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Welcome to the 7th edition of WRESTLEMAN’s weekly column, featuring predictions for this Sunday’s Backlash. Also, the Winners of the 2005/06 Season End Awards will be announced.

In my Wrestlemania 22 predictions in WRESTLEMAN #3, I scored a very impressive (even if I say so myself) 9 out of 11 – so we’re talking about 82%. Hopefully my prediction hot streak will continue as I take out the crystal ball once more for the RAW PPV Backlash. Or maybe I’ll just come crashing back down to earth! Anyway, on with the matches:

WWE Women’s Championship
TRISH STRATUS vs MICKIE JAMES
Trish’s mind games have given her the upper-hand against the confused Mickie James. But, I do not see her re-gaining the Women’s title yet. The win at Wrestlemania was clean, but this time I think Mickie will win dirty. It will be great entertainment if both women are dressed as each other during the match, and hopefully that will add something to the story of the match. If they can avoid the botched finish that happened at ‘mania, we could be talking an 8 or 9 out of ten for a Women’s match!

Winner – STILL WOMEN’S CHAMPION MICKIE JAMES

CARLITO vs CHRIS MASTERS
This is the match I’m looking forward to most on the card. I saw a preview of this at a Live Event in Birmingham last week, in which Carlito went over using his ‘Back-cracker’. However, when it matters, at Backlash, I expect Masters to pick up the victory – the main reason being because he probably needs it more than Carlito does. I saw a nice Masterlock-Reversal-Masterlock sequence at the House Show, which could be used to finish this match – although I don’t see Masters going over cleanly, so it will probably some sort of screw-job. The crowd reaction should be interesting, because both men are somewhere between heel and face. In Birmingham, there was sometimes an awkward silence, as the fans were not sure how to react.

Winner – CHRIS MASTERS

INTERCOTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP vs MONEY-IN-THE-BANK
SHELTON BENJAMIN vs ROB VAN DAM
It would be pretty cheap, but there’s a big possibility this could end in a draw. I definitely do not see Shelton Benjamin winning the MITB, but it would devalue the Intercontinental title to give the belt to RVD (because he’s not interested in it – his sights are set higher). So that’s what has lead me to the conclusion this will be some sort of non-finish. Providing the two phenomenal athletes can put on the breath-taking display they are capable of, then that would make up for the cheap finish for me. This is another match I saw in Birmingham, and they put on a decent match there, but there is still better from these two to come in my opinion. Also titles can’t change hands on DQ or Count-out, so Benjamin could easily take the easy way out to retain his title.

Winner – NON-CONTEST/DRAW (Both men keep their respective titles)

UMAGA vs RIC FLAIR
Umaga seems to be getting a bit of push at the moment, so you would expect him to pick up the win – but you never know when Ric Flair is involved. This is pretty much 50-50 at the moment, so rather than go for the predictable Umaga win, I’ve instead decided to go with Flair to get the win. No offence to either man, but this is just a filler – and I don’t expect it to be that great.

WINNER – RIC FLAIR

KANE vs BIG SHOW
With the ‘movie push’ that Kane seems to be on, it would be crazy to bet against him defeating the Big Show. I don’t think it will be clean, but he will still get the win. I doubt it will be a classic, but these two are established superstars, and are more than capable of putting on a good PPV match.

Winner – KANE

VINCE & SHANE McMAHON vs SHAWN MICHAELS & GOD
Like most people, I am (somewhat naively) hoping this will be the last match in this feud. How much more can they do? Shawn Michaels should pick up the victory again, but God (pun intended) only knows what they will have in store for us this time. We could see Vince picking up the victory, and claiming he should be the man to dethrone God, and rule the world! But, seriously Shane and Vince are not wrestlers, and it would just be wrong if they didn’t get their asses kicked.

Winner – SHAWN MICHAELS

WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
JOHN CENA vs TRIPLE H vs EDGE
Following Wrestlemania, I think this actually IS foregone conclusion! Everybody thought that Triple H would defeat Cena at ‘mania, but I had a sneaky feeling Cena would pull it off, and he did. They shocked the world! But surely this time its curtains for Cena’s title reign? Personally, I will be routing for Edge, but Triple H will pick up the victory, in my opinion. Edge will most probably move to SmackDown! before he gets another title reign. Triple H’s reign will only be short, because I think he’ll lose it to RVD – but then again that will suit him, because he can get nearer to Flair’s 16.

Winner – AND NEW WWE CHAMPION TRIPLE H

An eighth match could be added to the card – and would most likely be the Spirit Squad making a tag-team title defence. Or another possibility could be a pillow/bikini type match featuring the other four divas. Either way I’m sure the divas and the Spirit Squad will be involved in the show in some way. A question mark still remains over the possibility of God pulling a ‘no show’ at the event, or maybe he will be there in the form of another superstar dressed as Him. I seem to be predicting this all the time – but maybe we will see the re-debut of Test in that role?

Anyway, the event looks well worth buying (or watching for free in the UK), and should be an above-average event.

Here are the results of the Season End Awards that have been voted on over the past two or three weeks.

RAW SUPERSTAR OF THE SEASON

- WINNER – SHAWN MICHAELS (34%) – Despite being in the winter of his career, HBK picks up the RAW superstar of the season. No doubt the series of matches against Kurt Angle, and his job to Hogan at Summerslam, has earned him this award.
- RUNNERS UP – EDGE & JOHN CENA (22%)

SMACKDOWN! SUPERSTAR OF THE SEASON

- WINNER – REY MYSTERIO (33%) – After an eventful year for Mysterio, which included winning the Royal Rumble, the World Title at Wrestlemania, and his classic Ladder match against Eddie Guerrero, he picks up the award for SmackDown! superstar of the season. Not forgetting winning the WWE Tag-Titles with Batista.
- RUNNERS UP – KURT ANGLE & EDDIE GUERRERO (22%)

TNA SUPERSTAR OF THE SEASON

- WINNER – SAMOA JOE (34%) – After maintaining an undefeated record since debuting on TNA, and having two classic Triple Threat X-Division title matches against Christopher Daniels and AJ Styles, Samoa Joe picks up the TNA superstar of the season award.
- RUNNERS UP – CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & CHRISTIAN CAGE (22%)

WWE ROOKIE OF THE SEASON

- WINNER – PAUL BURCHILL (32 %) – Paul Burchill made his debut as the protégé of William Regal, but it was not until he switched to his Pirate gimmick, that he began to pick up popularity. His recent undefeated streak, and impressive finisher, will have been factors in his win of the rookie of the season award.
- RUNNERS UP – CHRIS MASTERS & BOBBY LASHLEY (23%)

WWE TAG-TEAM OF THE SEASON

- WINNERS – MNM (56%) – Mercury, Nitro, and Melina have all made a great start to their WWE careers, in particular by dominating the tag-team division. Despite losing the titles twice during the year, MNM have re-gained the titles and held them for eight out of the last twelve months. Melina has also been impressive in her own right, earning a Women’s title shot at Survivor Series.
RUNNERS UP – KANE & BIG SHOW (34%)

TNA TAG-TEAM OF THE SEASON

- WINNERS – America’s Most Wanted (44%) – Since aligning themselves with Jeff Jarrett AMW have become the most successful tag-team in TNA. This year has seen Harris and Storm become the six-time TNA tag champions, and gain the record for the longest reigning champions.
- RUNNERS UP – TEAM 3D (23%)

WWE DIVA OF THE SEASON

- WINNER – MICKIE JAMES (55%) – Winning the Women’s title at Wrestlemania was the culmination of a great debut season for Mickie James in WWE. Mickie has earned a lot of popularity with the way she has portrayed her very difficult psycho character, which would have played a huge part in her winning Diva if the season.
- RUNNER UP – MELINA (23%)

WWE PPV OF THE SEASON

- WINNER – WRESTLEMANIA 22 (67%) – Wrestlemania 22 featured a number of very good matches, so much so it was difficult to decide which one stole the show. There could be an argument for Edge vs Mick Foley, HBK vs Vince McMahon, Money-in-the-Bank, or even both main-events.
- RUNNER UP – NO WAY OUT (22%)

TNA PPV OF THE SEASON

- WINNER – DESTINATION X (33%) – Destination X featured Christian Cage’s first PPV title defence against Monty Brown, after which, Scott Steiner made his TNA debut. Also on the card was the Ultimate-X between Daniels, AJ, and Joe; and the 8-man tag match with Jarrett’s team coming out on top.
- RUNNERS UP – LOCKDOWN, BOUND FOR GLORY, & AGAINST ALL ODDS (22%)

WWE MATCH OF THE SEASON

- WINNER – KURT ANGLE VS UNDERTAKER (NO WAY OUT) (34%) – A fast paced action-packed match, which proved that ‘Taker can still go. Because of the predictability of the result beforehand, it’s a real complement to the match that they made the fans totally unsure on who would come out on top.
- RUNNER UP – CENA VS HBK VS ANGLE (TABOO TUESDAY) & REY MYSTERIO VS EDDIE GUERRERO (SUMMERSLAM) (22%)

TNA MATCH OF THE YEAR

- WINNER – MONSTER’S BALL II (BOUND FOR GLORY) (50%) – Jeff Hardy, Abyss, Sabu, and Rhino, all took a massive amount of punishment in this match. The match featured tables, ladders, chairs, thumbtacks, barbwire, you name it. But without doubt, the lasting memory from the match was the CRAZY dive from the top of the entrance tunnel – swantoning Abyss through a table. Hardy has his critics but this was nothing short of incredible!
- RUNNERS UP – JARRET VS CAGE (AGAINST ALL ODDS), DANIELS VS STYLES VS JOE (UNBREAKABLE)

That completes the first annual WRESTLEMAN Season End Awards. Thank you to everybody who voted. This is also the end of WRESTLEMAN #7, be sure to check back next Wednesday/Thursday for next week’s edition. You may have also noticed a new addition to site this week, which is the weekly newsletter. This will be a continuing feature that will be put up every Tuesday.

To contact WRESTLEMAN about this week’s column e-mail shmiwe1986@yahoo.co.uk OR alternatively if you are a member on FOW send me a personal message instead.

The second Game Month of WRESTLEMAN Fantasy Wrestling will start after Backlash this week. To be eligible for month 2 please enter your team before RAW starts on Monday May 1st. Go to the Fantasy Wrestling section of the sit for more information.

Thanks for reading.

WRESTLEMAN

Piczo