Backlash (2006) - Background

Background

Backlash featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines that were played out on Raw. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches. All wrestlers were from World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s Raw brand—a storyline division in which WWE employees are assigned to a television program of the same name.

The main event at Backlash was a Triple Threat match, a standard wrestling match involving three wrestlers for the WWE Championship between John Cena, Triple H, and Edge. The buildup to the match began when Triple H lost the Royal Rumble match, a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until one is left and declared winner but participated in the 2006 Road to WrestleMania Tournament, where the winner would become the number-one contender to the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Triple H won the tournament. Cena defeated Triple H at WrestleMania to retain the title after forcing him to submit to the STFU, a move in which the wrestler wraps his arm around the neck of the opponent in a sleeper hold instead of pulling back on the head of the opponent. The next night on Raw, one of WWE's primary television programs, Triple H demanded another shot at the WWE Championship, but Edge and Lita (Edge's girlfriend) interrupted Triple H's segment. Edge said that he became WWE Champion at New Year's Revolution when he cashed in his Money in the Bank title shot, that he won at WrestleMania 21, and defeating Cena at the event, after Cena had defeated five other men in an Elimination Chamber, a match featuring wrestlers fighting in a ring surrounded by a steel structure of chain and girders. Cena, however, reclaimed the Championship at the 2006 Royal Rumble, when he defeated Edge. Edge claimed that it was time for a new opponent for the WWE Championship, after stating that at WrestleMania, Triple H lost his opportunity when he lost to Cena. All three men had a series of Handicap matches, a match consisting of one team of wrestlers facing off against a team of wrestlers with numerical superiority such as three against two, or two against one leading up to Backlash with Triple H pinning Cena after tucking Cena's head between his knees and jumping up to slam his head to the mat, a move that Triple H calls the Pedigree, Cena forcing Edge to submit to the STFU, and Edge executing a shoulder block takedown on Triple H and pinning him. It was then announced that Cena would defend the WWE Championship in a Triple Threat match against Triple H and Edge at Backlash.

Another rivalry heading into the event was Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon versus Shawn Michaels and God. This feud started on December 26, 2005, when Vince McMahon made note of Bret Hart's DVD, claiming that he "tricked" Hart in the hours of his match at Survivor Series 1997, where Hart lost the WWE Championship to Shawn Michaels. At the event, Michaels applied Hart's own finisher, the Sharpshooter, and McMahon called for the bell, in an event known as the "Montreal Screwjob". Michaels interrupted McMahon and told him to "let it go" and "move on" from the events of Survivor Series. In reply McMahon told Michaels that he indeed screwed Bret Hart and added, "Shawn, do not make me screw you." At the Royal Rumble, Shane McMahon made a surprising appearance when he eliminated Michaels from the Rumble match, though Shane was not a participant. McMahon informed Michaels that he would face his son Shane on the March 18, 2006 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event in a No Holds Barred match. At the event, Vince interfered throughout the match on his son's behalf, by stopping the referee's count, after Michaels performed Sweet Chin Music, a move which sees the wrestler use the sole of the foot to strike an opponent's head or chin on Shane, an enraged Michaels grabbed McMahon but before he could do anything, Shane hit Michaels with a low blow. McMahon ordered Shane to apply the Sharpshooter on Michaels, and, after he executed the submission move, McMahon called for the bell, similar to the 1997 Survivor Series match. Mr. McMahon booked himself and Michaels in a No Holds Barred match at WrestleMania 22. At WrestleMania, the Spirit Squad and Shane McMahon interfered on McMahon's behalf, but Michaels defeated Vince McMahon after he performed Sweet Chin Music and captured the pinfall victory. The next night on Raw, The McMahons confronted Michaels and informed him that his win at WrestleMania was "an act of God," therefore setting up the tag team match at Backlash that would have The McMahons facing Michaels and God.