WWE WrestleMania Backlash 5/16/2021

DATE: May 16, 2021 7:00 pm
LOCATION: WWE Thunderdome, Tampa, Florida
AVAILABLE ON:Peacock, WWE Network (outside of the U.S.)

Current card for WrestleMania Backlash:

WWE UNIVERSAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Roman Reigns (c) with Paul Heyman vs. Cesaro

WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
Bobby Lashley (c) with MVP vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Braun Strowman

WWE SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Bianca Belair (c) vs. Bayley

WWE RAW WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Asuka vs. Charlotte

WWE SMACKDOWN TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode (c) vs. Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio

LUMBERJACK MATCH
The Miz vs. Damian Priest

WWE SmackDown Preview 5/14/21

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX will feature the go-home build for Sunday’s WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view.

WWE has announced just one match for tonight’s show and that’s Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler defending the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles against Natalya and Tamina Snuka.

WWE has also announced that Cesaro and WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will make “one last stand” before their title match on Sunday.

It’s believed that Reckoning (Mia Yim) will make her blue brand debut on tonight’s show, but that has not been confirmed. She was reportedly scheduled to debut last week but the debut was delayed due to time constraints. The latest Aleister Black vignette was also nixed from last week’s show, and should air this week.

WWE NXT Preview 5/11/21

Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will be headlined by two big title matches.

NXT Women’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez will make her first title defense against Mercedes Martinez. Also, NXT Cruiserweight Champion Kushida will defend his title against Santos Escobar in a 2 of 3 Falls match.

Report: Becky Lynch Signs New Contract With WWE

If recent reports are accurate, “The Man” Becky Lynch has pledged her future to WWE.

WWE Superstar Becky Lynch has reportedly pledged her future to the company by signing a new contract.

According to a recent Ringside News report, WWE and Becky Lynch have agreed to terms on a deal ahead of her highly anticipated return to WWE programming.

Becky Lynch (real name Rebecca Quinn) has been absent from WWE since announcing her pregnancy on the May 11th 2020 edition of Raw when she relinquished the Raw Women’s Championship to Asuka, who had won the Money In The Bank briefcase the night before.

Later that month, “The Man” shared a series of pics to honor the 34th birthday of her partner Seth Rollins. Th post culminated with an ultrasound image of the couple’s yet-to-be-born child.

The former Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champion gave birth to a baby girl named Roux back in December. Lynch took to Instagram to announce the birth and reveal her new daughter’s name.

Source: The Sportster

WWE RAW Preview 5/10/21

Tonight’s WWE RAW on the USA Network will feature the go-home build for next Sunday’s WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view.

WWE’s Reaction To AEW Blood And Guts Match

WWE officials “hated” the inaugural Blood and Guts match on last week’s AEW Dynamite, according to a report on PWInsider, which was first reported by Ringside News.

The report noted that one person in WWE management told Dave Scherer that the Blood and Guts match “set the business back 30 years.”

However, several active WWE Superstars, that Scherer spoke to, loved the match since “they would love to do something like that themselves.”

While there were no major injuries coming out of Blood and Guts, the 10 wrestlers involved in the match suffered a lot of bumps and bruises. Sammy Guevara of The Inner Circle posted a graphic photo to show off his nasty scars and welts, and Cash Wheeler tweeted a photo of his bloodied gear.

PWInsider noted that there was far more blood in the bout than originally intended.

The conclusion to the Blood and Guts match was a major talking point among fans. After MJF pushed Chris Jericho off the top of the cage, the camerawork exposed the cardboard-covered crash pad below the stage where Jericho landed.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE SmackDown Preview 5/7/21 -Special Throwback Themed Episode

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX will be a special “Go Back/Throwback” episode.

WWE has only announced one match for tonight’s throwback show and that’s Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins.

It’s also teased that the feud between Cesaro and WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will continue tonight, and there may be some follow-up to Daniel Bryan losing the Career vs. Title match last night.

Tonight’s show should also see an update on the WrestleMania Backlash card.

Court Bauer Talks MLW Possibly Working With WWE

MLW promoter Court Bauer sat down with Alfred Nonuwa of Forbes to talk about MLW’s move to Vice TV.

During the interview, Bauer was also asked about a potential partnership with WWE. It was reported by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter last week that MLW and WWE were in talks regarding a potential working relationship. A later report from PWInsider claimed there had been no talks between the two promotions.

Bauer played coy on while saying he’s open to all possibilities if the opportunity is right.

“A collaboration must have a long-term vision and a genuine commitment to enriching both parties,” said Bauer. “We’re having some interesting conversations with some interesting people, and if there is a two-way relationship that feels like it’s a win-win for the companies, the talent and the fans, and has a long-term sustainability to it, we’ll always examine it. You can’t do one-sided. I don’t kiss rings, I don’t need the validation.”

“We’re competing with two billionaires and still growing with deals like Vice TV and growing our footprint abroad with 20+ countries now airing MLW weekly. If, hypothetically, a company is motivated to pursue how it can disrupt a meaningful system or an opportunity where it enhances both parties’ businesses, yes you should evaluate the opportunity.”

Bauer continued, “It can’t just be that you get acknowledged by a billionaire, and then all of a sudden you say ‘okay, how can we serve you as a master?’ That’s not happening. If I do that, what’s the point of even being in business? It makes no sense. If both sides can get something out of it and it’s rewarding, and there’s a favorable strategy for both sides, that could be cool. Is it easy to get those type of things done? Absolutely not.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Dark Side Of The Ring Season 3 Premiere Tonight On Vice TV, Brian Pillman

The third season of Vice TV’s popular documentary series about professional wrestling, Dark Side of the Ring, premieres tonight Vice TV at 9 p.m. EST.

Below is the updated list of confirmed topics for season three, which is narrated by Chris Jericho:

* Brian Pillman (season premiere, WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin interviewed)

* FMW (Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling)

* XPW (Xtreme Pro Wrestling)

* Nick Gage

* WCW/NJPW Collision In Korea event from 1995

* The Smith Family (Grizzly Smith and his children – Sam Houston, Rockin’ Robin, WWE Hall of Famer Jake Roberts)

* Ion Croitoru (aka Bruiser Bedlam and Johnny K-9)

* Chris Kanyon

* “The Dynamite Kid” Tom Billington

WWE Reportedly “Pushing Hard” To Sign Daniel Bryan To New Deal

The WWE is reportedly “pushing hard” to sign Daniel Bryan to a new contract, according to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer.

Bryan’s WWE contract expired last week, or was set to expire last week. Meltzer added that Bryan’s contract did indeed expire this past Friday following his loss in a Career vs. Title match to WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns on SmackDown.

Since the loss to Reigns, Bryan has been moved to the Alumni section on WWE’s official website.

Bryan recently stated that he would be interested in wrestling for other wrestling companies as well as WWE. He also recently praised Kenny Omega during an interview with Robbie Fox on My Mom’s Basement.

“I have a lot of respect for Kenny Omega,” Bryan stated. “And it’s not just the great matches he’s put on. It’s also that he looks at wrestling differently than anybody else.

“When you look at say, the Young Bucks, who you’d think of in a similar vein. You can see where the Young Bucks take of wrestling is. It’s like a takeoff, a genius takeoff, of the wrestling they loved when they were younger. And mimicking it but also evolving from that and evolving from the takes from that. That’s why I think it resonates with so many people, the way that they wrestle.

“Kenny, it doesn’t have a previous evolution point. It’s just these completely new things that have entered his head that he’s daring to try.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.