WWE Backlash is live this Saturday from Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It’s the first WWE pay-per-view on the island since 2005’s New Year’s Revolution, and the first time in since 2020 without the “WrestleMania Backlash” branding. It should be an entertaining show, with several grudge matches from the fallout of WrestleMania, including a San Juan Street Fight between The Judgment Day’s Damian Priest and one of the hottest recording artists in the world, Bad Bunny.
WWE Backlash 2023 date and start time
WWE Backlash 2023 is live on Saturday, May 6, 2023, starting at 8pm ET.
How to watch WWE Backlash 2023
WWE Backlash 2023 will stream live on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network elsewhere.
WWE Backlash 2023 card and predictions
Bad Bunny vs. Damian Priest (San Juan Street Fight)
Jason: You don’t bring in a celebrity to their homeland and then have them get beaten by your firmly mid-card monster heel. Expect shenanigans from both the Judgment day and the LWO (I suspect Dom, Finn, or both will go through tables at some point), but you can also expect the pop singer to pin the professional wrestler.
Winner: Bad Bunny
Shane: If there was ever going to be a celebrity that would be willing to lose a match, it would be Bad Bunny. But, I don’t know if Bad Bunny would be willing to lose in front of a presumably hot Puerto Rican home crowd. So, I’m going with the Naughty Rabbit for the win.
Winner: Bad Bunny
Jay: Easiest match to call. Celebrities typically win so that WWE can get some buzz but honestly, Bad Bunny deserves it. He goes out of his way to help promote the product, is clearly invested in learning how to perform, and is allowing WWE to use his likeness to help promote the event. Like, his face is literally plastered on all of the promotional material for the event. I’m not sure why he isn’t tagging with Rey Mysterio to face Priest and Dominik, but c’est la vie.
Winner: Bad Bunny
Seth “Freakin” Rollins vs. Omos
Jason: What is Vince’s predisposition with Omos? Like is he better than Khali? Yes. Is he so much better than Khali that people actually want to watch his matches? Eh, pump the brakes, homeboy. Even the typically awesome, and widely speculated inaugural World Heavyweight Champion, Seth “Freakin” Rollins can’t make me care about this one. I think he’ll do his best to make the big guy look like the monster that commentary tries to pitch him as, but this house show match should have a house show ending, with the face(?) going over.
Winner: Seth Freakin’ Rollins
Shane: Seth Rollins will win. I literally don’t know what else to say.
Winner: Seth “Freakin’” Rollins
Jay: What is this? I don’t even…
Winner: Seth “Freakin” Rollins
Austin Theory (c) vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Bronson Reed for the United States Championship
Jason: The guy I want to win is on the wrong show, so this really is a two-way dance between Theory and Lashley, and I’m thinking the champ retains. Only one of those guys is ready to contend for better than a midcard title, and having the US champ go against Roman just means the Tribal Chief will be holding even more gold. As such, I think Theory gets a sneaky win with a pin on Reed following a Lashley spear, and Bobby heads off to be the next guy beat by Roman in his march to 1000 days as champ.
Winner: Austin Theory
Shane: If the United States Championship was on Raw with the new World Heavyweight Championship, I would say Austin Theory would win because Theory wouldn’t be the de facto main champion with an absent Roman Reigns or Bloodline tag feud to help carry the show. But, we find Theory on SmackDown. With an often absent WWE Undisputed Universal Champion. With no tag champions. Just him. And Bianca. Unfortunately for Theory, I just don’t think he has the star power to help carry a brand as their represented champion. Bobby has just enough main event draw that I think he will be winning at Backlash.
Winner: Bobby Lashley
Jay: This is a very been there, done that deal with this. We’ve seen this match many times over the past year but it’s still annoying to call. Theory just beat Cena at Mania to retain the US Title so I don’t see them wanting to take the belt off him now but at the same time, they need Lashley to help carry the load on SD since Roman is part time. I think there’s more upside in building Lashley now so, Lashley.
Winner: Bobby Lashley
Bianca Belair (c) vs. IYO SKY for the Raw Women’s Championship
Jason: I feel like IYO could be the one to eventually unseat Bianca, but I don’t think that happens in Puerto Rico. I figure Bayley somehow costs the Genius of the Sky the match, furthering the story of Damage CTRL’s pending breakup, while keeping IYO strong. The next SmackDown will see another Damage CTRL vs. Bianca +2 that sees the heels lose and Bayley finally snaps on IYO, taking Dakota in the divorce. This leads to a stellar face run from IYO culminating in her taking the strap off the EST at SummerSlam. All this to say, Bianca wins here, and clean.
Winner: Bianca Belair
Shane: As much as I love IYO, there is no way she is defeating Bianca on Saturday. Much like Jason said, this match will somehow contribute to the ultimate Damage CTRL breakup in some way, shape or form. I still think a Bayley face turn is coming. Eventually.
Winner: Bianca Belair
Jay: Bianca. This will be a great match but a stepping stone in helping to further splinter Damage CTRL.
Winner: Bianca Belair
Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Zelina Vega for the SmackDown Women’s Championship
Jason: Boy, there are a lot of “sure things” on this card. I’m happy Zelina gets to perform in a title match in front of her abuelita or whatever family she still has in Puerto Rico, but MAN is she outclassed in this match. I just hope Rhea gives Vega some hope spots before absolutely crushing her.
Winner: Rhea Ripley
Shane: Rhea Ripley will win. Much like in the Rollins/Omos match, I really don’t know what else to say. Zelina is way outclassed and this may be one of the most one-sided title defenses we’ve seen since Brock vs Kofi.
Winner: Rhea Ripley
Jay: Rhea is the hottest star in the women’s division and she’s keeping that belt for a long time. Zelina will get a great showing and hometown-ish pop but it’s not her night.
Winner: Rhea Ripley
Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Matt Riddle vs. The Usos and Solo Sikoa
Jason: This feud has lost all steam at this point, and it’s clear that the only protected person in this whole match is Solo. That being said, the Usos are currently in the middle of “can’t buy a meaningful win” storyline, so they’re clearly losing this one. The tag champs will stay strong off of what I assume will be miscommunication among the Bloodline boys leading to a Stunner/Heluva Kick combination on Jey for the win.
Winners: Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, and Matt Riddle
Shane: The Usos and Solo will lose on Saturday night. Not necessarily because I think Sami, Kevin and Riddle are better or need a win here, but simply because I think there are more storyline repercussions to follow with the Usos losing. Roman is currently fed up with the twin brothers and a loss will further cement that sentiment. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if Solo or Heyman cost their team the match in some fashion.
Winners: Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, and Matt Riddle
Jay: Sami, Owens, and Riddle are going to take it to further dissention in The Bloodline. It’s fairly obvious so I’m not going to unpack it. Instead, I’m going to talk about why I dislike Matt Riddle. Why is this guy still on our TV? Sure, he seems like a fun character to have around, but he has so little upside. You can’t push him too far up the card because he’s got so much personal baggage that will just come to light if you put the spotlight on them. He doesn’t seem to have the emotional maturity or temerity to hold a leadership role. And he’s really just a poor man’s RVD that you ordered from wish.com. Can we send him to the new NXT Europe so we never have to watch him again?
Winners: Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, and Matt Riddle
Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
Jason: This will be the real test of whether or not the WWE has faith in Cody. Personally? I’d love Cody to pull out a gusty win. What do I expect? Suplex City squash. Brock trounces Cody to set up some kind of longer term storyline, and a large portion of the audience loses faith in their willingness to push the American Nightmare.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Shane: This is the match that I feel the least confident in. I can easily see either man winning. But, I think I’m going to agree with Jason here. UnderBrock wins and our American Nightmares are realized.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Jay: This is a very important match because it’ll dictate how programming goes for the next few months. Conventional thoughts would favor Cody winning to demonstrate to the fans that “Hey, we are still going with Cody. It’s just going to take a bit longer”. However, they may want to go a really really slow burn route and risk people giving up on Cody. I think after seeing the backlash (pun intended) after Mania, they’re not going to risk it and have Cody win.
Winner: Cody Rhodes
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