During tonight’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view, WWE announced the name and date for their June special event.
It was revealed that Backlash will stream live on the WWE Network on Sunday, June 14. A location for the PPV wasn’t announced, but it will presumably take place at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Following WrestleMania 36 and Money in the Bank, it would be WWE’s third closed set PPV since the coronavirus pandemic began.
This will be the first time WWE has used the Backlash name for a PPV since 2018. There was originally supposed to be a Backlash event last June, but it was replaced by Stomping Grounds as part of a schedule change involving Super ShowDown 2019 in Saudi Arabia.
After Backlash, Extreme Rules is scheduled to take place on July 19. SummerSlam is then scheduled for August 23. Those shows have been set to take place in San Jose, California and Boston, Massachusetts respectively. Official announcements regarding their status haven’t been made yet, but Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced on May 8 that the city doesn’t “envision a point this summer when it will make sense to have large crowds gathered in close contact for prolonged periods.”
Vince McMahon held a meeting with almost all of the talent before the Backlash PPV, to emphasize what the agents and Jim Ross have been urging talent, which is a change in the style to a more mat-based, psychology oriented product.
The results are going to be more growing pains, or actually, non-growing educational pains. It is far easier to appeal to the audience with a high-flying and faster-paced product, particularly the young male demo the company covets. Switching styles is even more dangerous because the 80s wrestling audience that understands the style they are trying to implement has largely been run off. The newest audience was weaned on dangerous spots. And with the company’s economic indicators all falling, this would seem like the worst time possible for such a change. But it is largely necessary. The daredevil style of the last five years has left a legacy of both huge profits, and of crippled bodies.
We’re looking for reports on today’s Raw show in Moline, IL and Smackdown in Rochester, MN to [email protected].
We’re also doing our weekend poll for the New Japan Sengoku Lord show from yesterday, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected].
ALL JAPAN CHAMPION CARNIVAL SUNDAY IN SAPPORO ON ALLJAPAN.TV
Zeus vs. Yuji Okabayashi
Joe Doering vs. Daichi Hashimoto
Yoshitatsu vs. Joel Redman
Suwama vs. Jake Lee
LIVE WWE NETWORK SPECIAL AT 9:30 P.M. SUNDAY FROM MOLINE, IL
Finn Balor vs. Elias for IC title
Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose vs. Drew McIntyre & Bobby Lashley & Baron Corbin
Raw on Monday will be from Des Moines, IA. Smackdown has a house show Monday in Sioux City, IA.
ALL JAPAN CHAMPION CARNIVAL TUESDAY IN SENDAI ON ALLJAPAN.TV
Shuji Ishikawa vs. Dylan James
Kengo Mashimo vs. Gianni Valletta
Ryoji Sai vs. Yuji Okabayashi
Yoshitatsu vs. Daichi Hashimoto
Smackdown and 205 Live will be Tuesday night in Lincoln, NE. Kofi Kingston vs. Shinsuke Nakamura is currently scheduled.
Part one of Ronda Rousey’s professional wrestling career officially came to an end at WrestleMania.
Nearly three months after Dave Meltzer first reported that Rousey was likely finishing up with WWE at WrestleMania 35, Rousey made things official this week. She wrote on Instagram that she was going on an “impregnation vacation” with her husband Travis Browne. ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, who Rousey is friendly with, then reported that Rousey is taking a hiatus from WWE to start a family.
A rundown of the fallout of the Superstar Shakeup leads off this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Go through the moves, the names, the direction, what it says about 205 Live, those coming and going, key people not brought up, couples and read a depth chart of the new rosters.
Look at the situation with Undertaker, the U.K. talk show situation and what happened, how did it happen, update on Sasha Banks situation, update on Money in the Bank PPV, update on Luke Harper, Alexander Wolfe, WWE’s relationship with Stardom, and WWE injury updates.
Also look at UFC 236, with match-by-match coverage, poll result and business notes.
Examine the Viceland documentary and the situation that led to the Montreal screwjob, including claims by Jim Cornette and Vince Russo about being the architects, from the background, and why it happened.
Also look at the career of Rich Franklin as he goes into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Read a feature on the legacy wing inductees in the WWE Hall of Fame, including major write-ups on Jim Barnett and Primo Carnera, as well as Hisashi Shinma’s role in Japanese wrestling booking history.
Run down the ratings of all the major TV shows, along with detailed demo info for the WWE shows.
As always, read the results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Garrett Gonzalez and I did our weekend show last night covering a ton of subjects, from Chet Coppock and sports coverage, New Japan Sengoku Lord, WWE Raw & Smackdown notes, and The Viceland Von Erich doc, plus tonight we have a show with Pat Laprade talking Raw & Smackdown in Montreal, Montreal history, Andre the Giant, and both the first and the second Montreal screwjob.
At this point, regarding WWE and the June PPV, the only thing we do know is the 6/16 Backlash PPV show scheduled for San Diego has been canceled. The presumption is that it’s being pulled because of the 6/7 show in Saudi Arabia, which hasn’t been announced, but that is the date scheduled. They are selling tickets for shows that weekend in the U.S. for both the Raw and Smackdown tours. We still don’t know anything conclusively regarding the planned 6/8 Takeover show in San Jose. WWE has shows scheduled for 6/7 in Salt Lake City, 6/8 in Denver, Boise and Takeover in San Jose, and 6/9 in Oakland and Fresno.
C.M. Punk did return to wrestling somewhat last night. Punk did a show in West Allis, WI, at a building he used to perform in often when he was starting out and it was the last show in the venue. Silas Young ran the show and Punk, covered from head to toe with a sweatsuit and a mask, ran in, hit a terribly sloppy GTS, and ran off. Because he’s lost a lot of weight, or maybe covered up, it really didn’t look like him, didn’t move like him and the GTS hardly looked like him. But it was him, evidently wanting to do something in the building. This is not a sign he wants to get back to pro wrestling, and obviously AEW would like him because I can’t see him going to WWE.
Announced for Smackdown is Kofi Kingston vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in a non-title match with Kevin Owens and Xavier Woods in Kingston’s corner. Also they are teasing as to whether Vince McMahon will fire Roman Reigns, and that there will be a Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch confrontation.
Since people have asked about the upcoming Viceland schedule:
Wednesday: Bruiser Brody
May 1: The Von Erichs (this one is must-see, Kevin Von Erich in particular was tremendous in this)
May 8: Gino Hernandez
May 15: Fabulous Moolah
Japanese woman wrestler Command Bolshoi retired after a 27 1/2 year career with a show today at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
WWE
Jon Hayes was named General Manager and coach of the XFL team in St. Louis. Hayes played 12 seasons in the NFL (1985-1996) and was tight end coach of the Cincinnati Bengals from 2003-2018.
Even though both were advertised, Daniel Bryan and A.J. Styles were not on the Smackdown house show last night. Drew McIntyre missed Friday but that was a transportation issue and he worked last night and will be in Moline for the live network special tonight. Samoa Joe worked last night but his match was kept short.
Beth Phoenix will be doing the Raw tour of Europe in early May, forming a tag team with Natalya.
According to EIDia.es in Spain, Darren Till was arrested Thursday in Tenerife, Spain for causing damage to a hotel room and accidentally stealing a taxi cab. Till and a group with him allegedly broke furniture and emptied the fire extinguishers at a hotel they were staying at. They were kicked out. They called for a taxi, and when the driver was loading their luggage, they jumped in the taxi and drove away until the police stopped them.
MISCELLANEOUS
No major tracking stuff this weekend in pro wrestling or MMA. Boxing had two things in the top 20 searches for last night. The Terrence Crawford vs. Amir Khan fight had 200,000 Google searches, which is not a good sign for PPV, even though it was No. 3 yesterday. Danny Garcia had 50,000 searches for No. 17.
There was a Legends of Wrestling event in Detroit from last night at the Fraser, MI Hockeyland Arena. Among those there were David Penzer as announcer, Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Tito Santana, David Arquette, Ken Anderson, James Storm, Brooklyn Brawler, Jim Duggan, Nasty Boys, Rikishi and Jacob Fatu. The show itself drew more than 1,000 fans with Palmer Cruise b James Alexander, Angel Dorado & Airwolf b Brandon Gore & Rylie Jackson, Tito Santana b Drew Anderson, James Storm b JT Tapia, Ken Anderson b David Arquette, Zoey Skye b Neveah, Brooklyn Brawler b Marco Cordova, Rick Steiner b Rojit Rahu, Nasty Boys & Jacob Fatu (who stole the show) b Dirty Blondes & Drew Sipilia. (thanks to Leonard Brand and Derek Daniels)
Smash Wrestling on 4/27 in Toronto.
CWE on 4/26 in Winnipeg at the Essence Event Centre with Psicosis vs. AJ Sanchez vs. Jimmy Jacobs vs. Tony Kozina vs. TK O’Ryan vs. Kevy Cevy, plus Danny Duggan vs. Vinny Marseglia.
CWE results from last night in Weyburn, Saskatchewan: Danny Duggan b Robin Lekime, Norman Harass b Kevin O’Doyle, Jimmy Jacobs b Merle Graves, Psicosis & Davey O’Doyle b Martn Pain & Alex Ace, Alix Zwicker b Maddison Mles, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan b Michael Elgin & Killer Kross. They run tonight in Estevan, SK.
Bill Behrens at [email protected] is booking appearances and matches for TJP our of Las Vegas, appearances for Missy Hyatt out of Jacksonville, Chris Michaels out of Nashville, Devon Dudley out of Orlando (or as a manager for his sons).
Hoosier Pro Wrestling on 5/4 in Columbus, IN at the 4-H Fairgrounds.
Legacy Fighting on 6/7 in Cabazon, CA at the Morngo Outood Pavilion live on AXS features Jacob Rosales (10-4) vs. Arthur Estrazulas (10-4) plus Blake Troop (8-5) vs. former Bellator star Brandon Halsey (12-5). The show will air live on AXS TV.
Fight Club Pro on Friday in Wolverhampton, UK: Chris Brookes & Kyle Fletcher b Frightmare & Hallowicked, Will Ospreay b Dan Moloney, Charli Evans b Gisele Shaw, Jeff Cobb b Mark Davis-DQ so Davis keeps Fight Club Pro title, Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett won four-way over LAX, Dave & Jake Crist and Jim & Lee Hunter, Sami Callihan b Rey Hours no DQ, Pentagon Jr. & Fenix b Eita & Pac.
Fight Club Pro on Saturday in Wolverhampton, UK: Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett b Dave & Jake Crist, Hallowicked b Chris Brookes, Will Ospreay b Fenix, LAX b Jody Fleisch & Jonny Storm, Pac b Kyle Fletcher, Dan Moloney won over Chuck Mambo, El Phantasmo, Eita, Frightmare, Chief Deputy Dunne, Connor Mills, Jeff Cobb, Sam Callihan and Rey Hours, Mark Davis b Pentagon Jr to keep Fight Club Pro title. (thanks to Paul Sosnowski)
Fight Club Pro today in Wolverampton, UK: Fenix & Pentagon Jr. b LAX, Chris Brookes & Kyle Fletcher b Mat Fitchett & Davey Vega, Rey Hours b Chuck Mambo, Eita & Frightmare & Hallowicked b Dave & Jake Crist & Sami Callihan, Mark Davis kept FCP title over Dan Moloney, Pac and Will Ospreay, Fenix & Pentagon Jr,. b Chris Brookes & Kyle Fletcher to win the tag team tournament.
People have been going crazy about the Ospreay vs. Fenix match on Saturday. We saw the first 45 seconds or so and it was creative and excellent.
Stardom from earlier today in Osaka: Tam Nakano b Leo Onozaki, Hazuki d Starlight Kid, Andras Miyagi b Rebel Kel, Momo Watanabe & Bea Prietsley & AZM b Arisa Hoshiki & Saki Kashima & Saya Iida, Hana Kimura & Konami & Jungle Kyona b Kagetsu & Natsu Sumire & Natsouko Tora.
Stardom did a second show today in Osaka: Bea Priestley & Leo Onozaki b Starlight Kid & Saya Iida, Saki Kashima b Natsu Sumire-DQ, Hazuki & Natsuko Tora b Tam Nakano & Arisa Hoshiki, Kagetsu & Andras Miyagi b Hana Kimura & Rebel Kel, Jungle Kyona & Konami b Momo Watanabe & AZM. Bea Priestley challenged Kagetsu for the World of Stardom title. Mayu Iwatani was there but not wrestling due to knee problems. (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
The plight of Hall of Fame wrestler Johnny Valentine, with his death in the early morning hours of 4/24, and legendary rival Wahoo McDaniel, brought home to many of their contemporaries the lack of care the profession takes to its own.
McDaniel, 63, one of the biggest stars from the late 60s through the mid 80s, has been in poor health the past few years, nearly passing away at one point and needing regular kidney dialysis. While a huge star in his day, with his name coming up a lot over the past week with people’s memories of Valentine, he’s largely been forgotten in his profession, which except for the few older fans who have stuck around for the long haul and a very tiny percentage of current fans, have no interest in history of knowledge of wrestling’s past. His few older fans left in the Carolinas were saddened the last time McDaniel appeared in front of the public at a major wrestling show, when Ricky McDaniel was getting a try-out for the WWF and Wahoo was in his corner at the Greensboro Coliseum, a building he headlined for years, that he went almost totally unnoticed by the audience.
The first of what is expected to be two major media deals for UFC television/streaming rights in the U.S. market was announced on 5/8 with UFC and ESPN agreeing to a five-year deal worth $150 million per year.
The deal will be largely for streaming rights to 15 shows, although there are other things involved in the deal. The amazing thing about the price is that ESPN is paying that kind of money, essentially $10 million per live event, and not even putting the shows on television, and instead using it as a major loss-leader to drive ESPN+, the company’s new streaming service.
The deal is a landmark one for sports because it shows how much a media property is willing to pay for what is essentially a second-tier major sport for streaming rights that on paper make no economic sense, because of the feeling of needing to build and establish a streaming platform for the long haul.
At best, Backlash 2018 was going to be a largely meaningless show that was overshadowed by more important events on the WWE calendar.
Surrounded by WrestleMania 34 and the fallout from the company’s biggest event of the year, the Superstar Shakeup, and the Greatest Royal Rumble, Backlash should have been an afterthought. Instead, it will be remembered as one of the worst WWE shows of at least the last few years.
There was little to care about at Backlash. With Brock Lesnar not on the card, the main event was a Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe match where nothing was at stake and Joe had already moved to SmackDown. The purpose was to get Reigns back on track with a victory after two losses to Lesnar, and he immediately re-enters the conversation to be the person to take the Universal Championship now that he’s beaten Joe.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back today with tons to talk about including fallout from Monday’s WWE Raw that was actually pretty good. But, fans are still so upset about Sunday’s Backlash that all they want to do is complain.
The first segment has talk about Raw and qualifying matches for Money in the Bank. There’s also talk if they’ll have Roman Reigns headline Money in the Bank, even though he may not be in the ladder match.
After the break there’s more talk about the bad booking on Raw and WWE in general and how it could bite them in the butt someday, even though by business measures there really are no problems. There’s also talk on matches feeling more special and some discussion on Ember Moon and her promo from last night.
Bobby Lashley’s odd promo talking about his sisters starts the third segment. Other points of discussion are on Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns and Jinder Mahal, WWE’s television, Global Wrestling Network, Miz as a worker and WWE’s rewriting of history.
Timestamps:
Start – 2:27: Intro
2:27 – 11:52: Raw
11:52 – 23:18: WWE business vs. WWE booking
23:18 – 36:59: Calls and texts
36:59 – end: Bryan on The Miz
On a SoundCloud edition of Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive discuss Sunday’s WWE Backlash show, a PPV that has received many negative reviews to say the least.
– The guys discuss the card and where the execution of many of the matches fell flat.
– They discuss the current issues plaguing our subscriber-only content (hence the SoundCloud embed below), Mickie James, the possibility of Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar again, modern day WWE comparisons to WCW, and more.
– The guys wrap with more Backlash talk, whether Reigns is still “the big dog”, WWE booking, and plenty more complaining.
It’s the Monday feel-not-so-good edition of Wrestling Observer Live. Enjoy!
First off is talk about last night’s Backlash, a show that has received many negative reviews from a number of people. There’s discussion on a number of matches and why they didn’t work in execution.
After the break there’s talk on current site issues, Mickie James, comparisons to WCW, another Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar match and more.
The third segment has talk about people leaving during the Backlash main event, Roman Reigns still being THE BIG DOG, WWE’s booking, announcer consistencies and the length of PPV shows.
Timestamps:
Start – 2:13: Intro
2:13 – 11:58: Backlash
11:58 – 23:21: More on Backlash, Mickie James
23:21 – 37:04: Roman Reigns, WWE PPV length
37:04 – end: Closing moments
WWE’s move to all dual-brand pay-per-views officially begins as Backlash takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey tonight.
While Universal Champion Brock Lesnar isn’t on the show, AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura will face off in their third PPV title match of the past month. Styles retained the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 34, their Greatest Royal Rumble match ended in a double countout, and this time there will be no disqualifications.
We’re looking for your thoughts on this show, as well as the two New Japan Dontakus shows this week, so you can leave a thumbs up, thmbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match for each show to [email protected]
Roman Reigns will face Samoa Joe, who went to SmackDown in this year’s Superstar Shakeup. The Miz also moved to Tuesday nights but will be getting a shot at Seth Rollins’ Intercontinental title.
Elsewhere on the card, Daniel Bryan takes on Big Cass, Nia Jax defends her Raw Women’s Championship against Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair gets her rematch against Carmella for the SmackDown Women’s title, Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton meet with the United States title on the line, and Braun Strowman & Bobby Lashley team against Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn.
The pre-show has Bayley vs. Ruby Riott and will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern time, with the main card starting an hour later.
**********
By Dave Meltzer
BAYLEY VS. RUBY RIOTT
This match had a lot of sloppiness. The crowd was still more into this than a usual pre-show match because they were into Bayley. Predictable finish as Bayley speared Liv Morgan off the apron to the floor, but then Riott kicked Bayley and then gave her the Riott kick for the pin. Riott kicked out of the Randy Savage elbow a few minutes earlier.
SETH ROLLINS VS. THE MIZ FOR IC TITLE
Great match. This is a hot crowd. They were into it at the start and were up for all the big spots. Rollins was selling his knee after doing a knee into the post. Miz hit the skull crushing finale twice and both times Rollins kicked out. Miz continued to work on the knee. Miz tried a skull crushing finale off the middle rope but Rollins escaped. After a series of reversals, Rollins hit the curb stomp for the pin.
NIA JAX VS. ALEXA BLISS FOR THE RAW WOMEN’S TITLE
Not much to this. Unlike the first match which wasn’t good, this didn’t have the heat. Bliss gave her a DDT on the steps. The finish saw Bliss go for twisted bliss and Jax caught her in mid-air and gave her a Samoan drop for the pin.
Jax did an in-ring interview after. The crowd was booing her slightly but mostly not interested. Jax said this is for everyone who has been bullied, a few people clapped most disintererested. She said it’s okay to be different. These buzz words were about bullying were dying. She said if you’re good enough you should never change for a friend of a boyfriend. I don’t think they expected this reaction to her. She said a bully always gets her ass kicked. There was a little reaction. Then Michael Cole went off on all the anti-bullying rallies they did. This came off so contrived.
Samoa Joe did an interivew. He said Roman Reigns lost his confidence, a little speed, a little power and a lot of determination. Tonight he loses to me. Of course the crowd is cheering Joe. Tonight he turns the Big Dog into whimpeing puppy.
JEFF HARDY VS. RANDY ORTON FOR THE U.S. TITLE
The match was very slow. Slow isn’t necessarily bad, often it’s good, but in this case it never got going. Hardy won almost out of nowhere with a twist of fate and a swanton. Hardy landed really heavy on him. Nobody expected the finish so clean or that early. Orton technically was very good..
Elias was out. Given they were in the New York market, he got cheered heavily. He said he was good friends with Bruce Springsteen. Said Springsteen calls him “The Boss.” He said the only thing Springsteen regrets is that he’s from New Jersey. He didn’t get that much heat for it. Too predictable. He said he was going to leave. Then he didn’t. Then he teased it again. Then he stayed. Then he teased it again. The New Day came out. Big E came out with a drum from a marchinng band while Woods had a green trombone. Woods said they wanted to Walk with Elias. He said he was solo act. This was probably five minutes long but it felt longer than every Okada vs. Tanahashi match combined. Elias said that maybe some day they can open for Elias but this isn’t that day. Then Aiden English came out. Fans did react big to him chanting “Rusev Day.” Did they promise the Saudis another personal show and a 30 minute prayer break? Rusev came out. Rusev called him Bootleeg Bob Dylan. JoJo introduced Elias and then No Way Jose came out. Titus was in the Conga line as was Apollo Crews, Tyler Breeze, Dana Brooke, Bo Dallas and Fandango. Bobby Roode showed up and laid him out with a DDT. The crowd reacted big to Roode. English wanted to join the Conga line as they all left and Rusev got mad at him.
DANIEL BRYAN VS. BIG CASS
Quick match. Even then Cass was slow on offense. It was a big win by Bryan who gave him a high kick and then put him in the LeBell lck. Cass tapped right away. Cass then attacked him after the match. Cass gave him two biel throws on the floor while the crowd chanted “You tapped out.” Cass laid him out after with a running kick.
CARMELLA VS. CHARLOTTE FLAIR FOR SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S TITLE
This was bad. It was painfuly obvious that whie Carmella is a good talker, in the ring she’s like the women from 10-15 years ago. This was hard to watch because it had to be athletially dumbed down since Carmella took most of the match. Charlotte missed a moonsault and sold her her left knee buckled. Carmella kicked Charlotte in the hamstring and rolled her up.
A.J. STYLES VS. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA IN A NO DQ MATCH FOR THE WWE TITLE
So the reason they couldn’t put this on last was because they did a finish where both guys kicked each other low at the same time and neither guy could get the ten count so it was a no contest. They were having a very good match up until that point. Earlier in the match Nakamura used a low blow and then Styles came back with a low blow. A key spot is that when Nakamura went for the Kinshasa, Styles grabbed a chair that Nakamura had brought into the ring. Styles threw the chair at the knee and it nailed Nakamura’s world and then the chair bounced off Nakamura’s knee and nailed Styles on the left cheekbone. Styles was bleeding badly. It didn’t play into the rest of the match at all. It added drama to the match but when it was over, it was yet another disappointing match. Really aside from Rollins vs. Miz, this has been a really bad show.
BRAUN STROWMAN & BOBBY LASHLEY VS. KEVIN OWENS & SAMI ZAYN
What a mess. The match ended with Zayn trying to run away but Owens puleld him back in. They aruged and Zayn eventually slapped Owens. Zayn walked off and Lashley pinned Owens after a delayed vertical suplex. After the match the idea was that Zayn was still there and he was yelling at Strowman and Lashley but wouldn’t help Owens in the ring and they powerslammed him. Zayn went to leave but Strowman ran him down and poweslammed him. There was no reaction to this. They managed to take one of their hottest crowds of the year and gave them such a good show thjat they didn’t even react to Strowman’s big move.
ROMAN REIGNS VS. SAMOA JOE
They brawled before the match. Then there was an endless neck twist and chin lock. It started off boring and the crowd hated it, chanting boring, chanting for Punk, lots of people were leaving. It did get better and turned into a nromal WWE style match with stars, working around their signaure spots. Reigns hit a spear but Joe made the ropes. Joe did an elbow suicida. They traded near falls and then Reigns hit a spear and pinned him. People didn’t really care that much. They did react at the end but by no means was this a good match.
We’ll be talking about this later tonight. And during awards season.
With a pre-show match added to Sunday’s lineup, there are now nine matches set for Backlash.
Bayley vs. Ruby Riott was announced for the pre-show today, bringing the number of women’s matches on the card up to three. Nia Jax will also defend her Raw Women’s Championship against Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair is challenging for Carmella’s SmackDown Women’s title.
The Riott Squad (Riott, Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan) moved to Raw in the Superstar Shakeup and interrupted a match between Bayley and Sasha Banks. Riott also defeated Banks on Monday’s episode of Raw, with Bayley watching from backstage and not helping Banks even the odds against The Riott Squad.
Backlash is the first pay-per-view since the Superstar Shakeup and is the first show affected by WWE’s change to all dual-brand PPVs. Two Raw vs. SmackDown matches will take place — Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe and Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins vs. The Miz — after they were set up prior to the roster changes.
Here’s the updated card for Sunday:
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Shinsuke Nakamura in a no DQ match
Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe
Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass
Raw Women’s Champion Nia Jax defending against Alexa Bliss
SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella defending against Charlotte Flair
Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins defending against The Miz
United States Champion Jeff Hardy defending against Randy Orton
Braun Strowman & Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
A United States title match has been added to Backlash.
Jeff Hardy will defend the title against Randy Orton, as it was confirmed tonight during SmackDown. Orton and Hardy teamed up to defeat Shelton Benjamin and The Miz tonight when Hardy pinned Benjamin with the swanton bomb. Immediately after the match, Orton planted Hardy with the RKO, a clear indicator that he was interested in regaining the title.
Orton had been interested in challenging Jeff Hardy since he switched to SmackDown in the SuperStar Shakeup. He tried to challenge Hardy his first night in, but was interrupted by Shelton Benjamin. The two squared off last week, with Benjamin picking up the win.
The full card as of this writing is as follows;
AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE title
Seth Rollins vs. The Miz for the Intercontinental title
Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton for the United States title
Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss for the Raw women’s title
Carmella vs. Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown women’s title
Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe
Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass
Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
A new stipulation has been added to the WWE title match at Backlash.
It was announced at the start of the show that the match would now be a no disqualification bout. This comes after the second clash between the two at the Greatest Royal Rumble last Friday ended in a double countout after Styles and Nakamura brawled outside of the ring.
This week on SmackDown, Nakamura demanded an apology from Styles over what he did on Friday. He came out and basically said that he wouldn’t. While Samoa Joe came out and cut a promo on Styles about coming for him after he beats Reigns, Nakamura snuck in from behind and low blowed him yet again, continuing the storyline that started at WrestleMania where Nakamura has repeatedly low blowed Styles at every opportunity.
WWE Backlash, a co-branded event, will take place this Sunday at the Prudential in Newark, New Jersey.
A tag team match featuring stars from the Raw brand has been added to the Backlash card.
It was announced on Raw tonight that Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens would face the team of Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman. They faced two weeks ago on Raw, where Strowman convincingly got the win for his team. In a match this week on Raw, Strowman, Lashey and Roman Reigns defeated Jinder Mahal, Owens and Zayn in a six man tag team match, with Strowman picking up the win again for his team, pinning Owens.
Other matches on the card include AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE title, Seth Rollins vs. The Miz for the Intercontinental title, Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss for the Raw women’s title, Carmella vs. Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown women’s title, Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass and Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe.
Backlash will go down this Sunday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. It will be the first co-branded show outside of the big four events since the 2016 brand split.
AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura are set to face off in their third pay-per-view title match of the past month.
Styles will again defend his WWE Championship against Nakamura at Backlash on May 6th. That was announced during today’s Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia after their rematch from WrestleMania 34 ended in a double countout.
Nakamura hit a low blow after a near-ref bump in today’s match, but Styles was able to get a rope break. Nakamura then went for the Kinshasa, with Styles hitting a forearm and Nakamura rolling outside of the ring. He tackled Nakamura over one of the announce tables and they fought on the floor as the referee counted to 10, then Styles stood tall following the match.
With Brock Lesnar retaining at the Greatest Royal Rumble, there isn’t a Universal Championship match scheduled for Backlash as of now.
Backlash will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey and is the first show affected by WWE’s change to all dual-brand PPVs. Here’s the updated card:
WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Shinsuke Nakamura
Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe
Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass
Raw Women’s Champion Nia Jax defending against Alexa Bliss
SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella defending against Charlotte Flair
Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins defending against The Miz
While the build to the show has been complicated by the Superstar Shakeup and Greatest Royal Rumble, WWE continues to add matches to the lineup for Backlash.
Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass and SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella defending her title against Charlotte Flair were confirmed for the pay-per-view tonight. While returning from the torn ACL that he suffered last summer, Cass moved to SmackDown in the Superstar Shakeup and began his program with Bryan. Carmella cashed in her Money in the Bank briefcase to win the title from Charlotte two weeks ago when Charlotte had been attacked by The IIconics.
Cass took Bryan’s place on Miz TV tonight, explaining why he laid him out last week. He blamed Bryan for stealing the spotlight from Cass being cleared to return and said he despises Bryan because he reminds him of himself when he was a “little guy” and was getting pushed around. It was then revealed that Bryan had been attacked backstage before the segment.
Carmella and Charlotte had a contract signing this week, with Charlotte standing tall after flipping the table onto Carmella.
Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe, Alexa Bliss getting her rematch for Nia Jax’s Raw Women’s Championship, and Seth Rollins putting his Intercontinental title on the line against The Miz are the other matches that have been announced for Backlash. It’s the first event that’s been affected by WWE’s switch to all dual-brand PPVs and will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on May 6th.
