Backlash, not WrestleMania 40, should be seen as the start of a new creative era in WWE.
It marks the true beginning of three fresh title reigns as Cody Rhodes, Damian Priest and Bayley — who hasn’t been a world champion since 2020 — defend their new belts for the first time in Lyon, France, on Saturday (12 p.m. ET, Peacock).
It’s imperative WWE gets this fresh round of stories off to a good start in a world where Roman Reigns is no longer champion and the company is dealing with injuries to the likes of Seth Rollins, Rhea Ripley, CM Punk and Dominik Mysterio.
The team of Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair likely will get its crowning moment and become the Women’s Tag Team champions, which would make United States champion Logan Paul the lone person holding a title since before WrestleMania.
After finishing his story and becoming champion in Philadelphia, Rhodes now faces a line of contenders, and A.J. Styles is a perfect first opponent because of the magic that two could potentially create in the ring.
It will be interesting to see whether this is a one-off or if WWE plans to tell a longer story between the two.
Considering Styles had a match with Rhodes’ father, Dusty, in TNA, it feels like it would be a waste to just have these two wrestle once. Rhodes will need a long list of challengers to keep this reign feeling fresh.
Priest might be the most interesting champion entering Backlash because he’s never been the world champion of a major promotion before and The Judgment Day seems to be losing some steam.
Jey Uso, who is challenging Priest, feels as if he’s going to be a singles champion sooner rather than later, but how does WWE advance his story even if he should lose?
With plenty of big decisions to make for WWE, The Post’s Joseph Staszewski does his best to predict what will happen at Backlash:
The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa & Tama Tonga) over Randy Orton and Kevin Owens
The new Bloodline needs to establish itself, so it’s hard to see them losing here. We’ve been waiting for former MLW champion Jacob Fatu to debut and this might be the perfect moment. His interference would allow Kevin Owens and Randy Orton to not lose cleanly.
Owens taking a pin does no harm and Tonga being the one to do so makes sense, as he needs to establish himself as a force in WWE.
A loss and Fatu’s arrival would force Orton and Owens to find a third person to combat this new group and maybe that’s Jimmy Uso.
Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill over The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka, Kairi Sane) (c) to win the Women’s Tag Team championships
WWE has a superstar duo in Belair and Cargill … that will eventually fracture so they can have a high-profile singles match. But before then, there is no better way to set the table than to put some gold around their waists. Damage CTRL, despite moving to Raw, feels like it is heading for the just-another-faction category.
Bayley (c) over Naomi and Tiffany Stratton to retain the WWE Women’s championship
Triple-threat matches are starting to become code for a champion retaining during the Triple H era. Naomi feels like the person in the match to take the pin from Bayley so WWE can shift to a one-on-one match with Stratton down the road. The former NXT women’s champion certainly could dethrone Bayley here, but WWE should establish Stratton even more before putting the title on her.
Damian Priest (c) over Jey Uso to retain the World Heavyweight championship
Priest’s first defense of the World Heavyweight championship likely means he will retain. But this would mark Uso’s third straight loss in a title match, so it’s hard to see it being clean. WWE appeared to be setting up a feud with Uso and United States champion Logan Paul last week on Raw, so I’d expect the YouTube star and his friend IShowSpeed to play a hand in costing the challenger the match.
Cody Rhodes (c) over A.J. Styles to retain the Undisputed WWE Universal championship
Rhodes won’t lose his first title defense since ending Reigns’ historic reign as a world champion at WrestleMania 40, and he is set up with someone he can steal the show with. Styles has been working with a greater edge during his character shift and it should come in handy here. I can see WWE having Styles quit playing somewhat nice after he loses. A post-match beatdown could trigger a return match.
