Backlash (2018)

The 2018 Backlash was a professional wrestling event produced by WWE. It was the 14th Backlash and took place on May 6, 2018, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. It was the first Backlash event since 2009 to feature multiple brands during a brand split. In 2019, Backlash was replaced by Stomping Grounds, but Backlash was reinstated in 2020.

Nine matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Raw's Roman Reigns defeated SmackDown's Samoa Joe. Also on the card, Seth Rollins retained Raw's Intercontinental Championship against SmackDown's The Miz in the opening bout, and SmackDown's WWE Champion AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura fought to a draw. The show was also notable for Daniel Bryan's first singles pay-per-view match since Fastlane in February 2015.

The event garnered negative reviews from critics, with the finish to the WWE Championship match and main event being particularly criticised, the latter for both its card placement and fan reaction towards the match itself. Other criticisms were levied against the rest of the card being middle of the road, as well as the Nia Jax promo after the Raw Women's Championship match. However, the Intercontinental Championship opening bout received praise, and was singled out as the best match of the night by most critics.

Production

Background

Backlash is a recurring professional wrestling event that was established by WWE in 1999. It was held annually from 1999 to 2009, but was then discontinued until it was reinstated in 2016. The original concept of the event was based around the backlash from WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania, but this theme was dropped with its revival in 2016. As first reported on November 22, 2017, and later confirmed on December 19, the 2018 event was the 14th Backlash and was scheduled to be held on May 6, 2018, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The event aired on pay-per-view (PPV) worldwide and was livestreamed on the WWE Network. Tickets went on sale on February 24 via Ticketmaster. After the reintroduction of the brand extension in mid-2016, the events in 2016 and 2017 featured wrestlers exclusively from the SmackDown brand. The 2018 event was originally to be Raw-exclusive, but in February, WWE announced that following WrestleMania 34, brand-exclusive PPVs would be discontinued, thus the 2018 Backlash featured wrestlers from both Raw and SmackDown.

Storylines

The event comprised nine matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live.

At WrestleMania 34, Brock Lesnar retained the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns and then was scheduled to defend the title against Reigns in a Steel Cage match at the Greatest Royal Rumble, which Reigns lost. On the April 9 episode of Raw, Reigns addressed his match against Lesnar when a returning Samoa Joe, who had been out with injury since January, interrupted him, called him a failure, and challenged him to a match at Backlash. During the Superstar Shake-up, Joe was traded to SmackDown.

At WrestleMania 34, AJ Styles retained the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura. After the match, Nakamura turned heel by attacking Styles with a low-blow. Repeated attacks by Nakamura led to a rematch at the Greatest Royal Rumble on April 27, which ended in a double countout. Subsequently, Styles was scheduled to defend his title against Nakamura at Backlash in a no disqualification match.

At WrestleMania 34, Seth Rollins defeated The Miz and Finn Bálor in a triple threat match to capture the Intercontinental Championship. The following night on Raw, The Miz invoked his championship rematch clause for Backlash. During the Superstar Shake-up, Miz was traded to SmackDown. Prior to Backlash, Rollins retained the title against Miz, Bálor, and Samoa Joe, who was also traded to SmackDown, at the Greatest Royal Rumble in a fatal four-way ladder match, making Rollins the defending champion at Backlash.

At WrestleMania 34, Jinder Mahal defeated Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, and Rusev in a fatal four-way match to win the United States Championship. On the following episode of SmackDown, Orton defeated Roode and Rusev in a triple threat match to face Mahal for the title at Backlash. However, on the April 16 episode of Raw, Mahal was traded to Raw during the Superstar Shake-up and lost the title to Jeff Hardy, and Mahal invoked his rematch clause at the Greatest Royal Rumble. Hardy was then traded to SmackDown the next night, where as Orton was about to face Shelton Benjamin, Hardy interrupted his entrance and took the match instead. The following week, Hardy was set to face Benjamin, but Orton this time interrupted Hardy and took the match. Hardy retained his championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble against Mahal, making Hardy the defending champion against Orton at Backlash. On the May 1 episode of SmackDown, Orton and Hardy teamed up and defeated Miz and Benjamin, after which, Orton attacked Hardy with an RKO.

At WrestleMania 34, Nia Jax defeated Alexa Bliss to win the Raw Women's Championship. A rematch for the championship was later scheduled for Backlash.

On the April 10 episode of SmackDown, Charlotte Flair, who had just retained the SmackDown Women's Championship against Asuka at WrestleMania 34, was attacked by The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce). Carmella took advantage of the opportunity and cashed in her Money in the Bank contract and won the championship. A rematch was later scheduled for Backlash.

On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, Big Cass returned from injury, aiding Shinsuke Nakamura in attacking AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan during a match in which the two were teaming together. The following week, a "Miz TV" segment with Daniel Bryan was advertised, but instead Cass came out (it was later revealed that Cass had attacked him backstage). SmackDown General Manager Paige scheduled a match between the two for Backlash. At Greatest Royal Rumble, Cass eliminated Bryan from the Greatest Royal Rumble match.

On the April 9 episode of Raw, Bobby Lashley returned to WWE after a 10-year absence. Also that night, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn appeared backstage on Raw and tried to convince Raw General Manager Kurt Angle to hire them since they were unsuccessful in gaining back their jobs on SmackDown at WrestleMania 34. Angle decided that the winner of a match between the two would get a contract, but the match ended in a double countout, so neither received a contract. On the April 16 episode, however, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon awarded both Owens and Zayn contracts. The two were later involved in a 10-man tag team match, and were defeated by the opposing team, which included Lashley and Braun Strowman. On the April 30 episode, Roman Reigns, Lashley, and Strowman defeated Jinder Mahal, Owens, and Zayn in a six-man tag team match. During the match, Strowman continuously sent Owens and Zayn crashing into the barricade walls. Later in the night, a match pitting Lashley and Strowman against Owens and Zayn was made for Backlash.

On the April 16 episode of Raw, a match between Bayley and Sasha Banks ended in a no contest when The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, and Sarah Logan) interfered, being transferred to Raw during the Superstar Shake-up. On May 4, after more weeks of feuding, a match between Bayley and Riott was scheduled for the Kickoff pre-show.

Event

Pre-show

During the Backlash Kickoff pre-show, Bayley took on Ruby Riott. After a distraction by The Riott Squad (Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan), Riott performed the Riott Kick on Bayley for the win.

Preliminary matches

The actual pay-per-view opened with Seth Rollins defending Raw's Intercontinental Championship against SmackDown's The Miz. During the match, Miz targeted Rollins' leg, applying the figure-four leglock multiple times. On two different occasions, Miz performed Skull-Crushing Finale on Rollins, but both resulted in nearfalls. In the end, Rollins performed a Curb Stomp on Miz to retain the title.

Next, Nia Jax defended the Raw Women's Championship against Alexa Bliss. In the end, Jax performed a Samoan drop on Bliss to retain the title. After the match, Jax cut a promo about bullying and stated that everyone is a star and one should not worry about their appearance.

After that, Jeff Hardy defended SmackDown's United States Championship against Randy Orton. After Orton missed an RKO, Hardy delivered a Twist of Fate followed by a Swanton Bomb to retain the championship.

Next, Elias tried to perform a song, but was repeatedly interrupted by The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods), Rusev, Aiden English, and No Way Jose's Conga line (which included Titus O'Neil, Apollo Crews, Dana Brooke, Tyler Breeze, and Fandango). Bobby Roode then attacked Elias with a Glorious DDT.

In the fourth match, Daniel Bryan faced Big Cass. In the end, Bryan forced Cass to submit to the Yes Lock to win the match. After the match, Cass attacked Bryan with a big boot.