Backlash: Is WWE Short-Changing It's Fans?

Backlash is nearly upon us and the question I’m throwing at you today is – is WWE giving the fans their money’s worth when it comes to these PLE’S?

For a while now (apart from WrestleMania of course) WWE has shifted towards a 5 card event.

Some would argue this gives the matches time to breathe, however, others may argue that there are just too many stars missing from the cards.

It’s hard to judge so far, as the past few PLE’s have been Elimination Chamber, Royal Rumble and Survivor Series, which all had 2 special matches which took a lot of the time up.

It’ll be easier to judge how things go after Backlash airs, to see how much time each match gets. Hopefully, the time won’t go to more advertising space.

The 5 matches are as follows;

IC Title – Dominik Mysterio vs Penta
US Title – Jacob Fatu vs LA Knight vs Drew McIntyre vs Damien Priest
Gunther vs Pat McAfee
Women’s IC Title – Lyra Valkyria vs Becky Lynch
WWE Title – John Cena vs Randy Orton

So there we have it! 5 matches. Can we call Gunther vs McAfee a match? Well it’s on the card so I suppose it’ll count but this card seems incredibly weak for those fans who are paying top-top dollar for seats.

I suppose it doesn’t help that it has only been 2 minutes since WrestleMania but still, this card could have been improved. It feels incredibly predictable.

Is Dominik likely to lose the IC Title this quickly? No.

Same for Jacob Fatu. No.

Same for Cena. No.

Lyra could possibly lose the title and then go on the chase and I’m not even going to go into the Gunther match.

So that will be it. And a shed load of adverts.

Let’s look at some of the folks who are missing, starting with the obvious – Jey Uso.

The man is on fire at the moment and it would make sense to give him a good defence of the title at Backlash. It seems Logan Paul is the next challenger, so why couldn’t that match fit in here?

Also, where are the tag titles? Where is Stratton? The women’s champion has many chasing her, so why not give the ladies 20 minutes here?

Then of course, Seth Rollins, CM Punk, Roman Reigns. Nothing at all for any of these mega-stars? Could we not have even just had a segment? Maybe Punk announces on Raw that he will be at Backlash in the ring to call Rollins out maybe?

We keep hearing Triple H announce record gates after most events, which basically means the fans are being charged record numbers to attend these events.

Yet WWE sees fit to throw 5 matches their way, with a ton of adverts and a ton of talent missing.

Hopefully, Backlash delivers for the fans. There is potential with the Dom/Penta match and the 4-way should be entertaining.

However, I can’t see the others being too interesting. Cena vs Orton was happening 20 years ago and we were bored of it then. It’s now 2025 and here we are again.

I realise Cena is in his final year, but we shouldn’t just be going through the motions and predicting his year. Final match vs Orton? Check.

Match against Punk at Money in the Bank? That’s the next prediction.

Fingers crossed that Backlash delivers for the fans.

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