TJRWrestling WWE Backlash France 2024 Preview
It’s the WWE Backlash with Cody Rhodes facing AJ Styles, Bayley defending her Women’s Title against Naomi & Tiffany Stratton, and more.
This should be a very unique show since it’s taking place in Lyon, France, which is a country that has never hosted a WWE PLE/PPV before. There have been comments from WWE stars in the past that the French fans are as loud as anywhere in the world, so now those of us in other places in the world will get to hear how loud they can get for both Smackdown and the Backlash PLE.
There are only five matches advertised on the show. WrestleMania 40 was a fantastic show that had 13 matches over the two nights, but the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber each had just four matches. That’s because there were long matches on those shows. I think with Triple H booking, we are getting used to these cards not being that big. To me, I think they should do a seven match card that takes about 3 hours, and 30 minutes. Something like that. I’m posting this before Smackdown so perhaps there is more added to the show, but all I can do is preview what we know and that’s five matches.
The Raw brand is poorly represented on the show since four matches come from Smackdown while just one match comes from Raw. Some of the matches also feel very predictable because three of the title matches feature champions who just won the titles less than a month ago at WrestleMania (Cody Rhodes, Bayley & Damian Priest), so it seems unlikely that any of them are going to lose. That’s three of the five matches. With that said, everything should get plenty of time and that should produce some quality matches. I just think they could have done a better job of building this card.
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Women’s Tag Team Championships: Kabuki Warriors – Asuka & Kairi Sane (c) vs. Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill
We know that since Jade Cargill debuted in WWE she has been unbeatable and I don’t see that changing here. The team of Asuka & Sane have had the titles for a sold run, but I think it’s going to end here. At WrestleMania Belair & Cargill teamed with Naomi to beat Asuka, Sane & Dakota Kai. That was a way to build up to this match that should end with Belair & Cargill leaving as the Women’s Tag Team Champions, who should have a dominant run with those titles.
Winners AND NEW Women’s Tag Team Champions: Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill
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World Heavyweight Championship: Damian Priest (c) vs. Jey Uso
This feels like the start of a rivalry that will see them wrestle at a couple of PLE shows. I think we’ll see Priest get the win controversially maybe thanks to help from The Judgment Day or something happens at the end where he escapes with the title. If they book it where Priest wins in a dominant winner then that’s certainly fine too.
I think the match result is very obvious since Priest just won the World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania, so it’s not like he is going to lose it less than a month after he won the title. I think Priest will hold the title for at least a few months.
Winner: Damian Priest
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The Bloodline – Solo Sikoa & Tama Tonga vs. Randy Orton & Kevin Owens
This is one of those matches on the show where the result may not be obvious. It could certainly go either way, but it makes sense to me to have The Bloodline win to establish this new version of the group as winners rather than losers. It’s a big spot for Tonga having his first televised match with major stars like Orton & Owens. Tonga is an experienced guy in his early 40s so he should be fine out there in terms of getting heat and being in a big spot like this.
There have been rumors about Jacob Fatu joining The Bloodline at some point, so maybe that’s going to happen in this match to have him help Solo & Tama win. Jacob is signed by WWE, which means it’s certainly a possibility. I think The Bloodline winning is likely and it should be an entertaining match.
Winners by pinfall: The Bloodline – Solo Sikoa & Tama Tonga
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WWE Women’s Championship: Bayley (c) vs. Naomi vs. Tiffany Stratton
They have built this match up by having some non-finishes to matches, which is a unique way to set up a triple threat match. I think it’s great to see a rising star like Tiffany Stratton in this spot because it shows that WWE really believes in her and I think she’s going to be a champion. If I had to pick a woman to win Money in the Bank this year it would probably be Stratton, but we’ll see what happens in two months when we get there. Naomi being put in this spot is good for her to remind people that she’s a former champion that’s always going to be a contender.
Bayley just won the title at WrestleMania, so I don’t see any reason to take the title off her in this match. I think they’ll probably do a finish where Bayley ends up beating her friend Naomi rather than Stratton, who can remain a contender by not being pinned in the match.
Winner: Bayley
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Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. AJ Styles
I’m writing this after watching the Backlash Kickoff show where Cody Rhodes told the Lyon crowd that this will be the WWE show of the year. I like Cody a lot, but I don’t see that happening. The card just isn’t strong enough. With that said, the crowd should be on fire for this match with their support for Cody while also showing respect for Styles, who should be able to do some things to get heat during the match.
Is it possible that WWE could take the Undisputed WWE Championship off Cody so early in his title reign? No. I don’t think so. I think they are going to have a 20+ minute match in front of a very hot crowd that goes wild for everything that they do. I’m not sure if Cody will kick out of one of AJ’s finishers, but I think AJ might kick out of a Cross Rhodes so that Cody has to hit Cross Rhodes more than once. Since King and Queen of the Ring PLE is later this month, maybe they’ll do something to set up a rematch between them as well.
Winner: Cody Rhodes
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BONUS TOPICS!
The Match I’m Looking Forward To The Most
Cody Rhodes vs. AJ Styles.
The Match I Care About The Least
Kabuki Warriors – Asuka & Kairi Sane vs. Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill. I don’t mind the match. I just had to pick one.
Longest Match
Cody Rhodes vs. AJ Styles. About 22 minutes.
Shortest Match
Kabuki Warriors – Asuka & Kairi Sane (c) vs. Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill. Around 10-12 minutes.
Excitement Level on a Scale of 1-10 (1 being low, 10 being high)
I’m around a 7.5 out of 10. In the Triple H era, every show is pretty good to great, so I won’t go lower than that. It’s a tough PLE show in this era because WrestleMania was excellent and so satisfying for those of us who like babyfaces getting big wins while having great matches. The first PPV right after WrestleMania is always a bit of a downer just because we remember how excellent WrestleMania was less than a month ago. I’d love to see surprises in terms of the match results, but I doubt there will be any of those. The card is fine, but it certainly could be better. I think the strong crowd is going to help Backlash a lot.
I’ll be back with a review of WWE Backlash France on TJRWrestling.net on Saturday, so check that out live or any time after it’s over. You can also tweet me on X/Twitter at @johnreport as well.
If you want to send an email, send it to me at mrjohncanton@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.