On May 6th WWE heads to Puerto Rico for the first time since 2005 for the upcoming Premium Live Event, Backlash.
The last time WWE was in the region was for New Year’s Revolution 2005, an event headlined by an Elimination Chamber match featuring Triple H, Batista, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Edge, and Chris Benoit.
Aside from the hotly anticipated return to the island, the event is important as it is the final show before the results of the WWE Draft come into effect.
The full card is as follows:
- Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
- Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Matt Riddle vs. The Usos and Solo Sikoa
- Bad Bunny vs. Damian Priest – San Juan Street Fight
- Austin Theory (c) vs Bobby Lashley vs. Bronson Reed – United States Championship
- Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Zelina Vega – SmackDown Women’s Championship
- Bianca Belair (c) vs. IYO SKY – Raw Women’s Championship
- Seth Rollins vs. Omos
With all this action taking place here’s what we think is going down in Puerto Rico.
Seth Rollins vs. Omos
Seth Rollins goes head-to-head with Omos for the first time ever in Puerto Rico for unknown reasons. The match was announced out of the blue and left the wrestling world collectively scratching their heads.
But whatever the reason for their match, it will certainly be a spectacle due to the size difference between the opponents.
Prediction: The only reason why this match is going down is to give Rollins a huge win to continue his momentum before the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament takes place. Rollins wins.
Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Zelina Vega – SmackDown Women’s Championship
Rhea Ripley will defend the SmackDown Women’s Championship for the first time against the LWO’s Zelina Vega.
On the April 21st episode of SmackDown, Vega demanded a title match against the champ stating that, besides the feud between the LWO and Judgment Day, she is the only female on the roster of Puerto Rican descent it would only make sense for her to face Ripley in Puerto Rico.
Prediction: Despite Vega’s heart and tenacity, she is not defeating Ripley here. The champion is just too big, strong and powerful making her first title defence a shoo-in. Ripley wins.
Austin Theory (c) vs Bobby Lashley vs. Bronson Reed – United States Championship
Austin Theory will defend his United States Championship in a Triple Threat Match against Bobby Lashley and Bronson Reed.
At the pre-WrestleMania 39 edition of SmackDown, Lashley eliminated Reed to win the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. This caused Reed to go after the Almighty resulting in several wild brawls between the two. One such brawl went down after the Colossal Reed interfered in a match between Lashley and Austin leading to the three closing in Puerto Rico.
Prediction: With the United States title now SmackDown property after the WWE Draft it seems highly unlikely Bronson Reed, who was drafted to Raw, crowned the new champion. Although on the blue brand, it also seems regressive to have Lashley take the title leaving the cocky and confident Theory the most probable victory. Theory retains.
Bianca Belair (c) vs. IYO SKY – Raw Women’s Championship
Damage CTRL has been a thorn in the side of Bianca Belair for months. The group’s leader Bayley went after Belair’s Raw Women’s Championship three times but failed to defeat the EST. Now IYO SKY gets her chance to dethrone her.
On the April 10 episode of Raw, SKY became the number one contender for Belair’s Raw title and will face her at the Puerto Rican PLE.
Prediction: Similar to the other women’s match on the card the chances of the challenger dethroning the champion are slim to none. But the loss, possibly from a Bayley mistake, could lead to a Damage CTRL break-up and a Bayley vs SKY feud down the line. Belair wins.
Bad Bunny vs. Damian Priest – San Juan Street Fight
Things got heated when Bad Bunny got involved in the feud between Rey and Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 39. Then a few days later on Raw the Grammy Award-winning recording artist knocked out Dom with a punch.
Damian Priest came to the aid of his Judgement Day stablemate and attacked his WrestleMania 37 tag team partner by planting him through a table. Following the attack Bad Bunny returned to Raw Kendo stick in hand to call out Priest a San Juan Street Fight.
Prediction: Bad Bunny’s first singles outing is going to be a fun one with Judgement Day and LWO interference galore. Despite Priest’s power and experience, there can be little doubt the hometown hero will get the big victory. Bad Bunny wins.
Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Matt Riddle vs. The Usos and Solo Sikoa
As soon as Matt Riddle returned to WWE he joined forces with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to exact revenge on the Bloodline and more specifically Solo Sikoa. Riddle went straight after the Enforcer of the Bloodline while the tag team champs are still focused on the Usos.
After several run-ins, attacks, and wild brawls the two trios were pitted to fight it out in Puerto Rico.
Prediction: Ever since the Usos lost their titles at WrestleMania 39 things haven’t been well within the Bloodline. Roman Reigns has ignored them and seemingly has Sikoa prepped to take them out. This uncertainty between the family will be a major factor in the outcome of this match and start the next chapter in the epic Bloodline story. Owens, Zayn, and Riddle win.
Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
Cody Rhodes takes on Brock Lesnar in what promises to be a heated outing. The match came about after Lesnar brutally beat down Rhodes the night after WrestleMania 39.
Following the assault Rhodes challenged Lesnar to a fight at Backlash but a response was not forthcoming. The next week the match was made official after Adam Pearce attempted to stop Rhodes from attacking Lesnar. Following confirmation of the match, there have been several intense pull-apart melees between the two adding further excitement to this first time ever match up.
Prediction: After his shocking defeat at WrestleMania 39, Rhodes is having to prove he can get back to the top, and overcome adversity in the shape of the Beast Incarnate is certainly the way to do it. However, fans could be looking at a SummerSlam 2014 John Cena-esque destruction of Rhodes to make that journey mean a whole lot more. Lesnar wins.
WWE Backlash is streaming LIVE from Puerto Rico on Saturday, May 6, at 8 ET/5 PT on Peacock in the United States and on WWE Network everywhere else.