Background
The main feud heading into Backlash was between Chris Benoit, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels over the World Heavyweight Championship. Chris Benoit won the title one month prior at WrestleMania XX when he defeated Michaels and then-champion Triple H in a Triple Threat match. Benoit won the match by forcing Triple H to submit to the Crippler Crossface. The following night on Raw, Benoit and Michaels defeated Evolution (Randy Orton, Ric Flair, and Batista) in a 3-on-2 Handicap tag team match. Benoit and Michaels won the match after Benoit forced Batista to submit to the Sharpshooter. On the March 22 edition of Raw, Triple H was drafted over to the SmackDown! brand, and Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff announced that Michaels would receive a World title match against Benoit at Backlash. Four days later on the March 25 edition of SmackDown!, SmackDown! General Manager Kurt Angle announced that Triple H had been traded back to Raw in exchange for The Dudley Boyz and Booker T. The next week on Raw, Bischoff made the one-on-one World Heavyweight Championship match between champion Chris Benoit and Shawn Michaels, a Triple Threat match also involving Triple H.
The other main match on the card was a Hardcore match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship between Randy Orton and Cactus Jack. Three months prior at the Royal Rumble, after Mick Foley eliminated Orton from the Royal Rumble match, Orton hit Foley with a steel chair, and the two brawled up the ramp and into the back. In March at WrestleMania XX, Evolution (Orton, Batista, and Ric Flair) faced off against The Rock 'n' Sock Connection (Foley and The Rock) in a Handicap match. Evolution won the match when Orton pinned Foley after an RKO. Two weeks later, on the March 22 edition of Raw, Foley challenged Orton to a Hardcore match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Backlash, which Orton accepted that same night.
Another feud heading into the event was between Chris Jericho and Christian and Trish Stratus. At WrestleMania XX, Christian defeated Jericho. After the match, Stratus, Jericho's on-screen girlfriend at the time, turned on Jericho and joined Christian. On the April 5 edition of Raw, Christian announced that he would be teaming up with Stratus to take on Jericho in a Handicap match at Backlash.
Read more about this topic: Backlash (2004)
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