Backlash 2026 did not register in the Netflix top 10 global chart and it looks like it wasn’t one of the most-watched WWE premium live events on the streaming service either.
The show only charted in 11 different countries, including Bolivia, Canada, Egypt, El Salvador, India, Mexico, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, and United Kingdom.
The United States is not factored in these charts as it aired on ESPN.
The exact numbers will not be known until Netflix releases its bi-annual figures of all their shows in June for the first six months of 2026.
Ring of Honor announced the next Global Wars event, titled Global Wars: Cincinnati which will take place on Thursday, June 18.
This event will feature the participating of wrestlers from Mexico’s CMLL and Japan’s Stardom. It will be available to stream live via WatchROH as well as MyAEW.
The last ROH Global Wars was held fairly recently, in March of this year, with ROH teaming up with Canada’s Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling for the event.
WWE is hosting a SummerSlam Kickoff party at the Javitz Center during Fanatics Fest in July, weeks before the actual PLE takes place…in a different state.
Set to be held on Sunday, July 19, the SummerSlam Kickoff party will be hosted by Michael Cole and will feature the appearance of several WWE Superstars who happen to be at Fanatics Fest that weekend.
The Javitz Center is in New York City and SummerSlam is on August 1 and August 2 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
SummerSlam has so far bombed when it comes to ticket sales, with the two-night combo tickets barely moving on Ticketmaster.com.
Tickets for Fanatics Fest are available at fanaticsfest.com.
Another match was booked for next week’s Saturday Night Main Event, a show which looks like there will be no world title being defended on it.
The new match will have Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss team up with WWE Women’s champion Rhea Ripley to take on Jade Cargill, Michin, and B-Fab in a six-woman tag match.
The only other two matches so far on the show are The Vision vs The Street Profits for the WWE World Tag Team titles and Penta vs Ethan Page for the WWE Intercontinental title, a match which is apparently headlining the broadcast.
One more match is expected to be added on the show in the next week.
This will be the first WWE televised event in Fort Wayne since 2014 and tickets are available on Ticketmaster.com starting from $66.80.
AEW star Buddy Matthews made a surprise appearance at the Rise Against event promoted by World Series Wrestling in Australia.
Matthews, sporting all black attire including a mask, blasted Dijak with a chair from behind before he unveiled himself to a big pop from the crowd. Matthews then removed the hoodie and curb stomped Dijak.
Looking all jacked and taking in the reception from the crowd who chanted “Holy shit,” Matthews grabbed the mic for a few words.
“In case you forgotten, my name is Buddy Matthews. And I am the guy who kicked down the door for every Australian to make it overseas,” he said.
He added that he might not be cleared to compete now, but in October, he will be.
Matthews has been on the sidelines with an ankle injury since February 2025, an injury he suffered during the Grand Slam: Australia show while making his entrance for his match against Kazuchika Okada.
Dynamite this week drew 585,000 viewers, down 5,000 viewers from the previous week and the fourth week in a row that the show had a decline in viewership. In 18-49, Dynamite had a 0.10 rating, the same number of last week. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
The Cody Rhodes vs Gunther match for the WWE title at Clash in Italy was made official last night on Smackdown, although Gunther had to work for it.
During the broadcast, Gunther took his time to sign the contract and that eventually led to Royce Keys to come out and almost put his signature on the paper. Smackdown General Manager Nick Aldis told Gunther that he lost his privilege to just sign the deal and get the match and made Keys vs Gunther as the main event, with the winner advancing to Italy.
Keys nearly had the match won but Solo Sikoa interfered, sliding him a chair after a referee bump to “help” him win. Keys, instead, blasted Sikoa with the chair, allowing Gunther enough time to recover and win the match following a powerbomb.
After the victory, Cody Rhodes came out and hit the Cross Rhodes on Gunther, ending the show celebrating with the fans.
Here are the results from last night’s ROH Supercard of Honor 2026 which took place live from the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center in Salisbury, Maryland.
ZERO HOUR:
Sammy Guevara defeated Action Andretti
Rush defeated LSG
Mina Shirakawa and Queen Aminata defeated Janai Kai and Lacey Lane
The Rascalz defeated Premier Athletes
MAIN SHOW:
Nigel McGuinness defeated Josh Woods in a Pure wrestling rules match
Red Velvet defeated Viva Van to retain the ROH Women’s Television title
AR Fox defeated Lio Rush to retain the ROH Television title
Dalton Castle and The Outrunners defeated Shane Taylor Promotions in a six-man tag team match to become the new ROH Six-Man Tag Team champions
Deonna Purrazzo defeated Diamante in a Pure wrestling rules match to retain the ROH Women’s Pure title
Lee Moriarty defeated Ace Austin in a Pure wrestling rules match to retain the ROH Pure title
Mark Davis defeated Xelhua to retain the AEW National title
Bandido defeated Blake Christian to retain the ROH World title
Athena defeated Maya World, Trish Adora, Yuka Sakazaki, Billie Starkz, and Zayda Steel in a Survival of the Fittest match to retain the ROH Women’s title
A replay of the show is available to watch on MyAEW and Watch ROH.
Mercedes Mone was at the Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu world premiere yesterday at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
The former TBS champion played the character of Koska Reeves in The Mandalorian, a Star Wars series which airs on Disney+.
Mone looked absolutely stunning, donning a green and black dress, keeping with the theme of the movie.
She has not wrestled in an AEW ring since the December 31 episode of Dynamite, losing the TBS title. Since then, she has lost six more independent titles she had been carrying in 2025.
Joe Hendry sat down with Chris Van Vliet at Insight LIVE in Tampa, Florida to discuss his latest parody song “Fire Logan Paul”, future plans for more parody songs, how he hilariously messed up a WWE tryout, why he decided to dye his hair blonde, making his WWE main roster debut, his WrestleMania 41 match with Randy Orton, how close he got to wrestling John Cena, which Championship he has his sights on next, and more!
Where are you actually recording these songs, are you recording them in your apartment, your house?
“Actually, I could drop an exclusive right here for people. Because this is actually very relevant. So this is an exclusive. I haven’t told anyone anywhere, but I have recorded an album with WWE Music, and it’s going to drop this summer. We recorded most of that in New York at the WWE Studios. So what I’ve done now is the microphones that we have there, I have basically replicated the setup back home now, so I don’t need to fly to New York to do it. I can send stuff in, and we can work on it back and forth. So that’s one of the things that makes these songs work, is because they’re fast and they’re topical, so we can basically, we obviously did the Logan Paul song on TV, but we were able to just get it done that week, because we could send files back and forth. But yes, there is an album coming out.”
Is it an album full of all original songs, or have we heard some of these songs already?
“Well, I will say, they are all original songs. I won’t say any more than that; they are all original songs.”
Well, you’ve been the TNA World Champion. You’ve been the NXT Champion. What’s the next one you have your sights set on?
“That’s such a tough question to answer, because you have different focuses at different points. I used to be like, I have to sign with WWE. I have to be there by this year, and I have to do that. Actually, when I was on the Indies, that got quite exhausting, that way of thinking, and I shifted my focus. I remember the day it happened. I was wrestling for a company called North Wrestling in Newcastle, England, and I did a parody video of Bon Jovi on Scotty 2 Hotty. I remember the audience just went nuts. There was like 200 people there, but they all went nuts. I thought, You know what? If this is as big as it gets, that’s cool. This is my job. I’m committed. I am a pro wrestler. If it never gets bigger than this, I know I killed it. I know I entertain those fans, and I’m going to give my best to entertain the fans no matter what I’m doing. When I shifted my focus to delivering value for the fans, rather than I want this belt. I want this. I want that. That’s when things really took off. I feel like now I’m in a phase where I feel like if I just commit to entertaining the audience as best as I can, and doing the absolute best job I can, all those things that I want will come to me. That said, Intercontinental Championship, please.”
You made it really clear that you wanted to have a match with John Cena before he retired. How close were you to having that match with John Cena?
“I mean, I don’t know. I think the thing is, to me, it’s something either happens or it doesn’t. Ultimately, I have to put the responsibility on myself. I didn’t wrestle John Cena because I didn’t do enough to make me an obvious choice to wrestle John Cena. So I didn’t do enough somewhere along the way, and that I feel led into the motivation that I needed in NXT, because it made me realize. Because if you think about it, I’m going, ‘I’ll wrestle at the Royal Rumble, I’ll wrestle at WrestleMania…’ and I’m saying this crazy stuff, and it’s happening. So I think that gave me a reminder that you just can’t take progress for granted. You have to work for everything. I was like, All right, okay, I got to take things up another level now, and I think it inspired me to work harder. So again, I have no regrets, because I look back and go, yeah, maybe could have been stronger in this area, this area, this area, but I won’t let that happen again. The next thing I want to put out there, I’ll make sure I get it.”
Owen Hart Cup tournament participant Sareee announced on social media that she would be taking one month off due to a neck problem.
AEW President Tony Khan said during the ROH media conference call yesterday that her match against Persephone would be taking place sometime in June, allowing enough time for the Japanese star, and even her opponent, to recover from their current injuries.
Sareee apologized for having to miss matches that she was already scheduled for.
“I was more afraid of not being able to step into the ring anymore,” she wrote. “I made this decision so that I can continue fighting as a professional wrestler from here on out!”
Sareee pleaded with her fans to give her “just a little time” to recover.
Rusev and former WWE star Gangrel have officially launched their new wrestling school, titled KECH Pro Wrestling, in Nashville, Tennessee.
“The mats are down. The ring is up. The doors are open. Thank you to everyone who showed up, trained, watched, asked questions, and believed in what we’re building,” a post on the KECH Pro Wrestling social media account read.
They also uploaded a photo of the students sporting the school’s t-shirt and Rusev and Gangrel in the middle.
“This is only the beginning. KECH Pro Wrestling Academy is officially underway. Train like a pro. Trained by a pro,” the post continued.
The school will train both kids and adults.
Rusev said in the past that he chose Gangrel as he’s been screwed a lot by other people promising him things but never delivering. He noted how Gangrel took a Bulgarian kid under his wing and helped him train down in Florida and is now moving to Nashville for this project with him, praising his teaching methods on being a real guy with hard training on the basics of wrestling.
The first hour of Backlash on ESPN2 drew 998,000 viewers according to Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics. The numbers do not include those streaming on the ESPN app with unlimited plan and is strictly for the first hour on linear television. The broadcast registered a rating of 0.33 in 18-49.
WrestleMania 42 Saturday, which also aired the first hour on ESPN2, had 1,616,000 viewers and a 0.62 rating.
In an interview on the Smash Cast YouTube channel, Jake Paul claimed that TKO has banned him from attending WWE shows to see his brother, Logan, perform.
Paul said that TKO has a “major beef” with him and won’t allow him to be there because they hate him.
“It’s pretty wild how much under their skin we are,” Jake said.
Jake leads MVP Promotions and has now entered the business of MMA, promoting the fight between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano. Paul, along with Rousey, have been pretty vocal about UFC President Dana White and the UFC in general.
Live tonight from the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center in Salisbury, Maryland, Ring of Honor presents Supercard of Honor 2026. The full card is as follows:
Bandido vs Blake Christian for the ROH World title
Athena vs Maya World vs Trish Adora vs Yuka Sakazaki vs Billie Starkz vs Zayda Steel in a Survival of the Fittest match for the ROH Women’s title
AR Fox vs Lio Rush for the ROH Television title
Lee Moriarty vs Ace Austin in a Pure wrestling rules match for the ROH Pure title
Deonna Purrazzo vs Diamante in a Pure wrestling rules match for the ROH Women’s Pure title
Red Velvet vs Viva Van for the ROH Women’s Television title
Mark Davis vs Xelhua for the AEW National title
Nigel McGuinness vs Josh Woods in a Pure wrestling rules match
How to watch
The Zero Hour portion of the broadcast starts at 6PM ET and airs on the ROH YouTube channel and social media properties. It is followed by the Supercard of Honor event which will start at 7PM ET and airs on WatchROH.com for both fans in the U.S. and internationally. International fans can also watch the show on the MyAEW streaming service.
A subscription to Watch ROH or MyAEW is required to watch.
NXT came crashing down in the ratings this week, drawing just 498,000 viewers, down a whopping 143,000 viewers from the previous week. This was the least-watched NXT since February 8, 2022. The show had a 0.06 rating in 18-49, down 0.05, and the lowest ever for the show. It had competition from the NBA and NHL Playoffs. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
Leon Slater failed to break the record of the longest-reigning TNA X Division champion, losing his title to Cedric Alexander last night on Impact in a two-out-of-three falls match.
Standing at 298 days, Slater now ties the record of Austin Aries, who also held the title for the exact number of days between 2011 and 2012. Aries had vacated the title in exchange for an opportunity to wrestle for the TNA World title at the time.
Slater won the title from Moose at the 2025 Slammiversary event in Elmont, New York and made the most out of his time as champion, even appearing multiple times on WWE broadcasts with the championship.
PWInsider.com is reporting that Stephanie Vaquer is expected to return to WWE television on next week’s episode of Raw.
Vaquer was attacked by The Judgment Day on the April 27 episode of the broadcast and has been out of action ever since. Michael Cole announced on the show that Vaquer was suffering from an acromioclavicular sprain in her left shoulder and would be out for a while.
La Primera lost the WWE Women’s World title to Liv Morgan at WrestleMania 42.
Her ex-boyfriend, Rogelio Reyes, was just sentenced to 12 years and eight months in prison after he was found guilty of domestic violence and attempted femicide.
Fabian Aichner, the man formerly known as Giovanni Vinci in WWE, made his TNA Wrestling debut last night on Impact on AMC.
Aichner’s debut came after Cedric Alexander defeated Leon Slater to become the new TNA X Division champion, interrupting his celebration and staring at the new champion while on the stage.
The Italian star worked for WWE between 2017 and 2025 first as part of the Imperium faction and then on the main roster as a solo, but that did not last long, even losing his first match on Smackdown in a few seconds.
WWE today announced that it is doing 10 non-televised live events as part of their 2026 Summer Tour.
House shows have been few and far in between for a couple of years now, with the company moving away from running these money-losing events. While it was done to save money, it also had a negative effect on the Superstars, who lost their ability to perform in front of audiences week in and week out and keeping up with their tempo.
These events will be held on Thursdays and also during the weekend.
Saturday, July 11 in Las Cruces, at the Pan American Center
Sunday, July 12 in Albuquerque at The Pit
Thursday, July 16 in Allentown at the PPL Center
Saturday, July 25 in Stockton at the Adventist Health Arena
Sunday, July 26 in Bakersfield at the Dignity Health Arena
Thursday, July 30 in Springfield at the Bank of Springfield Center
Thursday, August 6 in Fairfax at the EagleBank Arena
Thursday, August 13 in Manchester at the SNHU Arena
Saturday, August 29 in Savannah at the Enmarket Arena
Sunday, August 30 in Charleston at the North Charleston Coliseum
Tickets for each event will go on sale Wednesday, May 20, at 10AM local time. Fans can purchase individual event tickets during an exclusive pre-sale starting Tuesday, May 19, at 10AM local.
