Published: Apr 11, 2018 by Liam | Last Updated: Apr 11, 2018 by Liam
Liam has been reporting & analyzing wrestling news for over eight years, and is currently the Managing Editor at WrestleTalk.com. Immersed in wrestling for 18 years, he has over 11,000 published articles in addition to leading and overseeing WrestleTalk.com's coverage.
As has become tradition, the WWE‘s first pay-per-view stop after WrestleMania is Backlash, and that is no different this year. What is different, is that it will be the first dual-brand WWE pay-per-view, that isn’t one of the ‘big four’, since Battleground 2016.
Following this week’s episodes of Raw and SmackDown Live, multiple big matches have been confirmed for the May 6 event.
On Raw, following a promo from Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe made his return from injury and announced that he will be facing Reigns at Backlash.
The WWE Universal Champion, Brock Lesnar, will defend his championship against Roman Reigns, whom he defeated in a retention at WrestleMania 34, at the Greatest Royal Rumble event on Friday, April 27 in Saudi Arabia, in a Steel Cage match.
If Reigns wins that match, it would likely mean that Joe’s match against Reigns at Backlash will be for the WWE Universal Championship.
Also on Raw, The Miz announced he is invoking his contractual rematch clause for the WWE Intercontinental Championship against current champion Seth Rollins at Backlash.
Rollins won the strap in the opening bout at WrestleMania 34, in a triple threat match that consisted of then-champion The Miz, and Finn Bálor.
The third and final Backlash match to be confirmed after this week’s editions of Raw and SmackDown Live, is that Jinder Mahal will defend his WWE United States Championship against former champion Randy Orton.
Orton won a number one contender triple threat match on SmackDown Live last night, which also consisted of Bobby Roode and Rusev.
Mahal, Orton, Roode, and Rusev all competed in a fatal four-way at WrestleMania 34 for the same title, of course, Mahal came out on top, much to the fury of pretty much everybody.
“Why doesn’t Orton have a contractual rematch?” I hear you ask. I haven’t got a clue.
Backlash will take place on the WWE Network on Sunday, May 6 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
How do you think Backlash is shaping up? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter here, and as always, have a spiffing Rusev Day.
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