WWE Backlash 2016: Do Match Odds Give Results Spoilers For Pay-Per-View?
On Sunday night, the WWE Backlash 2016 pay-per-view will take over the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia. It will be the first exclusive Smackdown Live pay-per-view since the roster draft held back in July. That means it will only feature superstars and women’s wrestlers who are a part of the Smackdown show roster. Among the big matches, there are four championships up for grabs. Two of them will be decided for the first-time ever, with two other titles on the line that are already with respective owners.
The Wrestling Inc website recently reported on betting odds for matches at WWE Backlash 2016. The matches included are the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and Intercontinental Championship matches, as well as the brand new Women’s and Tag Team championship bouts. While odds tend to fluctuate a bit leading up to sports events, the odds seem to give an indication of who will win and lose. That could mean match spoilers for those who are wanting to be surprised with the upcoming pay-per-view.
The Miz will once again have his Intercontinental Championship on the line at a pay-per-view. He successfully defended against Apollo Crews at last month’s SummerSlam. Now he’s being challenged by Dolph Ziggler. As of a few days ago, The Miz was listed as a -530 money line favorite over Ziggler, who was a +350 underdog. That would seem to indicate Miz is walking out with the title, again.
One of the new championships Smackdown is handing out Sunday night is the WWE Tag Team Championship. It will feature two matches during the evening. The Usos and The Hype Bros have to battle to determine who faces Heath Slater and Rhyno in the title match. Slater and Rhyno were listed as slight favorites at -215 on the money line, while their potential opponents are +165 underdogs. The duo of Slater and Rhyno have been sentimental favorites with fans based on their storyline, but The Usos have recently turned heel and seem like a threat to win the titles.
The new Women’s Championship is also up for grabs in a match featuring six women in the ring. It will be an elimination style match with the last woman standing to become the brand new champion. The Forbes website reported on the upcoming Backlash event and mentioned which women might work best as the new champ.
“Nikki Bella is the easiest and most obvious choice to become the SmackDown Women’s Champion, but don’t be surprised if a dark horse like Becky Lynch or even Naomi walks away with the title because either of those scenarios would be more interesting than another title run for Nikki.”
As of right now, Nikki is the strong favorite to walk out as champion. She was listed with -120 odds. However, Becky Lynch had +115 odds and Natalya had +300. Alexa Bliss had +500, while Carmella and Naomi are long shots at +1,000 each. It seems it will be Nikki, Becky or Natalya as the most likely champs, but surprises are possible with WWE.
The main event match for the Backlash 2016 pay-per-view is expected to be AJ Styles challenging Dean Ambrose for the WWE World Heavyweight Title. Ambrose has held that belt ever since Money in the Bank and then brought it with him as the first draft pick for Smackdown. Styles, who came to WWE after a long history in Japanese pro wrestling and TNA, has been trending upward since his time with the company. He defeated John Cena in several matches and was able to defeat Dolph Ziggler to become top contender for Ambrose’s title.
That said, Styles is actually the favorite coming into the main event title match. “The Phenomenal One” was listed at -160 as of this past Thursday while Ambrose was a +120 underdog. It’s important to realize, that a victory for Styles could be as simple as a count out or disqualification of Ambrose. It would give Styles a victory, but not the title itself.
The WWE Backlash 2016 pay-per-view goes live Sunday night from Richmond Coliseum in Virginia. Professional wrestling fans will be watching exclusively on select cable providers or the online WWE Network to see which stars leave with the championships!
[Image via WWE]
