WWE Backlash live results: Cody Rhodes vs. AJ Styles
Date: May 4, 2024
Location: LDLC Arena in Lyon-Décines, France
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Show Recap —
KICK-OFF SHOW
Paul Levesque, Cody Rhodes, AJ Styles, Damian Priest, Jey Uso, Tiffany Stratton, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill were shown arriving to the arena at various times.
Jackie Redmond, Big E and CM Punk hosted the pre-show panel from their studio (not in France). Punk wished he was in France for the show.
They plugged Rhodes vs. Styles and Bayley vs. Naomi vs. Tiffany Stratton.
There was an Andre The Giant tribute video.
Byron Saxton interviewed Jey Uso. Jey had goosebumps. He called tonight a career-defining moment. Damian Priest was a beast but Jey had to prove he could stand on his own as World Heavyweight Champion.
Big E, somewhat oddly, spoke about Jey’s comments from a few days ago where Jey said he was disappointed with his match against Jimmy Uso at WrestleMania. (Odd thing to bring up given that he won that match.) Big E said Jey would be extra motivated tonight, not only to win the title but to have a match people will remember.
There was a video of Kayla Braxton and Kevin Owens hanging out around France.
Saxton interviewed Belair and Cargill. Belair was tired of talking about Damage CTRL and proceeded to talk about them. Belair wanted to take their titles so Damage CTRL could disappear back to Raw. Cargill said they didn’t have time for this and they left.
They cut to a live shot of the live crowd chanting for Punk. He appreciated it and promised to be there with his boots on the next time they were in France.
Saxton walked down the aisle to take in the red-hot live crowd.
Randy Orton and Kevin Owens were shown arriving. Owens snuck into Rhodes’ locker room to steal a banana.
Big E mentioned that Tama Tonga was in Guerrillas of Destiny with Tanga Loa in New Japan and Punk was taken aback that he mentioned any of those things. Punk admitted he still wasn’t sure where the line was regarding what they could mention and what they couldn’t. Big E didn’t care if he got in trouble.
There was a pre-taped interview with Styles. He told Braxton that his new attitude was due to his renewed focus. He was tired of being complacent. Styles didn’t want to hurt Rhodes, but he did need to beat him. While discussing the match, Punk took a not-so-subtle shot at Drew McIntyre (without mentioning his name).
They cut to Michael Cole and Corey Graves who spoke about how insanely loud the crowd was. Cole said he got a noise level warning on his smartwatch.
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BACKLASH FRANCE
They aired the same clips from the pre-show of Cody Rhodes, AJ Styles, Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair, Damage CTRL, Damian Priest and Jey Uso arriving earlier today.
There was a Backlash intro video. There were no fireworks but the noise of the live crowd more than made up for that.
Street Fight: Solo Sikoa & Tama Tonga (w/Paul Heyman) defeated Kevin Owens & Randy Orton (19:34)
Owens entered first to a huge reaction. He stood in the aisle for a long time soaking in the reaction as his music played. (It went so long I thought it might’ve been a mistake but they wanted to let the crowd reaction continue.) Orton entered next and the fans loudly sang his song.
Cole and Graves noted that they may not need to speak at all today because of how loud it was. The Bloodline was booed and we got “We want Roman” chants.
Before the match began, Owens started brawling with Tonga so Orton followed suit with Sikoa. The fight spilled to the outside where a bunch of officials and security ran in to separate them. Owens handed out stunners to two security guards.
Nick Aldis entered to make this a street fight. The crowd, of course, popped big.
There was a wild brawl that went through the crowd until the Bloodline was finally sent back to ringside. Owens gave Tonga a splash off the barricade. Orton stood on the barricade as if he would do one too but he simply stepped down and posed for the crowd. They chanted for Orton as he gave Tonga a back suplex onto the announce table. Owens gave Sikoa a DDT on the steps.
Orton whacked Tonga right in the head with a trash can lid. Owens did the same to Sikoa. There were chants of “ECW.” Owens and Orton used a kendo stick before grabbing a table, delighting the crowd. Owens put Tonga through a table with a frog splash off the apron.
Almost eight minutes into the match, the Bloodline finally got some offence when Sikoa cut off Orton and put him through a table with a Samoan drop. Owens tried going after Sikoa but he dropped Owens with a clothesline. Tonga hit Owens with a kendo stick as the crowd called him an asshole.
The Bloodline ganged up on Owens until he tackled Tonga but Sikoa hit him with a trash can. Heyman looked on with an apparent look of concern as Bloodline beat up Owens. The Bloodline grabbed a table but Owens fought back and drove Sikoa through the table. Tonga knocked him down with a clothesline.
Orton got back in before Tonga could hit Owens with a chair. Orton ducked a chair shot and hit clotheslines, a powerslam, a draping DDT and RKO but Sikoa broke up the cover.
Sikoa cleared the announce table and the crowd actually booed because it was a bad guy doing it. They chanted “Solo sucks” as he placed Orton on the table. Orton blocked a Samoan Spike and gave Sikoa an RKO on the table (which didn’t break).
Owens hit Tonga in the back with four different chairs. He set up the chairs on their legs and placed Tonga over the tables but Tonga got up. They battled on the ropes until Owens put Tonga through the chairs with an avalanche fisherman’s buster, which was insane.
Owens had it won but the cover was broken up when Tanga Loa yanked the referee out of the ring. Tanga Loa hit Orton and Owens in the face with the steel steps.
Sikoa gave Owens a uranage onto a chair before hitting the Samoan Spike for the pinfall win.
— After the match, Heyman kneeled by Owens’ fallen body and asked the Bloodline to stop there.
Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga and Tango Loa stood tall and did the Bloodline pose. Heyman joined them.
This was quite the spectacle.
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Triple Threat Match: Bayley defeated Naomi and Tiffany Stratton to retain the WWE Women’s Championship (13:34)
Naomi and Bayley seemed particularly pumped up by the fans’ reactions to their entrances. The crowd sang the Bayley song. There were some “Tiffy time” chants too. The crowd chanted something in French and Bayley clapped along while mouthing, “I don’t know what you’re saying.”
They traded some three-way spots which led to Stratton taking control. Bayley tried fighting back but Stratton hit an Alabama Slam. Naomi was supposed to break up the cover but she was late so Bayley kicked out anyway.
Naomi speared Stratton through the ropes. Stratton fought back and hit a handspring back elbow to Naomi into the barricade. Stratton was distracted by the crowd so Bayley hit a suicide dive. Naomi came off the barricade with a blockbuster on Bayley. Naomi gave Stratton a split-legged moonsault but Bayley broke up the cover.
Naomi gave Stratton a sit-out powerbomb for two. Naomi applied Feel the Glow but Bayley broke it up with a flying elbow drop for two. Bayley gave Stratton a Bayley-to-belly for two. (The crowd chanted “Simplement deux” after every two count.)
Stratton gave Naomi an Alabama Slam onto the edge of the announce table and did the same to Bayley. Stratton tried PME on both women but they both moved and gave her a 3D. The crowd chanted “This is awesome.”
Bayley and Naomi exchange blows. Naomi tried a cradle but Bayley countered into one of her own for the pinfall win. Bayley retains.
There were some rough spots at the beginning but this wound up being pretty good. Obviously, the crowd helped.
— Naomi hugged Bayley after the match and raised her hand. The crowd applauded.
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Jey Uso warmed up in the back when he was approached by the Bloodline. There was a brief staredown before Bloodline walked off. Heyman approached Jey with a look of concern. Heyman shook his head and walked away.
Damian Priest defeated Jey Uso to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (15:46)
Jey entered through the crowd and his entrance looked terrific. Priest had new music.
Jey used his Yeet pose to control the crowd the way Daniel Bryan did in that cage match angle with Bray Wyatt years ago. As the match started, he did the pose to each side of the arena. He was going to ignore the stage side as wrestlers often do, but because there were way more fans there than usual, they called for him to do it for their side and he did.
Priest took control early after driving Jey into the barricade. Jey fought back with strikes, a thrust kick, an uppercut, an enziguri, and a flying cross body.
As the referee checked on Priest, JD McDonagh showed up and used the middle rope to crotch Jey Uso (which didn’t look great). Priest followed with a spear for two.
Priest argued with McDonagh so Jey knocked them both down with superkicks. Jey followed with an Uso Splash for two. They exchanged strikes as the crowd chanted, “Yeet” and “No Yeet.” The crowd really got loud after both guys went down. They got up and Priest hit a Razor’s Edge for two.
Jey blocked a chokeslam and hit a spear for a nearfall.
Jey went to the top but Finn Bálor entered through the crowd. Jey superkicked him off the apron but Priest dropped Jey with a clothesline. Priest followed with the South of Heaven chokeslam for a nearfall. The crowd exploded for the kick-out. (This match is just ok but this crowd is making it feel way better.)
Priest hit a couple of kicks to the head as the crowd booed. The fans Yeeted and Jey responded with superkicks and a leaping superkick in the corner. Jey hit a spear and hit another Uso Splash, seemingly for the win, but McDonagh placed Priest’s foot on the bottom rope to break up the cover. The crowd called JD an asshole.
Jey wiped out McDonagh with a suicide dive and speared Bálor. Jey went back to the top but Priest knocked him down and hit a chokeslam off the ropes for the pinfall win.
— Bálor and McDonagh put the boots to Jey after the match but Priest shoved them off. Priest got in Bálor’s face but McDonagh got between them. Priest told them to stand there and pose with him, so they did.
(The story was that McDonagh and Bálor came down on their own to help.)
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Philippe Chéreau announced (in French) that today’s show was the largest gate in any arena show in WWE history.
Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill defeated Kairi Sane & Asuka to win the Women’s Tag Team Championships (17:21)
The champs entered first. Asuka and Sane danced at ringside to Belair’s music as they waited.
Belair and Cargill had the early edge and worked over Sane. Belair missed a dive and Asuka kicked her as Sane distracted the referee. Sane hit a wild flying crossbody on Belair to the outside.
Asuka and Sane worked over Belair after that. Sane hit a flying forearm for two. She was annoyed at the referee for taking too long to count. Asuka set up for a vertical suplex but Belair hit one instead. Belair tried for the hot tag but Sane leapt off of Belair’s back and knocked Cargill off the apron.
Asuka applied a Disarmer but Belair got to her feet while hoisting Asuka on her shoulders. Sane tagged in and saved her partner. Belair fought them off and made the hot tag to Cargill.
Cargill hit a springboard crossbody to both women and dropped Asuka with a pump kick. Cargill handed out Stinger splashes (and Cole referred to it as such) and gave Sane a spinebuster but Asuka broke up the cover.
This was followed with a messy sequence. Asuka and Sane took turns hitting Cargill with strikes and Sane hit a reverse DDT. Sane tried to make a cover but the ref told her that she wasn’t legal. Cargill and Sane kept wrestling even though Sane was apparently not legal. Asuka got on the apron and tagged in and the ref acknowledged the tag, even though Asuka was supposedly legal. Sane tagged back in so they could go back to whatever they wanted to do before.
Sane and Asuka each applied armbars to Cargill and Belair but Cargill and Belair hoisted them up and hit one-armed powerbombs. (This was the spot they were building to.)
This was followed by a cool double-team sequence by Belair and Cargill. They teamed up to spike Sane before Cargill hit a suplex for two.
Sane hit Belair with the Insane Elbow but Cargill broke up the cover. Cargill caught Sane off the top and effortlessly transitioned into Jaded. (That spot was awesome and probably should have been the finish.)
Belair gave Asuka a KOD onto Sane and pinned Sane for the pinfall win. Belair and Cargill win the titles.
This was an entertaining match outside of that one sequence they messed up earlier.
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They announced first round Raw matches on Monday for the Queen of the Ring and King of the Ring. (Smackdown matches will be announced later.)
- Zoey Stark vs. Ivy Nile
- Shayna Baszler vs. Zelina Vega
- Lyra Valkyria vs. Asuka
- Iyo Sky vs. Natalya
- Drew McIntyre vs. Finn Bálor
- Kofi Kingston vs. Rey Mysterio
- Ricochet vs. Ilja Dragunov
- Gunther vs. Sheamus
The announcement of Gunther vs. Sheamus got a big reaction.
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The crowd loudly sang Rhodes’ song. This might have been the loudest a crowd has sung his song. They also had a ‘Phenomenal’ song/chant for AJ Styles.
Jessika Carr was the referee. Cole said she was the first woman to referee a WWE Championship match in the main event of a PLE.
Cody Rhodes defeated AJ Styles to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship (27:17)
They were having a mostly even match until Styles drove Rhodes’ shoulder into the turnbuckle. Styles targeted his shoulder and the announcers mentioned the potential shoulder injury Rhodes may have sustained in his match against Carmelo Hayes.
Styles cleared the French announce table and the crowd booed, again, because it was a bad guy doing it. Rhodes fought him off and they battled on the ropes. Rhodes tried a delayed superplex but Styles slipped out. I’m not sure what the planned spot was but Rhodes fell back into the ring. Rhodes sold his back and Styles hit an electric chair drop.
Styles tried a Lionsault but Rhodes got his knees up. Rhodes hit a powerslam and Disaster Kick for two. The crowd serenaded Styles and Rhodes as they traded counters until Styles hit a fireman’s carry neckbreaker for two. Styles dropped him onto the apron with a suplex moments later.
Styles tried a PK but Rhodes caught him and powerbombed him through the announce table. Both men simultaneously slipped back in the ring at a nine count. They exchanged strikes before knocking each other down with kicks.
They both fired up and traded strikes until Rhodes hit jabs and a Bionic elbow for two. Rhodes went for a Cody Cutter but Styles caught him. They traded reversals until Styles suplexed him right into the turnbuckles. Styles followed with a springboard 450 for two.
Styles hit a burning hammer but Rhodes kicked out at one, fired up and hit a Cody Cutter for a nearfall. The crowd chanted “Fight forever,” perhaps because they didn’t want this show to end.
Styles blocked a Cross Rhodes and hit a Pelé Kick. Styles dropped his elbow pad and went for a Phenomenal forearm but Rhodes hit a thrust kick to the gut. Rhodes applied a Kimura but Styles got to his feet and slammed Rhodes. Rhodes scaled the ropes and hit a Cody Cutter off the top.
Rhodes emphatically hit a Cross Rhodes for the pinfall win. Rhodes retained.
This was great. The crowd was something else.