to the ring. Batista pretty much killed Cody Rhodes early on before Shane hit him with a number of elbow drops. HHH then tagged in and continued to work over Rhodes as Orton was still nowhere in sight. This crowd, who have been quiet most of the night, are still pretty silent for this match.

Batista hit a huge delayed vertical suplex on Rhodes, who was able to tag in DiBiase. He soon got hit with a spinebuster but bailed before Batista could hit the powerbomb. Orton returned to the ring and took out Batista on the outside. Orton and co. worked over Batista before Orton hit him with the DDT off the second rope.

After several minutes, Batista was able to make the tag to Shane, who took out Rhodes and DiBiase with some fucking horrendous punches. Shane hit an elbow on Rhodes from the top rope but DiBiase broke the count. Orton took out Shane on the outside then suplexed him back into the ring. They worked over Shane for what seemed like a lifetime until Shane hit a DDT on DiBiase and was able to make the hot tag to HHH. He cleared house and took out Orton. Priceless, Shane and Batista fought on the outside with Rhodes taking out Shane with a chair. Batista set up for a chair shot on DiBiase on the outside but HHH stopped him from using it, which led to Orton hitting an RKO. HHH kicked out on two but the bell rang which was obviously not meant to happen. Orton then hit the punt kick on HHH and pinned him 1, 2, 3. Winner and new WWE champion: Randy Orton.

Post-match, Orton and co left to the back while HHH remained laid out in the ring. Medics came into the ring as Shane and Batista looked on. HHH got put on a stretcher as some of the crowd did the “na, na, na, na, hey, hey, hey, goodbye” song briefly. The announcers went into solemn voice mode to put over that HHH could be out for some time. They mentioned that Batista and Shane were out for a long time because of the kick to the head so it may well be that HHH is off TV for a few weeks.

-  John Cena (C) vs. Edge in a Last Man Standing Match for the World Heavyweight Title closes the show. Edge dominated early on as we got duelling chants from the crowd, who were split on who to cheer for (although it was more boos for Cena than cheers for Edge).

Edge slowed things down with a sleeper hold but Cena got back up before the referee made his ten count. Cena fought back but Edge soon locked in a sharpshooter. They went to the outside where Edge set up for a spear but Cena moved and Edge hit the ring steps. Edge then whipped Cena into the other set of steps at ringside. Cena lifted up a set of steps to throw into the ring but struggled. Eventually he got them in there but was met with a boot by Edge, who then nailed Cena with the steps and dropkicked them into him.

Cena picked up the ring steps again and tossed them over the top rope on to Edge on the outside. Back in the ring, they traded punches and knocked each other down simultaneously. Cena went for the FU three times which were all blocked. Edge mocked Cena and went for the ‘You Can’t See Me’ but Cena countered with an STF. Edge tapped, but obviously with the stip, it didn’t count. Cena went for the FU again but Edge held on to the top rope. Cena ran the ropes but ran into a spear.

They both went to the top rope where Cena hit a huge FU which looked crazy because of how Edge was thrown and how he landed. Cena went to the top again but Edge caught him in mid-air with a spear. They went to the outside where Edge set Cena up for a DDT on the table, but Cena countered and FU’d Edge overfrom the table over the guardrail and into a bunch of fans (plants) at ringside. Pretty cool spot which nobody could see coming. Edge managed to get back to his feet before the 10 count was up.

The brawled through the crowd and ended up in the concourse before returning near the stage area. Cena hit a bulldog off the steps to an area at the side of the stage. Edge hit Cena with a DDT on the stage. He went backstage and brought out a chair which he nailed Cena with. Cena got up on nine but as he then had Edge up for an FU, Big Show came out and chokeslammed Cena into a giant light or something at the side of the stage. It caused an explosion which looked a bit hokey. The referee counted to ten, Cena didn’t move, and we have a new World champion. Winner and new World Heavyweight Champion: Edge.

A ton of officials came out afterwards as well as a few wrestlers, including Christian. Cena was put on a stretcher as the show ended.

Thanks for joining us for our live Backlash coverage here tonight!

Phil Lowe
phil@ifight365.com