Early Predictions for WWE WrestleMania Backlash 2022 Match Card

The Road to WrestleMania 38 is in the rearview mirror, but all the traffic is heading straight toward WrestleMania Backlash 2022.

This event will continue some of the feuds and storylines that didn't conclude at AT&T Stadium while undoubtedly kicking off new paths for various Superstars, setting up the next few months toward SummerSlam in July.

As it stands, no matches have been added to the card, but several have been at least hinted at. Others can be surmised with some educated guesswork.

Let's toss out an early prediction for what the lineup may look like come WrestleMania Backlash on May 8!

Based on how their match went down at WrestleMania, it's only fitting Ronda Rousey gets another shot at the SmackDown Women's Championship since Charlotte Flair tapped out while the referee was incapacitated.

Rousey was quick to challenge Flair to an "I Quit" match for Backlash, with her philosophy being that it would settle the score once and for all while preventing The Queen any opportunities to retain her title by disqualification, count-out or any indecisive finishes.

Flair didn't accept the challenge, but WWE doesn't put out those teases without following through, so it should be made official soon enough. Why WWE waited a day to confirm it remains to be seen, but it is now being advertised as a done deal.

This will likely be where Rousey takes the title, and their feud will continue into June's Hell in a Cell event. It's hard to imagine Rousey will say "I quit" in any fashion because that would ruin her Baddest Woman on the Planet persona.

Despite getting rid of the automatic rematch clause, WWE still gives deposed champions opportunities to win back their titles more often than not. The only difference the past few years has been that half the time, a nonchalant No. 1 Contender's Match will be booked on Raw or SmackDown for them to win to justify why they get another shot.

Bianca Belair has yet to start a feud with anyone after beating Becky Lynch. The EST of WWE cut a promo on Raw about winning the title and how she will be a fighting champion, but no one came out to challenge her.

Belair's already hit the KOD on Doudrop four or five times in recent months and beaten many others on her journey to facing Big Time Becks, so no such option feels big enough for this event.

While Lynch in yet another rematch is far from fresh, it's at least the easiest story WWE can tell to put the biggest names possible on the marquee. Considering how easy it would be to stretch this into a Hell in a Cell match, just like Flair vs. Rousey, that's probably the direction in which WWE is heading.

Bobby Lashley took out Omos at WrestleMania, but without MVP by his side. MVP took great enough offense to that to seek retaliation by joining with Omos to beat down Lashley on Monday Night Raw.

The moment Omos opened his mouth and said he wanted a rematch, it felt locked it would happen at Backlash. The turn with MVP sealed that deal, as this is now too big of a story to just play out on Raw.

In all likelihood, Omos will win this match because of some sort of distraction or interference on his behalf from MVP so they can even the odds between the two juggernauts and prove that Lashley would have been better off not shunning the manager who turned around his career.

Then, like many other ongoing feuds, this will continue into a rubber match, wherein The All Mighty will probably get the victory before moving on to being a contender for Roman Reigns in the future.

Another feud that is likely to continue until Hell in a Cell is AJ Styles vs. Edge. Now that Edge has Damian Priest by his side, he will act as the go-between to eat up some time and keep The Phenomenal One away from The Rated-R Superstar.

Styles vs. Priest is already set to happen on Raw. There will probably be tag team matches over the next few weeks too and several segments of Styles being attacked by Edge and his partner.

This may even be one of the titular matches come Hell in a Cell, with the typical setup being that Styles wants to keep Edge's cronies (assuming more Superstars commit to his cause) out of the ring. It never works, but it sounds good on paper.

To get to that point, though, Styles vs. Edge at WrestleMania Backlash could be another gimmick match like a Street Fight to allow interference from Priest.

Granted, there is a chance Styles just fights Priest again at Backlash. The sentiment is still there that The Phenomenal One isn't going to move on to some brand-new feud just yet. That will probably not happen until closer to Money in the Bank in July.

With the way he's been booked in the past month, WWE has made it clear there is no interest in giving Finn Balor a proper run with the United States Championship. Rather, he was just a guy sent out there to beat Priest so he could be free to join Edge's faction.

For weeks, Balor has also been dealing with Austin Theory, even while Mr. McMahon's protege was busy with Pat McAfee.

Over and over, Theory scores victories—big and small—over Balor. He's more than earned himself a shot at the United States Championship.

Given WWE's track record of ignoring the midcard titles on pay-per-view and doing those matches on television, there's a high probability this match takes place on Raw rather than at WrestleMania Backlash. But there is far more of a chance this match gets booked than for Ricochet to be defending the Intercontinental Championship on this card because nothing at all seems to be going on with that title.

Roman Reigns wasted two segments this week just to only say the future of The Bloodline is for The Usos to go after the Raw Tag Team Championship. Nothing was addressed about how the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship would be defended going forward.

The closest thing to a tease that he would start a new feud was when Shinsuke Nakamura interrupted the SmackDown promo, only to receive a hug from The Tribal Chief and two superkicks from Jimmy and Jey. He looked like a fool, but WWE will be so much more concerned with how Reigns appears going forward that his opponents will likely be booked like this quite often.

There's a chance WWE just slots in Nakamura for a title shot at this event to give The Head of the Table someone to beat. Nobody would justifiably think the belts would change hands, but it's a B-level event, so WWE won't put too much effort into making it special.

An alternative, though, would be Drew McIntyre becoming No. 1 contender. He defeated Sami Zayn by count-out recently and could be transitioning into a full feud with him, but it could just as easily be a stopgap to determine The Scottish Warrior is the next in line for a title opportunity.

Zayn already referred to McIntyre as the toughest person on the roster, so he's meant to be viewed as the biggest possible threat to Reigns. Why not just go straight into that rivalry?

We should soon get a better indication of WWE's mindset. If Nakamura beats one of The Usos and McIntyre just goes deeper into his feud with Zayn, it means WWE is holding off on McIntyre vs. Reigns until Hell in a Cell or Money in the Bank.

There are plenty other matches that could fill the card but could just as easily play out on Raw and SmackDown, making it hard to tell which ones WWE chooses for which shows.

Some other feuds going on at the moment to pay attention to would be:

Cody Rhodes vs. The Miz if that extends past this Monday night.

Rey Mysterio vs. Veer Mahaan to follow up on the latter's attack on The Mysterios.

Sasha Banks and Naomi could defend the Women's Tag Team Championship, but if Rhea Ripley turns heel, she may end up facing Liv Morgan instead.

Is the story of Kevin Owens vs. Ezekiel going to continue and lead to a match, or was that a one-off and both will go their separate ways?

Carmella and Queen Zelina Vega have split, but a match between those two depends greatly on whether Carmella will be enjoying her honeymoon after marrying Corey Graves or if she will be back in time to build this more. Even then, it might still be relegated to Raw in favor of other, more important matches.

Speaking of teams that have split, Happy Corbin vs. Madcap Moss will happen at some point. It's worth suggesting it might take place at WrestleMania Backlash because WWE has given Moss a solid push as of late.

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.