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WWE Backlash France (2024) -- Results & Afterthoughts

Backlash France was a 2024 professional wrestling event produced by the American company WWE. It was the 19th Backlash event and took place on Saturday, May 4, 2024, at the LDLC Arena in Décines-Charpieu in the Metropolis of Lyon, France. The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. This was 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 was based around the backlash from WrestleMania XL.

Five matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Cody Rhodes defeated AJ Styles to retain SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Championship. The referee for the match was Jessika Carr, who became the first woman to referee a WWE world title main event.[2] In other prominent matches, Damian Priest defeated Jey Uso to retain Raw's World Heavyweight Championship and Bayley defeated Naomi and Tiffany Stratton in a triple threat match to retain SmackDown's WWE Women's Championship. The event was also notable for the WWE in-ring debut of Tama Tonga, as well as the return of his adopted brother (biological cousin), Tanga Loa, who previously performed in WWE as Camacho from 2009 to 2014.

The event received highly positive reviews, highlighted by the strong crowd reactions similar to Backlash from the previous year. WWE reported that the event set the record for the largest arena gate in company history.

Match Results:

Tag Team Street Fight

The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga) (with Paul Heyman) defeated Kevin Owens and Randy Orton by pinfall

Nick Aldis changed the tag team match into no disqualification... I could already hear Jim Cornette and his podcast co-host saying, "LAZY BOOKING" the second he came out there despite the cheers of approval from the France crowd.

I thought this tag match was fine but it wasn't anything we haven't seen before. Owens excels in these types of matches more than anyone else and I guess they were trying to lean into the brawler tactics that this "new" Bloodline has been adopting over the past month in their backstage and in-ring attacks.

If I'm perfectly honest, I didn't see anything here that would make me a fan of Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga if I weren't already fans of those guys. I feel sorry for WWE fans who aren't familiar with Tama Tonga's work from what little they gave him to work with so far. This match had him on the receiving end for majority of the abuse from the babyfaces in this match, outside of the bigger bumps that Solo took in terms of the two table bumps from Orton and Owens. That wouldn't omit Tonga from the avalanche superplex from the top rope from Owens onto four steel chairs though. I swear that bump into a four chair setup looks worse (read: stupider) the more times I see it over the years.

The finish came after it looked like Owens had won with that spot, only for Tama Tonga's brother (Tanga Loa) to pull the referee out of the ring to break the pin. He would then lay waste to both Owens and Orton with the steel steps, leaving them ripe for Solo to finish off the Samoan Spike for the win. Huge meh, especially if this is leading to a possible reunion of the Usos against the Guerillas of Destiny under Solo Sikoa's command. I thought it would have been wiser to build up Tama Tonga as a threat on his own, something that everyone can agree that he's pretty lukewarm right now. The same can be said about Solo Sikoa in this role where he ripped leadership away from Roman Reigns without him actually being around to offer his two cents about it.

Triple Threat Match for the WWE Women's Championship

Bayley (c) defeated Naomi and Tiffany Stratton by pinfall

I loved the "Challenger" and "Champion" title cards during Samantha Irvin's in-ring introductions. The small details like this can go so far to bring in new viewers and educate fans who haven't been keeping up as closely as they should.

One thing people can't ignore about Naomi since returning to the company is that her in-ring game has been polished since her tenure/time away in IMPACT/TNA Wrestling. As good as this match was, my only knock on it was that there were FAR too many moments where they were all waiting on cues for the next spot or waiting on someone to be in the right position.

Tiffany Stratton had a strong showing in this match - as she should be one of the newest additions to that main roster women's division. She's been a force to be reckoned with during her rise to the top in NXT and I'm anxious to see her repeat that on the main roster. I really hope she gets her wish during WrestleMania season to feud and main event with Charlotte Flair if not next year or maybe the year after that. It just depends on how the landscape of that women's division looks in a few more months. I know for certain that they are desperate for a shot of adrenaline in terms of new blood to freshen things up.

This entire match was fun to watch, despite what a lot of people tend to hate about triple threat matches in terms of cooperation and people disappearing for stretches on end until the next big spot. I thoroughly enjoyed that all three women stayed mostly involved in this entire match.

My favorite part came in the pair of Alabama Slams Stratton hit on both Naomi (after a series of counters) and later Bayley on the two commentary tables. It was looking like it was about to be "Tiffy Time" in terms of the Prettiest Moonsault Ever after she threw both women back into the ring, but both Naomi and Bayley rolled out the way in unison and hit the 1D on Stratton that would make both the Dudley Boys and the Usos proud. Naomi and Bayley would get into a brief exchange that ended with Bayley securing the win via a well-placed roll-up. The two long-time friends hugged it out and that was that. I can't lie, but I was half-expecting Naomi to turn on Bayley post-match. Nothing happened so I was fine with that. The most important detail about this result was that Stratton wasn't the one who was pinned here, so she's still in the title conversion.

One pleasant detail as a side note: I was watching the replay of the show (since I didn't watch the show live) on Peacock with my 12 year old niece and nephew who I am babysitting this weekend and they were so enamored with the match that they put down their phones and tablets to watch it with me.

Singles Match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Damian Priest (c) defeated Jey Uso by pinfall

This match was a better performance for Jey Uso than his WrestleMania match, which was a complete snooze fest in comparison.

I still don't get this whole "Bisexual Undertaker" label for Damian Priest either, but one look at his ring gear and I can see why people are thinking that way and why Priest is encouraging it. The guy is friends with Rhea Ripley in and out of the ring after all and she's like the queen of encouraging all of the cat calling and thirsty comments from people online about her. That's the source of at least 60% of her popularity right there.

God I love Priest's sitout chokeslam, which Cole appropriately calls "The South of Heaven". At this point I was tired with the screen rumbling effect for the excitement in the arena. I get it. It's a big deal for WWE to be there doing a PLE with a pretty hot crowd loving every moment of this, but WWE might want to be careful about trying too hard to show off the crowd reactions when this same company were sweetening their crowd noise a year or two ago.

Jey needs to work on his strikes and just remove that lazy, tired looking Super Kick from his arsenal altogether. His strikes look like he's cosplaying as The Rock, when his slap punches never looked any good to begin with. People ignored and forgave The Rock on that regard when his charisma and everything else about him was on point when he was at the top of his game. Jey is at that point where everything he does while he's on this singles run trying to be a main eventer is being put under the microscope and he should be mindful that he shouldn't be phoning anything in either. Otherwise it comes off as half-assed.

I don't know how I feel about Priest getting so much help from his friends in the Judgment Day in this first title defense. It's one thing with Roman Reigns in the Bloodline as he already had a history of dominant performances on his own prior to the formation of the group. Here, it felt like Priest couldn't get the job done without his friends, especially when we saw Rhea Ripley on a tear (until her unfortunate injury) in her title defenses for a year.

Interesting that Balor and McDonough were shoved back from a post-match attack by Priest to lay off as he never wanted their help anyway. I could see those two being the ones to split off as they never quite fit in that group with Priest, Dom, and Rhea's vibes anyway.

I'm still confused by this whole YEET thing with Jey Uso as I personally don't get it. One look at the support from the France crowd and he's insanely over, so what do I know. I just worry if he's over or is this whole YEET thing is. It reminds me of how popular Chris Jericho's Judas song is in AEW over how stupid he books himself with his various storylines in that company or how he's a shell of himself in the ring in terms of quality. No matter how bad Jericho gets, people pop for that goddamn song. Even I popped for it when I went to a live AEW show in my area. It's so damn infectious, especially when you got something that encourages crowd participation.

For someone who's supposed to be injured, Dirty Dom sure took one hell of a bump onto the ring apron on his way falling to the floor from that Super Kick from Jey.

Tag Team Match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship

Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill defeated The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) (c) by pinfall

WWE kinda gave this result away when the reigning champions came out first instead of second for this Women's Tag Team Championship Match.

The result wasn't in question, especially after Bianca and Jade had a pinfall victory over the Kabuki Warriors at WrestleMania in dominating fashion.

Out of Jade Cargill's three WWE bouts/appearances so far, this was definitely the weakest of the three. She didn't look anywhere as impressive in this match as she did in the last two. Jade was clearly confused at points and looking to Bianca on what to do next. Bianca definitely saved this match from falling apart as it was obvious that she was feeding spots/communicating to Jade on what to do next.

(Laughs) I had to wonder whether or not Asuka and Kairi owe Bianca money at some point from how stiff she was hitting them and throwing them around like ragdolls. Like Jesus F'N Christ this was rough to watch at points and not in a good way.

I thought the finishing sequence was pretty sick though, especially with how Jade caught Kairi out of the air with ease, spun her around and dropped her into position for the Jaded/Glam Slam. THAT should’ve been the finish. The KOD on Asuka was completely unnecessary and took wind out of the sails for the impressive feat that Jade just did, especially when Bianca had to drop Asuka down as gently as possible. As of this posting (5/7/24), Asuka is currently injured and pulled from competing against Lyra Valkyrie in the opening round of the Queen of the Ring tournament last night on Monday Night RAW.

That being said, this tag team is a good idea if they want to give Jade Cargill more on the job training that she didn’t receive while in AEW. She can watch from ringside and learn from Bianca in terms of what to do and not to do while standing on the ring apron instead of just memorizing spots as she’s going to have to learn how to call these matches on the fly and know what to do instead of looking like a deer caught in headlights, clearly completely clueless in terms of knowing what to do next or knowing what to do like she did in so many points of this match. Jade is lucky that she looks so incredible and has so much charisma that she can fake that to an extent with her showboating and flexing/posing until someone clues her in.

I’m not mad that the Kabuki Warriors lost here as they had a lengthy run with the titles throughout the WrestleMania season and it makes logical sense to put the belts on someone else, especially when they don’t want to beat Jade quite yet as this is a safe role to put her in for the time being. (Shakes my head) Unfortunately for Asuka, it seems like the Women’s Tag Title “curse” continues with her injury. I’m confident that her and the rest of Damage CTRL will bounce back stronger than ever in the meantime.

Singles Match for the Undisputed WWE Championship

Cody Rhodes (c) defeated AJ Styles by pinfall

This main event was truly something else to watch from bell to bell. While the build getting here left a lot to be desired, the match itself exceeded all expectations as both AJ Styles and Cody Rhodes came out here with something to prove: Cody Rhodes as a worthwhile main eventer in the place of Roman Reigns’ monumental reign and AJ Styles reminding people that he’s still that damn good between those ropes despite not being in the title conversation for a lengthy duration of time for several years now.

Even though I didn’t doubt for a moment that they were changing the belts here in Cody’s first title defense as that would be a total Vince McMahon booking decision to the tee, there were a ton of near-falls where I can gladly admit that they were close to convincing me that they would change the belts here. Cody and AJ worked their asses off here, rightfully so for a WWE main event at the top of this card, but it definitely overstay its welcome and it was relieving to have one of these main events where the locker room didn’t empty out in terms of interference from the members of the Bloodline. That was getting beyond out of hand in Roman Reigns’ later title defenses to the point where people were more watching out for that than the action in the ring. You would always be watching these matches going, “Who’s going to show up and fuck this up for the challenger(s) this time around?”

(Laughs) If AJ Styles and Cody Rhodes were looking to put on a banger that would be in the same conversation as Bryan Danielson vs. Will Ospreay at AEW Dynasty two weeks ago, then mission accomplished. Words aren’t going to do this match justice. Go out of your way and check this one out. You won’t be disappointed unless you really had your heart set on AJ Styles winning the gold here. I hope this isn’t the last time we see in the main event scene either. It’s been far TOO long and he deserves one more good run in that position before he hangs it up for good.

As for Cody Rhodes, I thought this was a strong first title defense and the fans seem to be still firmly behind him so it’s still all good. The biggest challenge for him going forward is keeping people invested now that “the story” is finished and Roman Reigns has been dethroned. This match against AJ Styles was a great start, but oof the story/narrative getting there wasn’t the most engaging nor compelling though.

Not bad though for their first PLE (in France no less) following WrestleMania season with a new Universal Champion representing the brand. WWE is still firing on all cylinders despite this PLE coming in a little shorter than a full three hours of complete runtime without including the kick-off pre-show. This feat was complimented with a red hot crowd that was completely into everything that added to the excitement of this show from start to finish. Any wrestling event would thrive in an environment like this and even more for great fans like this. Take a bow, France, you were definitely the stars of the WWE Universe of this fine night.

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