Following Wrestlemania 42, WWE is now gearing up for Backlash 2026. This will be the first premium live event after Wrestlemania. The Show of the Shows received mixed reviews. Wrestlemania 42 ended with Roman Reigns holding the World Heavyweight Championship after defeating CM Punk in the main event. He has now signed a full-time deal with WWE and will remain regular on TV till SummerSlam. WWE has confirmed as many as three matches for Backlash. The PLE will take place in Tampa on May 9. Here, we have a look at all 3 matches confirmed for the show so far –
Roman Reigns is the only superstar who features on the show’s poster and he will defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Jacob Fatu. Fatu, the former United States Champion, interrupted Reigns during his segment on Raw after Wrestlemania. He then challenged his cousin to a title match. On this week’s Raw, Fatu attacked his cousin.
This will be the first time Reigns and Fatu will lock horns in a one-on-one match. There is no doubt that Reigns will continue his title run and defeat Fatu. The OTC could ask his cousin to acknowledge him and join the Bloodline.
Two Wrestlemania matches booked for Backlash
WWE has finally booked two matches for Backlash that didn’t take place at Wrestlemania 42. Seth Rollins will face Bron Breakker while IYO Sky will take on Asuka. Breakker turned his back on Rollins on Raw after Crown Jewel in Australia.
WWE was forced to break The Vision group as Rollins suffered an injury during his victory over Cody Rhodes. Rollins got fit for Wrestlemania and looked set to face Breakker. But Breakker got injured on the road to Wrestlemania and was ruled out.
Bronson Reed, the other member of The Vision, also got injured. Breakker was fit for Wrestlemania but WWE decided to delay his match against Rollins, who instead faced Gunther.
The former NXT Champion is now fit and set to face the former World Heavyweight Champions. Rollins once defended the world championship against Breakker in NXT.
It remains to be seen how WWE books these two superstars after Backlash. They broke up the group for no reason and WWE could once again reform the group. The group had huge potential but all the plans were derailed due to Rollins’ injury.
As Paul Heyman revealed, Rollins was set to face Reigns at Wrestlemania 42 while Breakker would have faced CM Punk. Punk won the World Heavyweight Championship after Rollins was forced to relinquish it. Despite not having a long storyline, Gunther and Rollins delivered probably the best match of the night 1 of Wrestlemania 42.
WWE decided against booking IYO and Auska for a match at Wrestlemania 42. They have been in a storyline for many months now. Their match will not involve Kairi Sane as she was recently released by WWE.
WWE is expected to add at least two matches to the Backlash match card. Cody Rhodes is likely to miss the show. He is likely to face Punk at SummerSlam.
