Our lack of faith depresses me.

I'm talking about "our" as in "the online wrestling community at large" and the apparent lack of confidence it seems to have in the WWF ever since WrestleMania. There's more negativity lately than a room full of magnets. "The WWF's gone completely stale. I KNEW this would happen with no competition!"

Uh, hello... the biggest star in the last five years just turned heel and sided with a man who's tried to make his life hell for over three years, and another man who - let's just come out and say it - conspired to have him KILLED. After a couple of skirmishes with two gutsy brothers from North Carolina, they're in a blood feud with two 7-foot brothers who like to set things on fire in their yard. Does that sound stale to you?

Some of the stuff I've been reading is just flat-out ridiculous.

The next person to say Chris Benoit isn't over as a face goes through a table.

The next person to say Stone Cold Steve Austin isn't over as a heel goes through the SPANISH announce table.

The next person to say that someone Jeff Hardy's size has no business beating Triple H does the Mankind Hell In The Cell II bump, but through BOTH announce tables.

And I'm convinced that TSN is doing something else to the Raw feed - it seems like I've heard so many Canadians complain about the Hardys not getting any offense in during their matches with Austin and HHH, I'm not sure we're all watching the same show. Never mind that the WWF higher-ups obviously thought enough of the Hardys and Lita that they would even consider using them to help get Austin over as a heel.

I've also got a problem with the "nobody new is being elevated" complaint. The six-person intergender tag between the Hardys & Lita and HHH, Austin, and Stephanie was a rare case where somebody was elevated, if only slightly, just by being in a match against top guys. (And before you yell at me, the fact that Team Xtreme WON the match - which everyone seems to have forgotten amid the controversy - only helps matters.)

"What about Benoit?" you ask. Well, he only turned face last month, and is already getting good-sized pops. He's got an issue with Kurt Angle, whom fans despise, and he's benefited tremendously from it, IMO. It's been a month. Nobody goes from squashing Billy Gunn as a heel to main-eventing as a face in a month. A little more polish on the mic, and I think he might be ready by KotR. His new best friend Chris Jericho is tied up with the equally hated Commissioner Regal, and he's already got an issue with HHH should the Fed decide to go that route.

I think we all need to get a little perspective on this whole thing. It's been 26 days since WrestleMania. It's not like the WWF is in some year-long irreversible downward spiral that can only lead to its destruction Are there things that the Fed could be doing better? Of course there are. I've been watching wrestling for a while, and I have yet to see an absolutely perfect show. But I'm already hearing predictions of Impending Doom as far as the WWF is concerned, and I'm sorry, but I just don't see it that way.

And this probably will sound hopelessly naive, markish, and for me, unusually optimistic, but even though I may not like everything the WWF is doing right now, I, for one, am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. If nothing else, they've earned that much from me.

YOUR PREVIEW FOR BACKLASH 2001

Hardcore Title Match: Rhyno vs. Raven

Something happened, and Raven got switched from a Eurotitle match with Eddie (which, frankly, no one cared about) into a Hardcore bout with the last ECW World Champ, Rhyno, who's been running roughshod over the division.

What I'd Do: Keep building Rhyno with a win here.

What They'll Do: The same, although I fully expect the Hollys to get involved.

Triple Threat European Title Match: Matt Hardy (w/Lita Lita & Carolina Jam) vs. Eddie Guer-rudo vs. One Of Those Guys I Think I Know

Eddie beat Test to become a two-time Euro champ at WM. Matt won it yesterday. Edge & Christian complained about it, so Christian was added to what would have been a return match, making it a Triple Threat. This WAS done for a reason, but damned if I know what it is.

What I'd Do: I don't understand this. Eddie gets the win back.

What They'll Do: I smell a screwjob - and a win for Christian.

The Dudley Clan vs. Yo you dealin' with da SLOOOOOOWWWWWWW JAAAAAAAAAAM

What is it with the Dudleys, Backlash, and Albert? When did Justin Credible get tights? And what the HELL did they do to X-Factor's music? Not that it was all that before, but... good LORD.

Albert's thrown Spike around like a dart. Some genius gave Credible a mic and he took credit for running the Dudleys out of ECW. And everyone hates X-Pac as it is.

What I'd Do: Dudleys go over and start chasing the tag titles again. It's a tag match, so X-Pac might job.

What They'll Do: I sense victory for X-Factor.

Duchess Of Queensbury Rules: William Regal vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho beat Regal at WMX7 to keep the Intercontinental Title, but Regal ran interference for Triple H so he could win it. Now that there's no belt involved, Regal's been looking for ways to get back at Jericho, and he came up with a "Duchess of Queensbury Rules" match for Backlash.

What exactly ARE "Duchess of Queensbury Rules?" Find out for ONLY $29.95 THIS SUNDAY ON PAY-PER-VIEW... I'll stop now.

What I'd Do: Have Jericho outsmart the commissioner again.

What They'll Do: I sense a rehash of the booking from Storm/Awesome at New Blood Rising (meaning Regal wins), but not quite as asinine and insulting.

Last Man Standing: The Big F'n Show vs. Simba, The Boy Wonder Giant Killer

After Shane beat Vince at WM (and rendered Rob Van Dam utterly useless, by the way), Vince has suspected that his son's been trying to talk some of the talent into joining him in WCW. Vince called out one of these alleged recruits - Big Show - and forced him to make a choice after shooting on him and showing footage from last year, when then-heel Shane was making fun of him. Show chokeslammed Shane, and Vince booked an LMS match for Backlash.

What I'd Do: Shane finds a way. Shane ALWAYS finds a way.

What They'll Do: Shane gets some help from Test, who's had a few run-ins with Show himself this week, and gets the duke.

30 Minute Ultimate Submission Match: Olympic Villain Kurt Angle vs. Da Crip

Angle beat Benoit at WM via rollup, then said afterwards that he didn't respect Benoit. This led to a Crossface backstage. Benoit's been giving out suplexes like chops the past couple of weeks, even throwing in a few DRAGON SUPLEXES~! on Regal this week, as well as patching things up with Jericho.

Here's something I just now thought about: Did Angle or Heyman ever say that Angle had never tapped out to anything ever? And if so, just how far off the radar screen HAS Tazz fallen, anyway?

What I'd Do: Benoit gets the win back, 4-3, and keeps the Crossface on at the end to make Angle cry like a baby.

What They'll Do: 3-2, but still Benoit.

There's Gold In That There Ring: Those Damn Dirty S.O.B.'s vs. Big Red & Hell On Wheels

Here's an example of something I don't like. Now, I don't have a real problem with any of the people in this match. Hell, Kane's been freakin' GODLIKE this past week.

I have a slight problem with HHH as the Intercontinental champ being in this match, only because I would have had Jeff Hardy retain the strap on last week's Raw. (but that's a column I never found the time to write.) Although Meltzer reports that this setup was the plan from the beginning, so I can't really complain too much if the WWF knew where it was going with all of this.

My problem is that I knew how this match was going to end the SECOND Kane and UT won the tag titles last week. Although I shouldn't complain too much, as it's actually a better decision when you think long term - this can build to Austin and HHH still being "dominant" while adding more titles to eventually be lost by HHH, setting up the inevitable punkout, which should lead to his face turn.

What I'd Do: Like I said, Kane's earned SOMETHING as far as I'm concerned. That armbar pickup on Christian two weeks ago ruled the free world and eastern Cuba. Give him the IC belt.

What They'll Do: Duh. New tag champs: Austin and HHH.

Matt Spaulding
The Oracles' War Room