WrestleMania Backlash (2022)

Backlash is a recurring event that was established by WWE in 1999.[1] It was held annually from 1999 to 2009. Backlash was discontinued after 2009 but 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 from 2016 to 2018 and in 2020 did not carry this theme; however, the 2021 event returned to this original concept and was named "WrestleMania Backlash".[2] The 2022 event was also confirmed to be held under this name, thus renaming the event series to WrestleMania Backlash. It will be the 17th event in the Backlash chronology and will feature the backlash from WrestleMania 38. It is scheduled to take place on May 8, 2022, at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island and will feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands. It will air on pay-per-view (PPV) worldwide and the streaming services Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in international markets.[3]

The event will include matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands,[4][5] while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.[6]

At WrestleMania 38, Charlotte Flair defeated Ronda Rousey to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship. During the match, Flair had tapped out to Rousey's armbar; however, the referee was incapacitated and Flair was able to get a cheap win after the referee came to his senses.[7] On the following episode of SmackDown, Rousey, who wanted a rematch with a clear winner, challenged Flair to an "I Quit" match. Flair refused and told Rousey to fall back in line.[8] Despite this, the championship rematch was subsequently granted and scheduled for WrestleMania Backlash.[9]

At WrestleMania 38, former All Elite Wrestling wrestler Cody Rhodes made his return to WWE after six years as Seth "Freakin" Rollins' surprise opponent, where Rhodes was victorious.[7] On the April 11 episode of Raw, Rollins claimed that he was at an unfair disadvantage since he did not know who he was facing beforehand. Rollins further claimed that on an even playing field, he would defeat Rhodes and challenged him to a rematch, which Rhodes accepted and thus was scheduled for WrestleMania Backlash.[10]

At WrestleMania 38, SmackDown's Universal Champion Roman Reigns defeated Raw's WWE Champion Brock Lesnar in a Winner Takes All match to claim both titles, thus earning the title as the "Undisputed WWE Universal Champion".[11] On the following episode of SmackDown, Reigns stated that he had nothing left to prove; however, he wanted his cousins, the SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso), to replicate his feat by winning the Raw Tag Team Championship to bring more gold to The Bloodline.[8] The Usos appeared on Raw the following week to issue a challenge to the Raw Tag Team Champions, RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle),[10] who accepted and the match was made official as a Winners Take All championship unification match at WrestleMania Backlash.[12] However, on the April 29 episode of SmackDown, the contract signing for the championship unification match ended with Reigns assisting the Usos in attacking RK-Bro and tearing up the contract in the process. Drew McIntyre then came out and joined forces with RK-Bro in driving off The Bloodline from the ring, resulting in the championship unification match being called off and instead a six-man tag match between The Bloodline & RK-Bro and McIntyre was scheduled for WrestleMania Backlash.[13]

At WrestleMania 38, Edge defeated AJ Styles due to a distraction from Damian Priest.[11] Edge and Priest then formed an alliance where Edge claimed to wipe out anyone who does not fit in their "Mountain of Omnipotence". On the April 18 episode of Raw, Edge stated that he needed to finish what he started with Styles and then challenged Styles to a rematch at WrestleMania Backlash, with Styles later accepting the match.[14]

At WrestleMania 38, Happy Corbin was distracted by his tag partner, Madcap Moss, during his match, which resulted in a loss for Corbin. Following this, dissension arose between Corbin and Moss, with Corbin blaming Moss for his loss at WrestleMania. Tension continued to grow between the two and a match was scheduled for WrestleMania Backlash.[15]

After Bobby Lashley defeated Omos at WrestleMania 38; MVP, Lashley's manager, did not accompany him for his match. MVP returned on the April 4 episode of Raw and turned on Lashley. Over the next few weeks, MVP lambasted Lashley for celebrating his WrestleMania moment without him and thus, MVP aligned himself with Omos. Lashley and Omos then competed in an arm wrestling match on the April 25 episode, which ended in Lashley's favor. Omos then attacked Lashley after the contest and later challenged him to a WrestleMania rematch at WrestleMania Backlash which Lashley accepted.[16]