After the biggest WrestleMania in the history of the company, it’s time to shift our focus. WWE presented Backlash on Saturday and it originated from France. Cody Rhodes defended his newly won WWE Championship against A.J. Styles. Damien Priest put up her World Heavyweight Championship against Jey Uso. Bayley defended her Women’s Championship against Tiffany Stratton and Naomi. The Kabuki Warriors put up their Women’s Tag Titles against Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill. The last match saw Randy Orton and Kevin Owens face Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga. It was announced that the WWE had a WrestleMania announcement following the Backlash event. Let’s see how things turned out with Backlash from France.

Backlash kicked off with the new Bloodline facing the team of Randy Orton and Kevin Owens. The match started off with all four men brawling to the point officials and security came out. Smackdown GM Nick Aldis came out and made the match anything goes meaning it’s a no DQ match. They fought everywhere and that included on the outside and through the crowd. They continue to fight by using kendo sticks, chairs, Prime bottles, steel steps and tables. Solo and Orton continued to fight on the outside. Sikoa grabs Orton on top of the announce table and tries to hit the Samoan Spike but was countered into an RKO. Back in the ring, Owens hit Tonga with a chair repeatedly and then set up multiple chairs.

Owens ended up giving Tonga an avalanche brainbuster through the chairs. Owens went for the cover, but Tonga’s brother Tanga Loa pulled the referee out of the ring. Sikoa finished off Owens with a Samoan spike to win the match. Winners: Solo Sikoa & Tama Tonga

THE BLOODLINE continues to EXPAND at #WWEBacklash! pic.twitter.com/A3tvnzUWCk

— WWE (@WWE) May 4, 2024

Match Rating: 4/5: This match was crazy and was everywhere as expected. Solo & Tama needed the win, and we have a new member of the Bloodline.

We had Bayley defending her Women’s Championship against Naomi and Tiffany Stratton. Tiffany tossed Naomi and went after Bayley immediately after the bell rang. Naomi levels Bayley with a dropkick, but Stratton delivers a boot to Naomi and follows it up with a handspring back elbow. Bayley levels Stratton with a strike and looks to roll up Naomi, but Naomi prevents her from doing so. Stratton delivers a double stomp to Naomi, and Bayley pins her. Stratton breaks the fall by landing a double stomp on Bayley. They continued to go at each other with all of them getting the upper hand during the match. Stratton delivers an Alabama Slam to Naomi that sends her crashing into the English announce desk and does the same to Bayley on the French announce desk.

Stratton gets Naomi and Bayley in the ring and delivers the Pretties Moonsault Ever. Bayley and Naomi move out of the way and deliver a flapjack-neck breaker combination. Bayley and Naomi then fire off strikes on one another, but Naomi connects with an enzuigiri. She pins Bayley, but Bayley counters into a pinfall of her own for the win. Winner and Still Women’s Champion: Bayley

Match Rating: 3.75/5– Really solid match between these three. Bayley needed to keep the championship, Naomi looked great, and Stratton is the future. Stratton is probably my favorite to capture the Money in the Bank briefcase for the women.

Damian Priest put up his World Heavyweight Championship against Jey Uso. If you didn’t watch Jey Usos entrance, make sure you do because it was amazing. After the bell, Priest went right after Jey Uso. They quickly moved to the outside where Priest got the upperhand on Uso. They continued to fight and went back outside. Uso tossed Priest back in the ring, and he followed, but JD McDonagh trips him. Priest looks to take advantage by landing a spear, but Jey kicks out. Priest asks McDonagh why he’s at ringside, and the pair begin arguing. Jey takes advantage and delivers a pair of superkicks to McDonagh and Priest. He lands the Uso Splash on Priest and goes for a pin, but Priest kicks out. Priest and Jey then exchange forearm strikes with one another before Jey hits an enzuigiri.

Priest connects with a pump kick and lands Razor’s Edge, then goes for a pin. Jey kicks out. Finn Balor appears out of nowhere from the crowd, but Jey levels him with a superkick. Priest then delivers a clothesline and South of Heaven and goes for a pin, but Jey kicks out. Priest lands a pair of spinning roundhouse kicks and looks to land a third. Jey catches him with four superkicks and a spear, then ascends to the top. He hits the Uso Splash and goes for a pin, but McDonagh gets Priest’s foot on the bottom rope to break the fall. Jey levels McDonagh with a tope suicida, then catches Balor with a spear. He ascends to the top, but Priest trips him. He then delivers South of Heaven to Jey off the top for the win. Winner and Still Champ: Damian Priest

Match Rating: 3/5- There were good and slow moments throughout the match. Priest needed to keep the title but wouldn’t been upset with Uso winning either. The dissension of Judgement Day continues with Priest getting mad at Balor & McDonagh for jumping on Jey.

WHAT AN ENTRANCE FOR JEY USO! 😎🙌#WWEBacklash pic.twitter.com/VMrcQ8brdv

— WWE (@WWE) May 4, 2024

We had the Kabuki Warriors defending their Women’s Tag Titles against Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill. Asuka and Belair began the match against each other. Sane got his with a vertical suplex after trying to go after Bianca. Cargill gets the tag and she and Sane go back and forth with each other. Belair and Cargill send Sane crashing into the mat, and Belair delivers a springboard moonsault to Sane. Sane and Belair continued to fight until Asuka was tagged back in. Sane and Asuka both deliver sliding knees to Belair and Asuka goes for a pin, but Belair kicks out. Belair looks to tag in Cargill, but Asuka prevents her from doing so. Sane tags in and whips Asuka onto Belair in the corner. Sane delivers another sliding knee to Belair and ascends to the top, then goes flying with a forearm.

Sane rolls up Belair, but Belair kicks out. Belair charges at Sane in the corner, but Sane sends her crashing into the ring post shoulder first. Asuka tags in and holds Belair in place as Sane ascends to the top. Sane connects with the In-Sane elbow and pins Belair, but Cargill kicks out. Asuka tags in and Cargill levels her with a superkick. Sane looks to fly off the top, but Cargill catches her and delivers Jaded. Belair then delivers KOD to Asuka on top of Sane and pins her for the win. Winners and New Women’s Tag Champs: Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill

Match Rating: 3.25/5– This match was actually nice outside of a few slip ups with Jade & Kairi. I’m seeing them keeping the belts throughout the year until Bianca eventually turns on her. If Jade improves in the ring, I’m seeing Bianca put her over at WrestleMania 41 in Vegas.

We have the main event where Cody Rhodes defended the Undisputed WWE Championship against A.J. Styles. This is another video to check out that shows the building shaking when Styles was introduced. They went back and forth until Rhodes lands a dropkick and does the signature Stardust cartwheel. Rhodes sends Styles crashing into the middle rope face first and crashing to the outside. He looks to fly, but Styles catches Rhodes with his right hand. Styles then sends Rhodes’ face bouncing off the English announce desk and clears the French announce desk. Styles gets Rhodes up in an Electric Chair position and delivers a Japanese Ocean Cyclone suplex. Rhodes responds with a scoop powerslam and a Disaster Kick, then looks for a second one. Styles gets him into an Electric Chair position and Rhodes escapes.

He rolls up Styles, but Styles kicks out. Rhodes then lands a Bull Dog, but Styles connects with a Brainbuster on Rhodes on the apron. Rhodes powerbombs Styles through the French announce desk, and the referee begins a ten count. Both men beat it, and exchange right hands with one another. Rhodes and Styles then exchange strikes with one another before Rhodes hits the Bionic Elbow, then looks for the Cody Cutter. Styles catches him and sets up for a Tombstone, but Rhodes escapes. Styles delivers a suplex to Rhodes in the corner, then connects with a springboard 450 Splash off the top rope from the apron. He goes for a pin, but Rhodes kicks out. Styles delivers a Burning Hammer and goes for a pin, but Rhodes quickly kicks out.

Styles fires off strikes on Rhodes, but Rhodes catches one of his kicks and delivers a Cody Cutter. He goes for a pin, but Styles kicks out. Rhodes sets up for Cross-Rhodes, but Styles escapes and hits a Pele Kick. He looks to land a Phoenomenal Forearm, but Rhodes catches him with a superkick to his midsection. Rhodes cinches in a Kimura Lock, but Styles powers up to his feet and sends Rhodes crashing into the mat. Rhodes sets up for Cross-Rhodes, but Styles escapes. He sets up for Styles Clash, but Rhodes lands on his feet and sits down into a pin. Styles kicks out, and Rhodes delivers a Cody Cutter off the top rope. He connects with Cross-Rhodes for the win. Winner and Still WWE Undisputed Champ: Cody Rhodes

Match Rating: 4/5– This was a fantastic main event and first title defense for Cody. What lies ahead for Styles? Who will be the next opponent for Rhodes?

Overall Rating: 7/10– Backlash wasn’t a bad PLE. There were a pair of great matches, and the rest of the cards weren’t bad either. Let me just say that the crowd was one of the better ones I have personally seen. We all heard about the decibel levels it reached and it came off well on TV. Below are my top happenings for Backlash.

Trav’s Top 5 Backlash Happenings

1. The Crowd
2. Randy Orton & Kevin Owens vs. Solo Sikoa & Tama Tonga
3. Jey Uso’s Entrance
4. Cody Rhodes vs. A.J. Styles
5. Bayley vs. Naomi vs. Tiffany Stratton

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