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Backlash France will be held in 2024 on May 4, in the LDLC Arena in Lyon, France.
Cody Rhodes (c) vs. A.J. Styles, Undisputed WWE Championship match
Story in a nutshell: A.J. Styles won the Undisputed WWE Championship Eliminator Tournament to earn a shot at Cody Rhodes’s Undisputed WWE Championship.
It was decided that the first to challenge Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship would be the winner of an Undisputed WWE Championship Eliminator Tournament. AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens and Rey Mysterio in a triple threat match to advance to the finals. In the finals, Styles defeated LA Knight who Styles had been feuding with since Styles returned from injury. During their interactions, AJ Style has treated Cody with a mixture of grudging respect and barely help contempt.
Analysis and predictions: Cody defeats his first challenger easily.
Damian Priest (c) vs. Jey Uso, World Heavyweight Championship match
Story in a nutshell: Jey Uso won a fatal four-way match to earn a shot at Damian Priest’s World Heavyweight Championship.
After Drew McIntyre won the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania, Damian Priest took advantage of a weakened Drew and cashed in the Money in the Bank contract and won the World Heavyweight Championship. On Raw, it was determined that the winner of a fatal four-Way match would be Priest’s first challenger. Jey Uso managed to defeat Bronson Reed, Drew McIntyre, and Ricochet for the honor. Meanwhile, Priest has had to deal with issues within his faction, the Judgment Day. Priest keeps telling the others that he’d handle Jey Uso on his own since every time the rest of the Judgment Day has involved themselves in something as of late, they’ve failed.
Analysis and predictions: While I have Priest retaining, the Judgment Day can always cost him the title either by accident or by design.
Bayley (c) vs. Naomi vs. Tiffany Stratton, WWE Women’s Championship match
Story in a nutshell: Naomi and Tiffany Stratton faced each other to determine the next challenger for Bayley’s WWE Women’s Championship but the match was ruled a no-contest due to outside interference so now they both face Bayley in a triple threat match.
After winning the WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania, Bayley talked about wanting to give a title shot to other deserving women in the locker room. Tiffany Stratton came out to take the offer, but Bayley said she was speaking of giving a shot to a specific woman, Naomi who then came out. After a back and forth, Naomi and Stratton faced each other in a match to see who got the shot. Naomi won. When Naomi faced Bayley, Stratton interfered in the match so there was no winner. Naomi and Stratton faced each other once again to see who would challenge Bayley but this time the match was interrupted by Nia Jax. This led up to the triple threat match at Backlash.
Analysis and predictions: Bayley retains, and we hopefully get an actual finish to this match after several no-finishes.
Asuka & Kairi Sane (c) vs. Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill, WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match
Story in a nutshell: After Naomi, Bianca Belair, and Jade Cargill defeated Dakota Kai, Asuka, and Kairi Sane at WrestleMania, Belair and Cargill were granted a shot at Asuka and Kairi’s WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship.
In her seemingly forever-feud with Damage CTRL, Bianca Belair teamed up with Naomi and Jade Cargill and defeated Asuka, Kairi Sane, and Dakota Kai at WrestleMania. While Naomi went after the WWE Women’s Championship, Belair and Cargill decided to stick together as a tag team. Having beaten Damage CTRL at WrestleMania, they were granted a shot at Asuka and Kairi’s WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
Analysis and predictions: Belair & Cargill win this one and dominate for a while until the inevitable break up and feud.
Kevin Owens & Randy Orton vs. Solo Sikoa & Tama Tonga
Story in a nutshell: With Reigns out of the picture, Solo Sikoa wrought havoc on Kevin Owens using Tama Tonga, but Randy Orton showed up to even up the sides.
After losing his title to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania, Roman Reigns went on hiatus and graciously (in a “to the winner goes the spoils” way) granted Cody what had been the Bloodline locker room. Here, Kevin Owens crossed paths with Solo, drawing Solo’s ire. Later that night, Solo interrupted Paul Heyman’s promo and took out Jimmy Uso with help from a new Bloodline member, Tama Tonga. The following week, Solo sent Heyman and Tama to find Kevin Owens. Later, Tama brought a bloodied Owens to the ring. It was revealed that Tama crashed a car into Owens’s car in a bid to take him out. Solo and Tama then worked Owens over in the ring. The following week, Owens found Tama and they brawled towards the ring. Solo joined the fight leaving Owens outnumbered. Randy Orton then appeared to help his sometimes tag partner, ultimately setting up a match at Backlash.
Analysis and predictions: With the need to establish the Bloodline without Reigns as a threat, Bloodline needs to win this. It is possible that a new Bloodline member would debut soon but I don’t think it will happen at Backlash.
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