411’s WWE Backlash 2024 Preview

Hello 411 guys, gals, enbies, and everyone else! Welcome to 411’s WWE Backlash preview! I’m Jeremy Thomas and today WWE is in France where it will hold its first PPV since WrestleMania. We have a five-match card in place that may not be the most unpredictable set of bouts, but should at least deliver in the ring. The company is in its traditional post-WrestleMania transition period so I wouldn’t expect too many surprises, but status quo isn’t inherently bad and all we really want is a fun show, which this has potential for. Anyway, let’s get into the matches, shall we?

Randy Orton & Kevin Owens vs. Solo Sikoa & Tama Tonga

Image Credit: WWE

Of the five announced matches at Backlash as of this writing, only one is not for a title. Instead, the purpose is to really give the new chapter of the Bloodline its first major match. With Roman Reigns away from WWE TV since he lost the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40, Solo Sikoa has stepped up and radically reshaped the group. He kicked Jimmy Uso out and brought in Tama Tonga, while putting Paul Heyman firmly under his thumb the same way that Reigns had. It’s an interesting direction for the group, leaving plenty of potential for where the story can go from here.

The Bloodline has no shortage of lingering enemies, and two of them are Randy Orton and Kevin Owens. Orton and Owens are obviously massively talented veterans who can help break in Sikoa in his new position as the de facto leader as well as Tonga in his first WWE match. And that’s not to say that Sikoa and Tonga aren’t very talented in their own right; they are. That sets this up for the potential to be a very fun little tag team match. Ultimately though, the Bloodline needs to win here in order to show them bouncing back from their WrestleMania setback. Jacob Fatu is waiting in the wings and could easily make his debut here to help Sikoa and Tonga win, or they could have the heels win here cleanly to really make a strong statement, leaving Fatu’s debut for later. Either way, I think this is a clear spot where Orton and Owens take a loss (one that doesn’t hurt them) which will solidify the new Bloodline’s spot.

WINNER: The Bloodline

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Match
The Kabuki Warriors vs. Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill

Image Credit: WWE

The Kabuki Warriors have had a stranglehold on the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships for pretty much all of 2024, and it’s been a nice bit of stability for a title that has suffered through a number of unfortunate circumstances involving injuries for the last year and a half or so. The run also helped solidify Damage CTRL alongside IYO SKY’s Women’s Title reign and made them the women to beat on Smackdown. But Asuka and Kairi Sane’s reign has not been more in danger than they are right now, with Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill joining forces to target the titles in what could end up being Cargill’s first title reign in WWE.

I don’t think it’s hard to guess that we’re going to get new champions out of this match. WWE generally does like to do at least one title switch per PPV (although there have been exceptions), and this is the most obvious place to pull such a trigger. What’s more, Cargill has been presented as a big deal and it would be smart booking to put a title on her in a situation where she can work with a more veteran performer in Belair. There’s always the chance that a loss here could set up a Belair vs. Cargill feud to head toward SummerSlam, but there’s plenty of mileage to get out of this pairing still and the smarter money is on a title change here. We have three women who are top performers and Cargill, who has been adapting well to the WWE style, so this should be an enjoyable match that ends with new champions standing tall.

WINNER: Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill (NEW WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions)

WWE Women’s Championship Match
Bayley vs. Naomi vs. Tiffany Stratton

Image Credit: WWE

Our final three matches on the card feature title defenses from people who won their championships at WrestleMania. First up we have Bayley, who captured the WWE Women’s Championship from IYO SKY. Bayley is set to defend the title against Naomi, who earned a shot at the title by defeating Tiffany Stratton, and Stratton herself who interrupted Bayley’s first title defense against Naomi on Smackdown the next week. Stratton and Naomi did battle to determine a #1 contender for Backlash but Nia Jax got involved to make it a no contest which led to the triple threat match taking place.

Bayley is on a roll with the title, so there’s no reason to take the title off of her yet especially now that the rosters have been somewhat freshened up in the Draft, giving her plenty of new matchups. WWE’s trick here is to make Bayley strong without hurting Noami or Stratton, both of whom have shown a lot of momentum as of late. This should be a very good match, and likely one that will end with Stratton and Naomi’s issues with each other leading to Bayley securing the win. Both Naomi and Stratton will get their chances to shine with the title sometime in the future, but for now Bayley’s run needs to be solidified a bit longer so there’s little chance of a title switch.

WINNER: Bayley (STILL WWE Women’s Champion)

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Damian Priest vs. Jey Uso

Image Credit: WWE

Much like Bayley, Priest is a new champion and is coming into Backlash after having capped off a long build to his title reign via the Money in the Bank briefcase. Jey Uso makes for a great choice to battle in his first title defense; Uso has a lot of fan support but is still fairly early in his singles run and isn’t hurt by losing a high-profile title match at the holdover PPV immediately following WrestleMania. He also matches up well with Priest, carrying some underdog status due to the size difference but possessing a crowd-pleasing set of offense. That gives them plenty that they can do to lay out an enjoyable match that will make Jey look strong while still giving Priest the win.

Of course, it also doesn’t hurt that Uso will have to contend with the Judgment Day on the outside. Jey has experience fighting the odds thanks to his war with his Bloodline brethren, but the odds will likely be too much for him. And there’s nothing wrong with that, as after this flirtation with the World Title he can head into the Intercontinental Championship hunt and perhaps pick up that title at some point. Priest and Uso are a big part of the “new era” stars of WWE and their future is secure, making this a match we can just sit back and enjoy without worrying about how a win or less effects either man. Should be an exciting bout.

WINNER: Damian Priest (STILL World Heavyweight Champion)

Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Match
Cody Rhodes vs. AJ Styles

Image Credit: WWE

If there is one thing I’m absolutely certain of about this show (and there are several such things), it’s that by this time tomorrow Cody Rhodes will still be the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. No shade to AJ Styles, but Cody finished the story at WrestleMania 40 after two years and there would be no rational notion for taking the title off him a month later in a match set up by way of a tournament. But that doesn’t mean that we’re not going to have a fun battle here, because we will. Cody and AJ are both great competitors and will do what it takes to get fans into this match even if no one realistically thinks a title change is going to happen.

It must be said that, through no fault of Styles or Rhodes, the feud between them (such as it has been) hasn’t done much to build anticipation for this match. Styles won a mini-tournament to earn the title shot and had a pretty standard contract signing segment, but there hasn’t been much else going on here. WWE seems to be selling this just based on the two stars involved — and really, fair point in this case. This is kind of the quintessential Backlash main event in that it’s a match with little to zero story and a hasty post-WrestleMania build, but should still deliver because you have two great talent involved. And really? I’m okay with that. The point is, Cody retains and we should all be happy that’s the case.

WINNER: Cody Rhodes (STILL Undisputed WWE Universal Champion)

And that’s all we have for WWE Backlash! Like I said, noting too massively twisty here, though I wouldn’t be shocked if there was a surprise match thrown in at some point. Thank you as always for reading and remember that we will have live coverage of the show courtesy of Tony Acero, right here on 411mania.com. I’ll catch you later, but hey…maybe the small number of matches is to set up for the most shocking return of all?

Image Courtesy of WWE

…yeah, probably not.