Backlash France became WWE’s largest arena gate in history, surpassing London’s Money In The Bank 2023 premium live event which had a gate of $3.3 million.
This adds to the record of yesterday where Smackdown in Lyon became the record holder for the biggest gate in Smackdown history, a record which was just broken a few weeks ago with Smackdown in Philadelphia.
Over 11,600 fans attended Backlash tonight and surpassing London’s record would make the average ticket price of around $300.
In the post-show press conference, Triple H put over the city of Lyon and the country of France for showing up and promised that this won’t be the last time they come for a show. He also mentioned that during the broadcast, he received a text from WWE President Nick Khan which simply said, “Stadium?”
WWE has several international premium live events lined up, starting with King and Queen of the Ring in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia later this month, Clash at the Castle in Glasgow, Scotland, in June, Money In The Bank in Toronto, Canada in July, and Bash In Berlin in Berlin, Germany in August.
First round matches for the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments that will take place on Raw were announced during the Backlash event.
Unlike previous years, WWE is treating these tournaments with more importance and added some heavy hitters in the qualifying matches.
In the men’s tournament, opening matches will include Drew McIntyre vs Finn Balor, Kofi Kingston vs Rey Mysterio, Ricochet vs Ilja Dragunov, and Gunther vs Sheamus.
The women’s tournament opening matches will have Zoey Stark vs Ivy Nile, Shayna Baszler vs Zelina Vega, Lyra Valkyria vs Asuka, and Iyo Sky vs Natalya.
The Smackdown matches are expected to be announced on Raw.
The finals of both tournaments will take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on May 25.
In the post-Backlash press conference, Paul “Triple H” Levesque said that WWE will continue its international expansion and will be visiting more countries in the future.
Levesque said that he heard Italy was especially loud during this tour and when he goes back he’s going to do some research on them and see what they can do.
He also mentioned that London mayor Sadiq Khan got re-elected and called him out on the tweet which said if he gets re-elected, he will work to bring WrestleMania to London. Levesque told Khan that “we should talk.”
The WWE CCO also said that people ask how would they get WWE events such as Backlash in their country and he responded that those fans should do like France when they come over and be as loud as they can and show them why they should do a PLE in their city.
Triple H thanked the fans in Lyon and the LDLC Arena staff for both Smackdown and Backlash and said they will be back for sure because that was some experience for everyone with the rowdy crowd. He noted that in Gorilla he couldn’t even hear the next person next to him with the noise and loved every minute of it.
The Bloodline has a new member in the form of Tanga Loa, who made his presence felt at Backlash by helping Tama Tonga and Solo Sikoa defeat Randy Orton and Kevin Owens in a street fight.
Loa, who is the brother of Tama Tonga, was a member of New Japan Pro-Wrestling until last month and comes after an eight-year stint there where he also teamed with his brother to form the Guerrillas of Destiny. He is a former seven-time IWGP Tag Team champion and three-time NEVER Openweight six-man tag team champion as well as ROH World Tag Team champion.
This is not Loa’s first run with WWE and he spent a few years there between 2009 and 2014 as Camacho where he wrestled both on the main roster as well as on NXT.
The Hawaiian-born 40-year-old is the son of Haku and has another adoptive brother, Hikuleo, who also wrestles for NJPW.
Today WWE announced that WrestleMania 41 will be coming to Las Vegas, Nevada and will be held at the state-of-the-art Allegiant Stadium.
WrestleMania Saturday will take place on April 19 and WrestleMania Sunday will follow on April 20.
The announcement was made during the Kentucky Derby pre-show on NBC via a video by Triple H.
“Las Vegas is the entertainment capital of the world. Allegiant Stadium has proven to be even greater than the A+ venue Las Vegas guaranteed it would be,” said Nick Khan, WWE President. “We look forward to bringing WWE’s biggest event, WrestleMania, to Las Vegas and Allegiant Stadium so we can collectively make WrestleMania 41 on April 19 & 20, 2025, the most successful WWE event of all time.”
“Bringing the iconic global brands of WWE and Las Vegas together will create what is sure to be an unforgettable event and weekend,” said Steve Hill, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President & CEO. “As the Sports and Entertainment Capital of the World, hosting WrestleMania 41 is the perfect addition to our events calendar, and we can’t wait to welcome the WWE Universe to Las Vegas in 2025.”
This is the first time in 31 years that Las Vegas will host WrestleMania, with WrestleMania IX back in 1993 the last time the Showcase of Immortals was in Sin City in the parking lot of Caesars Palace.
The nearby T-Mobile Arena is expected to be hosting Smackdown and Hall of Fame, NXT, and Raw After Mania. It will be WWE’s debut at the T-Mobile Arena and the first wrestling shows to be held there since the AEW Double or Nothing 2023 pay-per-view. WWE did not officially announce where these shows will be held.
Additional ticket details and event information will be announced in the coming months. To learn more about registering for pre-sale opportunities, please visit: https://www.wwe.com/wm41-presale-registration.
The Allegiant Stadium already hosted SummerSlam 2021 where over 50,000 fans attended. WrestleMania attendance will obviously be more than that as not the full stadium was open for SummerSlam whereas for WrestleMania, every imaginable seat will be open.
The announcement today ends Minneapolis’ bid to host next year’s show after being in pole position for most of the time until Vegas decided to spoil the party. This was the third time that the city of Minneapolis tried to get WrestleMania to the North Star State.
In case you haven’t heard: @WWE is on fire right now.
There’s only one place that can handle what we’re bringing to #WrestleMania 41…
Here are the results from Backlash 2024 premium live event which took place live from the LDLC Arena in Lyon, France.
Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga defeated Kevin Owens and Randy Orton in a street fight; Bayley defeated Naomi and Tiffany Stratton in a triple threat match to retain the WWE Women’s title; Damian Priest defeated Jey Uso to retain the World Heavyweight title; Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill defeated Asuka and Kairi Sane to become the new WWE Women’s Tag Team champions; Cody Rhodes defeated AJ Styles to retain the Undisputed WWE title.
Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson has been released from his WWE contract. The news was originally broken by Dave Meltzer of the Observer.
The 23-year-old Minnesota native signed with WWE in September 2021, a month after appearing at SummerSlam and was given a NIL deal. WWE paraded him at major shows and even appeared at WrestleMania 38.
But his potential in a wrestling ring was never fully uncovered and after several start/stop attempts at launching his pro wrestling career, he was finally removed from the NXT roster late last year. He returned in January in a dark match on Smackdown but that was his last time appearing in front of a WWE audience.
Despite his gold medal heroics at the Olympics, Steveson also came with some baggage in the form of sexual assault allegations when in 2019, he and another teammate were arrested and later suspended from all team activities on suspicion of criminal sexual misconduct. They did not face criminal charges due to lack of evidence.
We are just hours away from another rowdy French crowd for Backlash today and below you will find the latest betting odds for the show.
Remember, these odds might change by the time the show kicks off so please be careful when betting with real money. If you’re a website owner and looking for a new CMS, check out 카지노커뮤니티.
In the Undisputed WWE title match, Cody Rhodes is the overwhelming favorite to win the match and walk out of Lyon carrying the gold with his odds at 1/25 while those of his opponent AJ Styles are 15/2.
The same could be said for current World Heavyweight champion Damian Priest who is 1/9 favorite to win his match against Jey Uso. Uso is 17/4 in his odds.
Bayley will defend the WWE Women’s title in a triple threat match against Tiffany Stratton and Naomi with Bayley carrying odds of 1/6 and favorite while Stratton is 11/2 and Naomi is 7/1 and a long shot.
New WWE Women’s Tag Team champions could be happening tonight as Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill are 1/10 favorites to win the gold while the Kabuki Warriors are 24/5 to win and retain.
And in the only non-title match of the day, The Bloodline are 1/15 favorites to beat Randy Orton and Kevin Owens who are 6/1.
Hello everybody! Bonjour! It’s @TheMagnumDA with another Pick’em report, and this time we are LIVE and in living technicolor from Lyon, France for BACKLASH. Colin’s had a solid run as champion, dating all the way back to when he won the title in December. Tonight, I’m going to take another crack at the WOPC championship with this PLE Pick’em. Bonne chance, Mon Frere – ON WITH THE PICKS!!
WWE Women’s Championship – Triple Threat
Bayley (c) vs. Naomi vs. Tiffany Stratton
Magnum: Coming off of a monumental Anniversary Wrestlemania, it’s extremely hard to go against any of the current champions. Bayley won the title in an awesome match with Iyo Sky, and it’d be a shame to pull the plug on something that hasn’t even gotten off the ground yet. I’ll take Bayley to retain, but don’t be surprised to see a familiar face get back into the mix tonight. Whoooooooo!
Colin: I can’t wait for Tiffany Stratton to be champion but this is not happening so soon after WrestleMania. I think she will be eating the pinfall too. Bayley needs a decent run with that title and hopefully it will last for a while. Bayley wins.
Bonus: Who takes the losing fall in this match?
Magnum: Naomi
Colin: Tiffany Stratton
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) (c) vs. Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill
Magnum: Now, HHH mentioned something about champions being exempt from the recent WWE Draft. However, all of Damage CTRL went to Raw. Hmm…methinks that the Kabuki Warriors have already been written off. Big moment for Bianca and Jade – it’s Bianca’s first tag title, as well as Jade’s first title in WWE. #AndNew
Colin: I think they’re going to give Belair and Cargill the titles here. Can’t see any of them getting pinned to be honest and this will eventually lead to Bianca vs Jade in the future when the mega powers explooooode. Should be a fun match. New champs!
Bonus: What is the winning fall in this match? One point for each correct answer!
Magnum: Jade pinning Kairi Sane
Colin: Jade pinning Kairi Sane
Randy Orton and Kevin Owens vs. The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga)
Magnum: If last night was any indication, this is going to be as crazy as a Bunkhouse Stampede (if you will). Another theory I have: you can’t have debuting superstars lose. This is Tama’s in-ring debut, and if The Bloodline loses this match their momentum would be derailed. “Winning and losing matters.” Bloodline is not losing this one, even if John Cena shows up to even the odds.
Colin: This will be an all-out brawl and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see blood, pardon the pun. Solo and Tama need to solidify their position in the Bloodline and a win here will do them wonders. Plus, Solo hasn’t won since he beat John Cena. Crazy, isn’t it? But yeah, Bloodline for the W.
Bonus: What is the winning fall in this match? One point for each correct answer!
Magnum: Tama pinning Randy Orton
Colin: Solo pinning Kevin Owens
WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Damian Priest (c) vs. Jey Uso
Magnum: Going back to what I mentioned in the Bayley pick…a singles World Championship victory at a Wrestlemania is a big deal, and you can’t throw away that title reign one month later. This is a chance for Priest to earn a legitimate and credible win against a top contender. Look for Priest to retain with a little help from his friends in the Judgment Day…or look for Drew McIntyre to spoil the party for everyone.
Colin: Jey Uso got a monster reaction after Smackdown with his entrance and it would be cool to see him win but nope, not gonna happen. Not for now at least. Still think Priest is a transitional champion until Clash at the Castle. Priest wins and retains, no doubt about that.
Undisputed WWE Championship
Cody Rhodes (c) vs. AJ Styles
Magnum: As already mentioned with Bayley and Priest…there’s no way Cody loses the title. It would be one of the most shocking and disappointing losses of his entire career if it happened. At the same time, who’s on the horizon for Cody Rhodes? A lot of AJ’s title feuds were stretched out into multiple PPV’s, so it’s not a guarantee Cody wins. AJ could win by DQ to keep this feud going. Ultimately, I’ll roll with Cody, but I don’t think we’ve heard the last word from AJ Styles.
Colin: If I had no doubt about the winner of the previous match, then I have no no no no noooo doubt about who wins this one. And I don’t think anyone does. Should be a banger of a match between these two former Bullet Club members but Cody’s got this.
Okay everybody, that’s going to do it for us! Enjoy the show, and merci beaucoup!! See you next time for the Pick’em report! @TheMagnumDA signing off.
WWE French commentators Philippe Chereau and Christophe Agius were given a hero’s welcome at the LDLC Arena last night before Smackdown as the whole place came unglued for their entrance.
Chereau and Agius have been doing WWE commentary for over 20 years and are hugely popular and beloved among the French wrestling fans, with pretty much every French fan growing up hearing their voices on television.
Some of the chants heard yesterday were actually phrases that the two announcers use on the broadcast, especially the “simplement deux” after every two-count which was then turned in a chant every single time someone kicked out of a pinfall.
Chereau and Agius will go for round two tonight at Backlash and you can definitely expect a similar response from the patriotic crowd!
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reported that WWE Chief Executive Officer Brad Blum has resigned from the company.
Blum, one of McMahon’s trusted lieutenants, was one of the most powerful individuals in the company and started in 2006 as EVP of Chief of Staff. Three years later he was promoted to EVP of Operations before in 2023 he was assigned the Chief Operating Officer role after the TKO merge. In total, Blum spent 18 years with the company and reportedly leaves on his own accord.
While not mentioned by name, Blum was revealed as Corporate Officer No. 2 in the Janel Grant lawsuit and was responsible for hiring her and giving her a $75,000-a-year job without asking any questions. Blum was also the one who transferred Grant to a different position after he warned McMahon of the rumors about their relationship.
Last night’s Smackdown at the LDLC Arena became the highest-grossing Smackdown event ever in the history of WWE, even beating the one in London last year on the eve of Money in the Bank.
Smackdown in Philadelphia on the eve of WrestleMania XL held the record for the highest-grossing show but this one eclipsed that one as well. The London Smackdown had a gate of over $1,850,000 million.
The show was jam packed with well over 12,000 fans in the arena who paid a dear price to get in. The fans showed up and were loud all night, making it one of the best atmospheres at a live television show in years.
WWE has yet to reveal the exact numbers of gate money but that is likely coming next week.
WWE will make a major announcement concerning WrestleMania today on their social media properties. No time has been specified for the announcement.
The announcement is related to the date and location of next year’s WrestleMania with rumors growing that Las Vegas will be the host of WrestleMania 41, overtaking Minneapolis for the event.
Minneapolis has been the frontrunner for next year’s show pretty much for the entire time until Vegas poked its head in in the 11th hour to flip the script.
Smackdown’s LA Knight, Santos Escobar, and former NXT champion Carmelo Hayes all threw their name in for the King of the Ring tournament which starts next week on WWE television.
The three join the previously-announced Drew McIntyre, Gunther, and current King of the Ring Xavier Woods as entrants.
Tournament matches for the KOTR will kick off on Monday on Raw and continue Friday on Smackdown.
A women’s tournament, titled Queen of the Ring, was also announced but no entrants have come forward yet.
The finals will take place later this month in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on the premium live event aptly titled King and Queen of the Ring.
Live tonight from the LDLC Arena in Décines-Charpieu, Lyon, France, WWE presents Backlash on Peacock and WWE Network. The full card is as follows:
Cody Rhodes vs AJ Styles for the Undisputed WWE title; Damian Priest vs Jey Uso for the World Heavyweight title; Bayley vs Naomi vs Tiffany Stratton in a triple threat match for the WWE Women’s title; Asuka and Kairi Sane vs Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles; and Randy Orton and Kevin Owens vs Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga.
Backlash will start at 1PM ET / 10AM PT in the United States and 7PM local time with the pre-show starting an hour before airing on WWE’s social media networks as well as on Peacock and the WWE Network.
Here are the results from last night’s Under Siege 2024 event which aired exclusively on the TNA+ streaming service from the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany, New York.
Rhino defeated VSK in the pre-show; Ray Jaz and Zack Clayton defeated Obariyon and Kodama in the pre-show; Laredo Kid defeated KC Navarro to retain the TNA Digital Media title in the pre-show; Josh Alexander and Eric Young defeated Steve Maclin and Frankie Kazarian; Ash by Elegance defeated Havok; Joe Hendry defeated Zachary Wentz; Alisha Edwards and Masha Slamovich defeated Dani Luna and Jody Threat to become the new TNA Knockouts Tag Team champions; Rich Swann defeated Jake Something; Jonathan Gresham defeated Kushida; Jordynne Grace and PCO defeated Steph De Lander and Kon in a mixed tag team match; Mustafa Ali defeated Ace Austin to retain the TNA X Division title; Moose, Brian Myers and Eddie Edwards defeated Matt Hardy, Trent Seven, and Mike Bailey in a six-man tag team match.
Bayley, Naomi, Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill VS. Damage Control & Tiffany Stratton
In a different way of announcing the teams Bayley came out first, Naomi, Tiffany Stratton, Damage Control, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill in that order.
It was Bianca hitting the KOD on Dakota Kai to get the win for her team.
Winners: Bayley, Naomi, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill
A-Town Down talked about their first title defense tonight.
Carmelo Hayes was talking to Nick Aldis and wants to declare for the King of the Ring tournament. Bobby Lashley comes in and offers him advice and Hayes says thanks, but he was in the ring with the world champion on night one he thinks he has it figured out. Lashley said you shot your shot but it’s making those shots count and you lost. Hayes asked Lashley when the last time he shot his shot and Lashley tells Hayes first piece of advice for free… be careful who you disrespect around here.
Hayes leaves and Lashley stays to talk to Aldis, as both shake their heads.
New Catch Republic VS. AOP
Bate and Dunne had a great outing in this match until Karrion Kross took out Bate outside and AOP then hit their double team move on Dunne to get the win.
Winners: AOP
Paul Heyman walked into Nick Aldis’ office and Heyman asked if he got his memo and Aldis said I did, and it was denied and Heyman wanted him to pull Orton and Owens from the tag match tomorrow night. Aldis asked about Roman Reigns and Heyman said he hasn’t spoken to Reigns since WrestleMania and Aldis asked about Roman pulling himself out of the draft and Heyman said he pulled Roman out of the draft. Aldis told Paul to go try to pull Owens and Orton out of the tag match on the RKO Show.
Next is the RKO show hosted by Randy Orton and Kevin Owens. They talk about bringing out their guest Paul Heyman but never announce him and Paul came out on his own. Paul asked if he could enter the ring and Randy said yes and Kevin said if you invite him into the ring, you just can’t RKO him. Randy said he is the out of nowhere kind of guy. Paul said there will be no RKO this evening and Randy said he begged to differ. As Paul then started talking the crowd chanted “We want Roman”.
Paul said he had great respect for them both and he wanted to beg them to back out of the match tomorrow and Randy asked who the real Tribal Chief was. As Paul started to answer, Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga attack Kevin and Randy.
Randy and Kevin end up back in the ring as the officials get them all separated.
The Street Profits are shown, they talk about their match for the tag team championships tonight.
LA Knight VS. Angel
Even with the outside interference by Huberto and Santos, Knight was able to hit BFT for the win.
Winner: LA Knight
Knight says he is entering the King of the Ring and makes this ring his ring. Santos interrupts him and says he is going to win, and Knight talks too much, Knight says he couldn’t hear him because the crowd was saying he sucked.
Byron Saxton interviewed Carlito and Carlito said he was away from WWE for many years and wanted another WrestleMania moment and when Rey chose Dragon Lee, he took it personal. Dragon Lee comes in and attacked Carlito.
The Street Profits VS. A Town Down Under for the WWE Tag Team Championship
Dawkins had Theory on his shoulders as Ford was going to the top rope. Theory rakes Dawkins’ eyes, who then drops Theory who pushes Ford off the ropes and Dawkins recovers and rolls Theory up while the referee was checking on Ford, Waller comes in and hits the flatliner and Theory pins Dawkins.
Winners and still WWE Tag Team Champions: A Town Down Under
Face-to-Face AJ Styles and Cody Rhodes
Cody asked the crowd what they wanted to talk about in French and AJ stopped him and said he doesn’t care what they want to talk about because he is in the ring with the phenomenal AJ Styles.
Cody started saying he started out in Georgia and watched AJ growing up and AJ stopped him and said he doesn’t need to hear that kind of crap; He might be older than Cody, but he is still in his prime. AJ then said he wasn’t welcome to WWE like Cody was he had to work for years to get here, and he is going to get back to the top to prove he is phenomenal.
Cody tells AJ he will always be phenomenal but tomorrow night might be a dream match and their first match. Cody says he is looking at AJ as his first and that’s too sweet and AJ stuck his hand up for the too sweet gesture and as Cody went to do it, AJ slapped Cody in the face.
Right after that, the camera cuts to a disturbance in the back and Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Randy Orton and Kevin Owens are fighting again as Smackdown goes off the air.
WWE is back on Peacock and WWE Network with Backlash live from Lyon, France in front of a packed LDLC Arena.
We’re going to take a look at the early betting odds for these matches and tomorrow just before the show we will update the latest numbers. Remember, these odds are preliminary and will probably change.
In the main event, Cody Rhodes is super favorite to retain the Undisputed WWE title against AJ Styles, with Rhodes commanding odds of 1/25 while Styles is a long shot with 8/1.
Damian Priest is also favorite in his first title defense with his odds at 1/7 while Jey Uso, who gets his first title shot since SummerSlam, is 4/1.
The WWE Women’s champion Bayley is the favorite right now in her triple threat match against Tiffany Stratton and Naomi with 1/6 odds while her opponents are 11/2 and 7/1 respectively.
Will we see new WWE Women’s Tag Team champions? Bookmakers say yes and Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill are currently 1/14 overwhelming favorites to defeated the Kabuki Warriors who have odds of 5/1 to retain their titles.
Several developmental talent and a couple of NXT stars were released from their contracts today according to several sources.
The biggest name cut was former NXT Cruiserweight champion Drew Gulak, who several weeks ago was accused by Ronda Rousey for inappropriate behavior backstage. WWE conducted an investigation after Rousey’s claims and he was immediately removed from the No Quarter Catch Crew and “killed off” a few weeks ago.
The other NXT stars released were Boa, Valentina Feroz, and Trey Bearhill.
Developmental talent who were let go include Vlad Pavlenko, Kiyah Saint, Julian Baldi, Emma Diaz, Darrell Mason, Keyshawn LeFlore, and Ezekiel Balogun. Most of the names listed never wrestled officially once for WWE.
The Backlash go-home episode of Smackdown airs tonight on FOX on tape delay as it has already taken place in Lyon. The show aired live in the United Kingdom and Italy as the broadcasters took advantage of the unusual air time in Europe.
Scheduled for tonight in front of a red-hot crowd are an eight-woman tag match between Bayley, Naomi, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill vs Tiffany Stratton, Asuka, Kairi Sane, and Dakota Kai, New Catch Republic take on AOP, LA Knight vs Angel, and Austin Theory and Grayson Waller defend their WWE Tag Team titles against The Street Profits.
There will also be the RKO Show with guest Paul Heyman and a face-to-face between Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles.
