Jericho thrown into the mix

Y2J: Heavily involved at Backlash

Also see

• WWE live on Sky
• Photo galleries
• WWE video

Intercontinental champion Chris Jericho has been appointed referee for Shawn Michaels' eagerly anticipated fight with Batista at Backlash.

General manager William Regal inked the deal after Y2J was hit by HBK's sweet chin music on Monday night Raw from England.

Y2J still managed to hang on to the gold though despite being pitted against Umaga on the same night.

The Samoan Bulldozer had looked certain to wrestle the title from Jericho's grasp, but hit his head on a steel post and was pinned by the champion with extra leverage provided by the ropes.

Fatal Four Way

JBL took on Triple H ahead of their Fatal Four Way WWE championship match at Backlash, while champion Randy Orton faced off against England's Regal.

There was no dream return for the Briton to London though and Legend Killer Orton RKO'd his way to victory.

Not content with the win though, Orton also attempted to get The Game eliminated from Backlash by interfering in the fight between his two opponents.

But JBL delivered clotheslines from hell to both of his rivals to wrap up the match and earn a significant psychological advantage ahead of their clash on April 27.

Return

Elsewhere, Mickie James regained the women's championship by dethroning Beth Phoenix.

The Glamazon had looked certain to retain the gold after hoisting James over her head, but Mickie reversed the hold and rolled up the champion for the dream one, two, three.

Santino Marella and Carlito made themselves top contenders for the World Tag Team championship by taking out Paul London and Brian Kendrick meanwhile.

Trevor Murdoch also went down to JTG despite the best efforts of his tag team partner Lance Cade.

And finally, Paul Burchill returned to his homeland to take on Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

Despite being the underdog and having his home crowd against him, Burchill triumphed thanks to a devastating manoeuvre slamming the WWE legend face-first into the mat.