Backlash France

Backlash France
Promotional poster featuring Cody Rhodes
Promotion	WWE
Brand(s)	Raw SmackDown
Date	May 4, 2024
City	Décines-Charpieu, Lyon Metropolis, France
Venue	LDLC Arena
Tagline(s)	"Nightmares Do Come True"
WWE Network event chronology
← Previous WrestleMania XL Next → King and Queen of the Ring
Backlash chronology
← Previous 2023 Next → —
WWE in Europe chronology
← Previous Money in the Bank Next → Clash at the Castle: Scotland

Backlash France is an upcoming 2024 professional wrestling event produced by the American company WWE. It will be the 19th Backlash event and will take place on Saturday, May 4, 2024, at the LDLC Arena in Décines-Charpieu in Lyon Metropolis, France. The event will air via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and will be held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. This will be WWE's first PPV and livestreaming event to be held in France, and the first Backlash held outside of North America. The concept of the event will be based around the backlash from WrestleMania XL.

Production

Background

Backlash is a recurring professional wrestling event that was established by the American promotion WWE in 1999.^[1] It was held annually from 1999 to 2009, but was then discontinued until it was reinstated in 2016 and has been held every year since, except in 2019. The original concept of the event was based around the backlash from WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania. The events between 2016 and 2020 did not carry this theme; however, the 2021 event returned Backlash to this original concept.^[2]

In late October 2023, reports emerged that WWE were discussing plans to hold the 2024 Backlash in Paris, France.^[3] The following month on November 16, the company announced that the 19th Backlash would be held in France, but in Décines-Charpieu, in the Lyon Metropolis, on Saturday, May 4, 2024, at the LDLC Arena, which opened in November 2023. This subsequently marks WWE's first pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event to be held in the country, with the event in turn titled Backlash France, as well as the first Backlash held outside of North America. The event will be based around the backlash of WrestleMania XL and will feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. It will air on PPV worldwide and will be available to livestream on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in most international markets. Additionally, the May 3 episode of Friday Night SmackDown will be held at the same arena, marking the first time that the program will be broadcast from France.^[4] Tickets went on sale on January 12, 2024.^[5]

Storylines

The event will include matches that result from scripted storylines. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands,^[6][7] while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.^[8]

On Night 2 of WrestleMania XL, LA Knight defeated AJ Styles, while later that night in the main event, Cody Rhodes won the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.^[9] On April 12, it was announced that Rhodes's first challenger for the title would be determined by a tournament that would begin on that night's SmackDown. Knight and Styles subsequently won their respective triple threat matches.^[10] The following week, Styles defeated Knight to earn the championship match against Rhodes at Backlash France.^[11]

On Night 2 of WrestleMania XL, Damian Priest cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to win the World Heavyweight Championship.^[9] The next night on Raw, Jey Uso won a fatal four-way match to become the number one contender for the title,^[12] which was scheduled for Backlash France.^[13]

On Night 2 of WrestleMania XL, Bayley won the WWE Women's Championship.^[9] On the next episode of SmackDown, while Bayley was talking about giving new opportunities for other women's, Tiffany Stratton appeared to accept the opportunity, however, Bayley said that she was talking about giving Naomi a chance for the championship. Stratton then insulted Naomi, prompting her to come to the ring. After a discussion between Naomi and Stratton, they faced each other in a match to determine who would challenge Bayley for the championship, where Naomi won. The title match took place on the next episode, but ended in a no-contest after Stratton attacked both Bayley and Naomi.^[10] Another match between Naomi and Stratton was then scheduled for the next episode to determined who would challenge Bayley for the championship at Backlash France, but ended in another no-contest after external interference from Nia Jax. SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis then announced that Bayley would defend the WWE Women's Championship against both Naomi and Stratton in a triple threat match at Backlash France.^[14]

At Night 1 of WrestleMania XL, Naomi, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill defeated Damage CTRL's Dakota Kai and WWE Women's Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) in a six-woman tag team match.^[15] On the 26 April episode of SmackDown, it was announced that The Kabuki Warriors would defend the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship against Belair and Cargill at Backlash France.^[14]

Following his loss at Night 2 of WrestleMania XL, The Bloodline's leader Roman Reigns went on a hiatus.^[9] Solo Sikoa took charge of the group, removing Jimmy Uso from the faction and introducing the debuting Tama Tonga on the 12 April episode of SmackDown.^[10] The following week, the duo viciously assaulted Kevin Owens.^[11] On the 26 April episode, when The Bloodline again attempted to attack Owens, Randy Orton made the save. Later that night, it was announced that Orton and Owens would face The Bloodline (Sikoa and Tonga) in a tag team match at Backlash France.^[14]

Matches

Undisputed WWE Championship Eliminator Tournament (2024)

References

External links

• Backlash Official Website