We’ve hosted Royal Rumbles, WrestleManias, and more sweaty humans in spandex than most cities could ever dream of. Now, the WWE is coming back, and this time it’s bringing its post-WrestleMania chaos tour straight to Benchmark International Arena.
WWE Backlash takes place on Saturday, May 9, right here in downtown Tampa, and if you’re wondering what that means, buckle up, because things are already unraveling in spectacular fashion. Get your tickets here and read on for all the incoming chaos.
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For the uninitiated: Backlash is the first major live event after WrestleMania, which is basically the Super Bowl of professional wrestling, except louder, more dramatic, and somehow involving even more betrayals (and ads, so many ads). WrestleMania 42 just wrapped up this past weekend at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and the fallout has already been extraordinary. Think of it this way: if WrestleMania is the season finale of your favorite show, Backlash is the premiere of the next season, where everyone is absolutely furious about what just happened and nobody has made rational decisions yet. That’s good television. That’s also just kind of how professional wrestling works.
What to possibly expect
Roman Reigns dethroned CM Punk in an epic, 5-star classic World Heavyweight Championship match in Vegas. Now, fresh off that victory, Reigns has drawn his first challenger: Jacob Fatu, who showed up on Monday Night Raw and made it very clear he doesn’t just want what Reigns has, he needs it. The promo he cut was equal parts menacing and oddly relatable, mentioning Rolexes and better schools for his kids. That’s either the most human a man has ever been, or a deeply clever bit of manipulation. Either way, Fatu is coming into this fresh off his own WrestleMania 42 win over Drew McIntyre in an unsanctioned match, which was essentially a legally-sanctioned brawl with no rules and a lot of very real-looking violence. Yes, wrestling is weird. It’s also better than the thing that you like. A Reigns vs. Fatu match at Backlash isn’t just possible, it’s looking more like a foregone conclusion at this point.
On the women’s side, Liv Morgan defeated Stephanie Vaquer to win the Women’s World Championship at WrestleMania 42, making her a three-time champion and officially the most exhausting person in the entire women’s division (that’s a compliment). Outside interference and underhanded tactics suggest WrestleMania was more of a stop in their rivalry than an ending point, which means Vaquer is almost certainly not done. A rematch in Tampa? The demand is there. Vaquer had gone undefeated since arriving on the main roster and she’s not the type to quietly accept a loss that came courtesy of interference. Don’t be shocked if she shows up in Tampa looking for revenge, because she absolutely should.
Then there’s the match that WrestleMania teased and never delivered: Iyo Sky and Asuka have been building toward a one-on-one contest for months, with the feud rooted in Asuka’s treatment of their former stablemate Kairi Sane. Reports suggest that Backlash is the more likely landing spot for the match rather than WrestleMania, which, honestly, might work out better. The bad news is they didn’t book it for Mania. The good news is we might be getting it here instead.
Photos via World Wrestling Entertainment
Round it all out with the fact that Cody Rhodes is still your WWE Champion, Oba Femi just ended Brock Lesnar’s career in the most dramatic way possible, and Rhea Ripley is once again a champion after defeating Jade Cargill, and you’ve got a landscape that’s chaotic enough to produce at least two or three more matches worth watching in Tampa.
Take it with a grain of salt
None of this is official yet. No Backlash card has been announced. But honestly, that’s part of what makes this moment fun. You’ve got three weeks between the biggest show of the year and a city that is absolutely primed to receive the fallout. Tickets are still available, and if you’ve never been to a WWE event, this is one of the best possible entry points. Come for the storylines, stay because you can’t believe what you just watched.
