May 13, 2024 Observer Newsletter: WWE Backlash review, WrestleMania returning to Las Vegas

Cody Rhodes at WWE Backlash

WWE Backlash on 5/4 in Lyon, France, will go down as a memorable show with a tremendous main event, although perhaps not one with major storyline repercussions.

The story on both Friday and Saturday was the crowd at the LDLC Arena, which was one of the loudest crowds in WWE history. It was described to us as a typical French crowd at a major sporting event, filled with loud chants. In many cases, the reactions weren’t even related to the work in the ring. At other times they were. It was the introductions, with fans lighting up the arena with cell phones and fans singing the entrance songs, notably that of Randy Orton, Jey Uso, and Cody Rhodes.

Rhodes retained the WWE title in the main event over A.J. Styles in what one could strongly argue was the company’s best actual wrestling match of the year. The match was made for that very reason, to give Rhodes a clean win over a wrestler who they don’t have qualms about beating but could start the Rhodes era off with a great match.

Other stories this week include:

  • A look at TKO’s Q1 financial report
  • WWE returning to Las Vegas for WrestleMania
  • Ric Flair’s newsworthy week

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