Here are the results from last night’s Backlash premium live event which took place live from the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Bianca Belair defeated IYO SKY to retain the Raw Women’s title; Seth Rollins defeated Omos; Austin Theory defeated Bobby Lashley and Bronson Reed in a triple threat match to retain the United States title; Rhea Ripley defeated Zelina Vega to retain the Smackdown Women’s title; Bad Bunny defeated Damian Priest in a San Juan street fight; Solo Sikoa, Jimmy Uso, and Jey Uso defeated Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Matt Riddle in a six-man tag team match; Cody Rhodes defeated Brock Lesnar.
Hola Friends! It’s @TheMagnumDA with another installment of the Pick’em report – tonight we are LIVE from beautiful San Juan, Puerto Rico, where WWE will be putting on their next Premium Live Event, Backlash! Tonight, Heel Turn Tom has returned to defend the WOPC Championship that he won at WrestleMania. Standing in his way? The old stalwarts…myself and our very own Colin Vassallo.
Before we get any further, I just want to show our fans something that BLEW MY MIND when I came across it – Wrestling-Online.com was featured on both YouTube and SmackDown this week! Check it out!
I’m super proud to be part of this team and this website. Congrats Colin on the much-deserved exposure! With that in mind, what are we waiting for?
ON WITH THE PICKS!!!!
WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Zelina Vega
Tom: Ripley just won the title – she’s not going to lose it now. Rhea retains,
Magnum: Yeah, I mean it would make sense if Vega won the title and kept it on SmackDown,..but Rhea is on the hottest run of her career right now. Mami is keeping the strap, but it’s going to be entertaining as hell to watch. Rhea retains.
Colin: Zelina Vega winning would be a great story, right? But the chances of her winning tonight are a big fat zero. There’s no single person who believes Vega will win the title tonight. It’s not a knock on her, but Ripley just won it and there’s a rocket strapped to her. So yeah, no chance in hell. Mami retains.
Seth “Freakin” Rollins vs. Omos (with MVP)
Tom: How did this match even come about? Rollins wins.
Magnum: I have a feeling about this match…and it’s the same feeling I had at WrestleMania. They wouldn’t put Omos out here on back to back PPV’s to job him out, would they? If they REALLY want to push this guy, put him over Rollins tonight. Rollins can get his win back during the World Heavyweight Championship Tournament. For now, let’s go with the upset. Omos wins.
Colin: If there’s one instance where OUTTA NOWHERE is applicable, this match is it. I mean, how did this come about? Did they randomly pick two names from a hat and said whoever is picked faces each other at Backlash? Rollins should be in a match better than this but I guess you gotta make the best out of it. Seth wins, and the crowd will sing. A lot.
WWE United States Championship
Austin Theory (c) vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Bronson Reed
Tom:Theory’s on a roll – I’ll take him to retain the US Championship.
Magnum: Yeah, I have a feeling that Lashley or Reed are going to absolutely thrash each other, and Theory will be there to pick up the pieces. Theory retains.
Colin: I’m kinda digging Austin Theory as the champ. He’s grown on me. Dude was funny when I met him in Vegas at a meet and greet last year. He’s really gonna be a big star eventually. I’m thinking Theory will steal the pin after Lashley or Reed kill each other. Theory retains.
WWE Raw Women’s Championship
Bianca Belair (c) vs. Iyo Sky (with Bayley and Dakota Kai)
Tom: Belair gets the win and etches her name in the record books.
Magnum: Damage CTRL is about to get some gold in their stable. Their time is coming soon. Unfortunately, their time…is not tonight. Belair retains.
Colin: I love IYO SKY, she’s bloody amazing. I would welcome a title change here but it’s unlikely to happen unfortunately. I’m all for Belair with the belt too, don’t get me wrong. But at this point, Bianca is a big star that does not necessarily need the title, whereas someone like SKY would benefit a lot. But anyway, Bianca wins.
Matt Riddle, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn vs. The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Jey Uso, and Jimmy Uso) (with Paul Heyman)
Tom: They may not all get along, but I’m going to take the team of Riddle, Owens, and Zayn.
Magnum: Puerto Rico is where a lot of the Hardcore wrestling elements came from. I’m expecting a wild brawl here, but I’m also expecting some quality tag team wrestling before things get out of hand. In the end, I’m going to take the team of Riddle, Owens and Zayn to get the win. This can’t make Roman happy.
Colin: This will likely be the end of this feud as KO and SZ are off to Raw now and The Usos are on Smackdown. They didn’t say that they will defend the titles across the brands. I can see Solo winning this for his team for the last revenge on the faces. Bloodline wins.
Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
Tom: I don’t know how he’s going to do it, but Cody Rhodes is going to get the win here.
Magnum: So I’m going to use if/then logic to process this one. If Cody wins here, he’s likely to lose the WHC Tournament. If he loses, he’s likely to win the WHC Tournament. Personally? I don’t think he’s going to be the first ever WWE World Heavyweight Champion. So something is going to happen tonight…where Cody’s likely going to win, but Brock will make sure that he gets his pound of flesh along the way. I’ll take Cody to win tonight…but Brock will do something along the way to cost Cody the title.
Colin: This should be the match of the night, no? Brock vs Cody was not something I saw happening while I was in LA for WrestleMania weekend. But here we are. Cody needs to overcome all the odds to get to Reigns again. Brock is obstacle #1 and Brock doesn’t lose often but I think five or six Cross Rhodes will do the job here LOL! Cody wins.
San Juan Street Fight
Bad Bunny vs. Damian Priest
Tom: Dude, they’re in Puerto Rico. There’s no way Bad Bunny is losing this match. It’s going to be crazy, I’m sure…but Bad Bunny is taking this one.
Magnum: Yep, expect the LWO, the Judgment Day, the 52nd Airborne, and the kitchen sink tonight. This will not be Flair vs. Steamboat – this is going to be an absolute war. Looking forward to seeing Bad Bunny break out even more offense than we’d seen previously! I’m in full agreement with Tom – this is Bunny’s show, this is his house, and this is his main event to win. I’m taking Bad Bunny.
Colin: I mean, do you think Bad Bunny is going to lose here? He’s not going to win clean and there will be a ton of interference from the LWO and Judgment Day but I don’t think Bunny is going to do the job here. Would be cool if he did, but no. This is a major match for Priest, maybe his prize for being overlooked for a match at WrestleMania. Bad Bunny gets the W.
All right fans, there you have it!! We’ll see you later this month for Night of Champions!! @TheMagnumDA signing off.
It’s Backlash day and if the fans in Puerto Rico are going to be as loud as yesterday on Smackdown, then we’re in for a treat.
We will be presenting you with the latest betting odds for all the matches of best betting sites with no ID verification below but remember, odds will likely change by the time the show goes on the air so please be careful if you’re using real money to place bets.
A San Juan street fight match will pit global music superstar Bad Bunny against Damian Priest. Bad Bunny is, much to the surprise of nobody, the favorite in this match with 1/5 odds while Priest is 3/1 to win.
It’s the American Nightmare versus The Beast Incarnate and Cody Rhodes said he needs to beat Brock to continue his story. Rhodes is 11/20 and favorite to beat Brock, who is rarely the underdog in matches but he is one here with odds of 13/10.
The Raw Women’s title is up for grabs with Bianca Belair defending against former NXT Women’s champion IYO SKY. Belair is favorite with 1/10 odds while SKY is 5/1.
Puerto Rico’s own Zelina Vega has a chance to make history tonight but judging by the odds, her chances are super slim. Vega is 13/2 to win while mami Rhea Ripley is the overwhelming favorite with 1/20 odds.
Seth Rollins is facing the Nigerian giant Omos in this very random match and Rollins – also a favorite for the new WWE World Heavyweight title – is 7/25 favorite to defeat Omos whose odds are at 47/20.
Austin Theory will have work cut out for him as he is defending the United States title against both Bobby Lashley and Bronson Reed in a triple threat match. Despite the size difference, Theory is favorite to retain with odds of 7/25 while both his opponents are at 4/1.
A six-man tag team match will pit the WWE Undisputed Tag Team champions Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn along with Matt Riddle to take on The Usos and Solo Sikoa of The Bloodline. There will be no love lost between these six and KO, SZ, and Riddle are 1/2 favorites while Bloodline is 7/5 in the odds.
In an interview with Forbes, Impact’s newest star Trinity Fatu said that she’s always going to have Mercedes Mone’s back no matter what and the two grew closer over the past year.
Fatu explained that the two have always been close and always worked great together but their WWE exit “experience” brought them even closer as the two relied on each other through the whole process.
“I truly, deeply, deeply love her with all of my heart,” Trinity said of Mercedes.
“She’s this little tiny woman, still very young, still has so much to prove and in her career. But I just, I admire her strength,” she continued. “And just to be so young and to know who you are, and what you want and where you wanna go and where you wanna be and to not apologize for that. I really love that about her. And I’m gonna always be here for her. Always. And vice versa.”
Charlotte Flair says she’s only going to be away for a “couple of weeks” although she did not give an exact timeline for her return.
Speaking to The Boardroom, Flair said that this latest mini hiatus is a “blessing and a curse” because she went from having never any off days to being out for seven months due to an injury and now on the shelf again for something that she “needed to take care of.”
Flair did not elaborate on what needed to be taken care of, suggesting some sort of another minor injury.
The 14-time champion returned on the last Smackdown of 2022 and beat Ronda Rousey for the title. She then lost it to Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania last month.
A near 21-minute extended cut of The Firm Deletion cinematic match which aired on Rampage last night is now available exclusively on The Bleacher Report website.
The version which aired on Rampage was obviously cut shorter because of time constraints but now you can watch the – somewhat better – version of the match on B/R. It is not available on YouTube, so this could also be part of the new deal that AEW signed giving WBD properties exclusivity of their footage.
The match featured Matt and Jeff Hardy, Isiah Kassidy, and Hook battling Ethan Page, Lee Moriarty, Stokely Hathaway, and Big Bill on the Hardy Compound in Cameron, North Carolina.
The over-the-top match also had appearances by Reby Hardy, her father Señor Benjamin, and the Hardy kids, who beat on Stokely. Stokely was also on the receiving end of a Twist of Fate from Reby and a Swanton Bomb from Maxel Hardy.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Wrestling is reporting that Matt Cardona has wrapped up his duties with Impact Wrestling.
Cardona had been working with Impact on a handshake deal and not under a contract and Impact wanted to tie him down to a contract for guaranteed dates with the company.
But the popular indie star did not want to sign a deal and preferred a similar agreement to what they had, one which Impact was not willing to offer. Sapp added that Cardona would be willing to return if he’s not tied down to them.
It’s been a few months since Cardona showed up on Impact Wrestling TV and his last appearance was in January when he lost his Digital Media title to Joe Hendry.
Cardona has worked for Impact since 2021 and also frequently works for both Game Changer Wrestling and the NWA.
Live tonight from the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico, WWE presents Backlash 2023 on Peacock and WWE Network. The full card is as follows:
Bad Bunny vs Damian Priest in a San Juan street fight; Cody Rhodes vs Brock Lesnar; Rhea Ripley vs Zelina Vega for the Smackdown Women’s title; Bianca Belair vs Iyo Sky for the Raw Women’s title; Austin Theory vs Bobby Lashley vs Bronson Reed in a triple threat match for the United States title; Matt Riddle, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn vs Solo Sikoa and The Usos in a six-man tag team match; and Seth “Freakin” Rollins vs Omos.
The Backlash Kickoff show begins at 7PM ET on Peacock and WWE social platforms, featuring analysis ahead of the night’s action. A post-Backlash episode of The Bump airs tomorrow morning at 10AM ET live on Peacock, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram Live with Kayla Braxton, Matt Camp, and Ryan Pappolla.
Those LWO merchandise will be flying off the shelves, in Puerto Rico especially, after Bad Bunny gave his seal of approval last night on Smackdown.
Rey Mysterio needed some much-needed help after he was triple teamed following the conclusion of the mixed tag main event match.
Cue in Bunny’s song to a Steve Austin-like monster pop and Bad Bunny came out with Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, and Cruz Del Toro to help the Hall of Famer. Decked in a WWF Attitude Era logo jacket and a kendo stick, Bunny led the LWO army to the ring and then came face-to-face with Priest. But Dominik Mysterio tried to ruin the party, only for him to get smacked with the kendo stick for his trouble as Priest bolted.
After the smoke was cleared, Rey Mysterio presented Bad Bunny with his own LWO t-shirt to another ovation as Bunny removed his jacket and wore the LWO merch to send the crowd home happy.
All In is going to be a smashing success for All Elite Wrestling as the company crossed 60,000 tickets sold after the first day of general sale.
The majority of those tickets were scooped up during the couple of days of pre-sale and now Ticketmaster lets you pick and choose your seats, albeit for an inflated price compared to the prices of a few days ago.
AEW President Tony Khan said that the gate now stands at £6.1 million or the equivalent of $7.7 million, calling it one of the great success stories in wrestling history.
Just for comparison, WWE’s Clash at the Castle in Cardiff last year sold 54,000 tickets and had an $8 million gate.
With over 16,000 fans in attendance, Rey Mysterio and the L.W.O. open Smackdown. Rey speaks and introduces the next Smackdown Women’s Champion Zelina Vega. As she took the microphone, the Judgment Day come out to interrupt.
Rey challenges Dominik to a WrestleMania rematch but Rhea steps in front of Dominik and says I have a better idea why don’t you fight me and Zelina steps in front of Rey and Dominik says better why don’t you fight the both of us. Rey agrees and Rhea says you’re on.
Dominik gives Rey a cheap shot as they jump out of the ring.
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson VS. The Viking Raiders
The Magic Killer gives the Good Brothers the victory over the Viking Raiders
Winners: Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
They announce that Monday Night Raw will feature a tournament for the new World Championship. Then another tournament will be featured on Smackdown and the winner of those two tournaments will face off at Night of the Champions in Saudi Arabia to crown the new World Champion.
Bianca Belair is next to the ring. She talks about her match tomorrow night with Iyo Sky and if she wins, she becomes the longest reigning women’s champion and she gets interrupted by Damage Control. Bayley says Iyo will end Bianca’s title reign tomorrow night. Bayley says she and Dakota will win the Women’s Tag Team championships tomorrow night and control Friday Night Smackdown. They then jump Bianca. They get Bianca knocked down and Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan come out and go after Damage Control and chase them from the ring and then they help Bianca up.
Karrion Kross talks about his match tonight with Shinsuke Nakamura.
The Street Profits VS. Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci
Powerslam by Dawkins and the Frog Splash by Ford on Vinci and the Street Profits get the win.
Winners: The Street Profits
The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes comes out to the ring for the final time on Friday Night Smackdown. Cody calls Brock the gate keeper to the kingdom and he is afraid of Brock but tomorrow he has no time to be afraid of Brock and must beat Brock to get back on the road to finishing his story.
Shinsuke Nakamura interviewed about his match with Karrion Kross and Shinsuke says he only has two words for Kross “Come on!”
Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Matt Riddle are shown and Riddle talks about beating the Usos and Solo tomorrow. Riddle then says am I talking too much, and Sami says no there is just nothing left for us to say. It’s time and Kevin says it’s time.
Shinsuke Nakamura VS. Karrion Kross
Shinsuke hits Kross with the Kinshasa Kick for the win.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
Adam Pearce welcomes Cameron Grimes to Smackdown and Baron Corbin comes in. Baron jokes about Grimes being picked last and Grimes said almost like not being picked at all which Corbin was one that was not picked. Pearce is making the match official for next week Grimes VS. Corbin.
Rey Mysterio & Zelina Vega VS. Dominik Mysterio & Rhea Ripley
Finn Balor distracts Rey as Rey was going to the top rope and Dominik catches Rey with a suplex goes for the second suplex and does the “Eddie Shake and hitting of his Chest” and goes for the third but Rey flips over and hooks Dominik in a pin and gets the win.
Winners: Rey Mysterio & Zelina Vega
After the match, the Judgment Day attack Rey until the L.W.O. come out and chase them off leaving Damian in the ring. Bad Bunny comes in with a kendo stick and squares off with Damian, Dominik slides in and distracts Bad Bunny leaving Damian to dive out of the ring. Bad Bunny and the L.W.O. stand tall in the ring as Bad Bunny put on an L.W.O. T-shirt.
AEW Rampage tonight comes to us from the CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, MD . After last week drawing 298,000 & a 0.09 in the 18-49 demo.
*****
Lucha Bros & Vikingo vs Will Hobbs, QT Marshall & Aaron Solo
Backstory: QT & co eliminated the faces from the trios battle royal Weds
Right to the ring, Vikingo & QT facing off, beginning with comedy as Marshall mocked the Mexican’s size then mimicked his flips. Amusingly, it has to be said.
Until Vikingo put his feet to work: spin kick, springboard dropkick, heel kick, pair of gamengiris, implosion hurracanrana, corkscrew kick. All polished off via out-to-in springboard phoenix splash for two.
Before tags as Fenix & Solo went at it. While Excalibur revealed Jericho’s refusing to leave his dressing room to join on comms. Nice touch.
Avoiding Fenix’ rebound spin kick, Solo ate a springboard armdrag, blocked a rolling cutter but was hit with the rebound kick at the second attempt. As JR talked about Rey still not being 100% (he’s been legit banged up which is why he’s been off tv). Meanwhile, Solo escaped a knee-bar by tagging out to Hobbs.
Fenix scooting to tag his brother who came in off the top via cross body, beckoning the big man to stop just to ‘zero miedo’ him; Hobbs blocked the face-palm until eating a thrust kick as Penta finished his slogan.
Crowd into the good guys here.
But paid the price as Hobbs obliterated him via lariat, Fenix and Vikingo being wiped out too attempting springboard attacks. Taking advantage, QT flung Penta into the ringpost, busting him open as the ads arrived.
Still in trouble, Penta took another lariat from Hobbs and was being doubled by the other two until slingblading his way free, bringing Hobbs in to eat a kick to the back of the head and a Fenix rope-walk punt as Vikingo sent QT outside to join the other heels via hurracanrana.
Cue stereo dives, someone took a nasty hit against the rail (you could hear the clang, think it was Hobbs), leaving Solo alone in the ring – Vikingo shooting star and a Bros double team splash for two as the pin was broken up.
Solo hit Fenix with a really nice belly-to-back into a facebuster, was taken out by Vikingo, who was dropped by QT only for Penta to spring off his back into a destroyer before being wiped out by Hobbs. Who in turn was blasted via a Fenix thrust kick and rolling cutter.
All six down.
Until the heels tripled up on Fenix, a diving foot stomp seeing the cover broken by Penta. Vikingo to the top, cheapshotted by QT but coming back to hit a destroyer off the top onto the apron, QT tumbling off onto a table, Vikingo readying a dive only for it to be aborted as Harley Cameron pulled QT to safety. Hobbs then choked Alex Abrahantes on the ramp as the Bros hit a spike piledriver to bag the win.
They made a point to emphasize that Hobbs was not at fault for the loss. Not that it helped much, the big man feels as unimportant as he ever has. Nor does it seem there’s much planned for Fenix & Penta. A shame.
It had some lulls but the highs were very high. Not to mention spectacular.
Winner: Lucha Bros & Vikingo
They showed MJF throwing a tantrum backstage after Dynamite.
*****
Before Jericho reticently emerged from his dressing room to apologize to fans for not being able to commentate tonight ‘due to an unprovoked attack by Adam Cole’. Unprovoked! That’s just fantastic.
He’s seeking ‘insurances’ that Cole will not be allowed in the same building as him from now on (AEW drawing from real life) and will have an update on that Wednesday. ‘Thanks for believing in me’ he said to Lexi before screaming ‘lock the door!’ as soon as he shut it.
This was excellent. Great, wildly entertaining follow-up.
Jade Cargill vs Gia Scott
Backstory: None
After a sloppy slam where Jade dumped Gia right on her side, she hit a pump kick then Jaded. As Excalibur wondered whether Taya would’ve beaten Jade if that move had been legal when they faced off.
Winner: Jade Cargill
Lexi with Mark Briscoe. The booking committee’s Sonjay Dutt interrupted, along with Jarrett & etc. Lethal asked Briscoe to reach out to FTR as Briscoe protested that he was about to head out for a match and they were messing with his focus.
Dutt then yelled, and I mean yelled, ‘Wow!’ five times, right into the camera, each more overdramatic than the last. Did I mention he helps book the show?
Mark Briscoe vs Preston Vance
Backstory: Jarrett & etc. ‘got’ Briscoe this match
A big lariat sent Vance quickly outside, where he ripped the signs held by Mark’s kids.
Taking advantage, Briscoe hit a blockbuster off the apron, chop to the chest, another, knee to the gut, Vance posted before being sat on a chair at ringside. Taking far too long up top, Briscoe took a nasty landing across the back of the chair as Vance moved. Before Vance flung him repeatedly into the barricade. Bringing the break.
German suplex, Vance replied, elbow strike & running kick from Briscoe. Both to their feet, stiff exchange of chops and forearms until Briscoe took him down with a big lariat, another in the corner, inverted ddt, Jay Drilla blocked, Vance discus lariat, both down.
Briscoe rolling outside to safety, Vance in pursuit, he hit a spear through the ropes by for two, then used Jose to hit a low blow for another two. Before being dumped outside via back drop, Mark using the chair to launch a senton.
Back inside, he hit a running boot in the corner, Jay Drilla for the win. The entire Briscoe family hit the ring to celebrate.
Winner: Mark Briscoe
Lexi with Dustin Rhodes. May 17th they’ll be in Austin, Tx.
Brian Cage blindsided him, pinning him to the ground as Swerve said he’d see him in two weeks. As Keith Lee, apparently just a step off-camera the whole time, appeared as the heels left.
Very basic. I’ve been ready for this to end so Swerve can get involved in something good.
*****
They showed a bunch of photos of Anna Jay & Julia being friends backstage as Anna said Julia’s been brainwashed and called her a spooky bitch. All of which might work if:
They gave the backstory more than 10 seconds’ tv time (the match is Weds)
Anna wasn’t a psychotic heel who goes round choking-out innocent people
*****
Promo package for the International Title match. Daniel Garcia promising to exploit all of Cassidy’s injuries. Orange said he’s been injured for a while & always finds a way.
In contrast to Jay/Julia’s friendship, they’ve done a nice job establishing Cassidy’s injuries. To the point where you can see a title change coming almost any week. Good stuff from Garcia too.
The Hardys, Hook & Isiah Kassidy vs The Firm, Firm Deletion
Backstory: I think the Firm have to break-up if they lose but I’m not certain and they damn sure didn’t mention it on comms
A car raced up, the Firm got out, the gates creaked open, Vanguard was there to greet them, as a light flashed and suddenly it was night. The faces shot at them with firework guns. As Stokely encouraged his guys to fight then ran into the woods.
Big Bill hit a big boot to Jeff, then chokeslammed Isiah in the woods as elsewhere Matt hit a suplex to Ethan on the grass, count of two. Page swept the leg to block a Twist of Fate, fired shots from the mount, then broke a branch over his back as Jeff did the same to Bill back in the woods. Before choking him with it, Bill’s acting/selling was OTT as he passed out. For some reason Jeff didn’t attempt a pin.
Stokely was nearly run over by Matt’s kids in a toy car as Bill attacked Jeff frm behind & Matt & Ethan made it to a ring.
Break. These aren’t my thing but it’s been relatively entertaining so far. Certainly feels different. Btw, Excalibur alone is voicing-over this. A shame in that JR’s responses would’ve surely been very entertaining.
Page got two, arguing vociferously with the ref that it was three, vowing to take everything from Matt for what he’d done to him. Hardy caught him coming off top with a Twist of Fate as an awakened Big Bill attacked from behind with a chair.
Stokely arrived in the tv room as Reby slid down a fire pole and someone (never named) zapped Hathaway from behind with a taser as the kids piled on him. Outside, Bill got a lighter out as Kassidy (Brother Zay) made sex noises before swantoning off a crate onto the heels. ‘I knew you’d come’ said Matt as Kassidy humped the ground.
As Reby beat up Stokely in the ring and Maxell hit a pretty nice swanton before Reby told him it was time for bed. Cut to Brother Zay coming off a ladder, putting Moriarty through a table. These quick cuts are really badly done, the wrestlers just randomly appear in different places all the time.
Finally, Page was stuck in the ring against all four faces. A Twist of Fate & Swanton (which looked like it just about killed Jeff to perform) for the win. Cause the broken down vets needed the shine. Not the half of the team who’re young. Don’t actually remember Hook doing anything.
‘Brother Nero’ lit a huge flaming symbol as the show just abruptly ended.
This was really goofy, interspersed with stuff that was supposed to be very serious. And AEW did an absolutely horrible job of explaining its significance. Never once mentioning any stipulations or what’d happen depending on who won.
WWE is back on Peacock and the Network tomorrow night for Backlash live from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Today we present you the early odds for Backlash and tomorrow we will update you with the latest numbers.
In the main event, Cody Rhodes will take on Brock Lesnar and Lesnar is not typically the underdog in his matches, but he is in this one with his odds a 31/20. The American Nightmare meanwhile is 4/9 favorite to slay the beast incarnate.
Global music superstar Bad Bunny will be in a street fight against fellow Puerto Rican Damian Priest. Bunny is – as expected – the favorite with odds of 7/20 while Priest is 39/20.
The United States title will be defended in a triple threat match and Austin Theory is favorite to retain with odds of 7/25. Both his challengers, Bobby Lashley and Bronson Reed, are 4/1.
Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Matt Riddle will team up to battle The Bloodline and the Undisputed WWE Tag Team champions and their partner are favorites with 1/2 odds while The Usos and their brother Solo are 7/5 to win.
Bianca Belair will defend her Raw Women’s title against IYO SKY and Belair, now on Smackdown, is 1/10 favorite to retain while SKY is 5/1 for the upset.
Rhea Ripley is the Smackdown Women’s champion but she’s on Raw and will defend the title against Zelina Vega. Ripley is the overwhelming favorite with odds of 1/20 while Puerto Rican Vega is 13/2 for the dream win.
WWE Superstars are in San Juan, Puerto Rico for what will be a very successful weekend with a sold out Smackdown tonight and sold out Backlash tomorrow.
Just 24 hours before he clashes with Brock Lesnar, The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes will be live on Smackdown tonight and so will global music superstar Bad Bunny who tomorrow takes on Damian Priest.
The only two matches announced for tonight’s show so far are Karrion Kross taking on Shinsuke Nakamura and The O.C. versus The Viking Raiders.
Both shows this weekend will take place at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot and Backlash will be the first premium live event to take place in San Juan since New Year’s Revolution in January 2005.
Episode five of season one of AEW: All Access drew 309,000 viewers this week, up 9,000 viewers from the previous episode. The show did the same 0.09 rating of episode four and was #35 on the top 50 cable chart. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Sonya Deville issued a statement on her social media after her attempted kidnapper was sentenced to 15 years in jail and 15 years of probation earlier this week.
The case dates back to August 2020 when the armed kidnapper, Phillip Thomas, traveled from South Carolina to Tampa where he broke into her house. Deville, and her guest Mandy Rose, managed to escape without harm.
“Thank you to everyone who has reached out today. After almost 3 years we finally got some closure last week. I am happy and healthy and have amazing people by my side,” Deville wrote.
“To say it’s over feels odd but I am beyond grateful for the support and help I received over the past 3 years from HCSO, Tampa PD, to everyone in the courts, attorneys, friends, security and so so many more. I have a lot to say pertaining to this situation which I feel can help a lot of people in similar situations now that the legalities are over. BUT for now thank you,” she added.
Deville left WWE for a few months after the incident, wrapping up her storyline with Rose in a loser leaves WWE match at SummerSlam that same month.
This week’s Dynamite on TBS drew 776,000 viewers, down 87,000 viewers from the prior week thanks to continued heavy competition from NBA and NHL playoffs. That was the least-watched episode of Dynamite of 2023 so far and the lowest dating back to October 26, 2022. The show did another 0.28 rating in the 18-49 demo, the same number of the past three weeks and placed #8 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Sara Lee’s autopsy report by the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office and revealed by TMZ shows that her official cause of death was suicide.
The medical examiner wrote that the former Tough Enough winner ingested a lethal combination of alcohol and pills. The report also said that Lee had bruises and abrasions on her head and body at the time of her passing although the suspicion is that she suffered those injuries in a fall or falls while in an intoxicated state.
Lee also left “letters of intent at the scene” which investigators found.
She was 30 years old when she passed away last year. She left behind her husband, former WWE star Wesley Blake, and three young children.
The tournament for the new WWE World Heavyweight title will commence this coming Monday on Raw and will take place across both brands despite the Draft.
On Raw, there will be two triple threat matches where the winners will face each other later in the night. The same thing will happen next Friday on Smackdown, with two triple threat matches and winners facing off in the main event.
The winners from those Raw and Smackdown main event matches will then face each other at Night of Champions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on May 27 with the winner crowned the new WWE World Heavyweight champion. Since the title will be the property of Monday Night Raw, if the title is won by the Smackdown star, that person would be then moved to the red brand.
The announcement was made by WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque at the Backlash 2023 press conference in San Juan today.
Trinity Fatu made her Impact Wrestling debut on last night’s show which aired on AXS TV. Her arrival was kept for the show’s main event.
After being warmly welcomed by the Chicago crowd with chants of “welcome back,” Trinity said that she wanted to be part of the Impact Knockouts division for a long time and put over how awesome the women of Impact Wrestling are.
The former Smackdown and Women’s Tag Team champion didn’t waste time by also declaring that she was there to go for the Knockouts title.
Impact Knockouts champion Deonna Purrazzo crashed the party and told Trinity that once they go one-on-one, she would not be able to walk out of the ring. Trinity came back with a zinger, telling Purrazzo that when they meet, she’d wish she got fired again. Ouch!
Jordynne Grace made it three and she came out to join the fun. Grace reminded Fatu that she’s first in line for the title and she’d have to wrestle her when she gets the title back.
