for pride. The other hardcore match on the card was for the WWF Hardcore Championship; Bob Holly had wrestled Al Snow on the banks of the Mississippi River two months prior and despite the latter being notorious for his hardcore prowess, Holly picked up the victory. The two fought at WrestleMania but the match also included Billy Gunn and a deciding bout was needed. On Raw is War episodes leading up to Backlash, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams would regularly feud with both Snow and Holly for the WWF Hardcore Championship, where he was managed by Jim Ross. A notable match involved Williams and Holly wrestling each other in a frat house in Albany, New York on the March 22, 1999 edition of Raw is War, and a match the week after where Snow hit Williams with a frying pan behind the referee's back. On the April 5, 1999 episode, Snow and Holly had a singles match, where Williams attacked both of them with suplexes in revenge. Williams was scheduled to fight Snow and Holly at the pay-per-view, making the hardcore match a three-way for the WWF Hardcore Championship. However, Williams was taken off of television in mid-April for needing further time to rehab his injury and for refusing to work for FMW. He was released shortly afterwards. Williams had been being built as a midcarder at the time in hopes of repairing his character after the WWF Brawl For All, feuding with Snow and Holly since March. The final rivalry going into the evening saw Goldust try to regain his WWF Intercontinental Championship. On Raw is War Goldust was scheduled to defend against Big Boss Man but The Godfather, a wrestler whose gimmick involved being a pimp, offered Boss Man some prostitutes to take his place and won the title. Event Sunday Night Heat Before the pay-per-view event went on air, the crowd was warmed up with the cable television program Sunday Night Heat which consisted of four matches. In an intergender tag team contest, Val Venis and Nicole Bass defeated D'Lo Brown and Ivory when Nicole Bass pinned Ivory. Afterward Bass made sexual advances to Venis who quickly departed. In another tag team match, Droz and Prince Albert defeated Too Much (Brian Christopher and Scott Taylor) when Albert pinned Scott Taylor. After this Kane pinned The Big Boss Man in a singles match. The final match of the show