4 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Backlash 2026 (Results & Review)

Coming on the heels of a much-criticized WrestleMania 42 where fans pointed to lacklustre wrestling taking place during short matches packed between unending ad breaks, one would have thought that Backlash was an opportunity to remind fans why they should stick with WWE.

To be fair, the latest PLE had some legit positives that will receive praise in a bit. However, aside from the main event and a fun comedy tag match, the card really trended toward mediocre.

Asuka versus Iyo Sky was a really good match, but this should have felt like an epic blow-off. Instead, it was WrestleMania leftovers warmed up for this show, with one ingredient (Kairi Sane) missing, and fans called it out. Meanwhile, Bron Breakker versus Seth Rollins should've been an explosive war and instead dragged on for an eternity, most likely setting up a rematch or 3 between the pair.

The truth is that even when most of the matches chart as positives...if their cumulative impact is minimal, then the show collectively failed. The big development coming out of Backlash was Jacob Fatu’s rise as a main-event star, and that really was about it. The good matches were good on the night but won’t make anyone’s top 10.

After a subpar 'Mania and a flurry of negative news about dozens of wrestlers being released, WWE really needed a barnburner of a show to change the narrative, and this was merely passable.

Let’s get to it…

Downs…

4. The Voice Of WWE

Every time WWE takes time to praise Michael Cole and treat him like he’s some legendary announcer - falsely equating longevity with quality - it’s only a matter of time before he puts his foot in his mouth.

During Backlash, Cole had a couple slip-ups, but the biggest ones unfortunately came in the lead-up to the main event.

During the United States Championship match, Cole called Trick Williams’ finisher “the Trick Kick” on an attempted pump knee. Thankfully, he corrected called it the Trick Shot for the actual finish.

But it was moments before the main event where he stumbled over his words most. In talking up Jacob Fatu, Cole said that Fatu entered wrestling in 2012, toiling on the independents for “many decades” before arriving in WWE a couple of years ago.

Then, while referencing the fact that this was Fatu’s first World Title match in WWE, he said that Jacob was trying to capture the same title Roman Reigns once held for nearly 4 years. Only…it isn’t. Reigns is currently the World Heavyweight Champion. He held the WWE Universal (and then merged it with the WWE Championship) for 1,316 days. The World Heavyweight Championship hasn’t even been active for 3 years yet.

WWE prides itself on being the market leader, but their anointed spokesman on their programs can’t get basic facts right.

3. A Word About The Gingerbread Man

The Gingerbread Man mercifully didn’t make an appearance during the United States Title match, but a recap of the entire saga played during Backlash and the character’s “funeral” was referenced throughout the contest.

The entire concept is dumb, but dumb doesn’t automatically mean it will be bad. It’s the execution of a silly idea that determines how it’s received. (See later on in the 'Ups' column for silliness that clicked).

This entire Gingerbread Man angle is a great example of a one-note joke that jumped the shark early on, and WWE continued to beat it to death. Trick Williams, who is easily one of the coolest wrestlers on television today, looked far less cool parading around with the costumed character. The gag should have ended when Sami Zayn dressed in the costume and attacked Trick and Lil Yachty.

Sadly, they brought it back for Sami to “kill” it, then they held a funeral for the character in the main event segment on SmackDown (with video surfacing of fans streaming out of the arena during it). The fact that this even got mentioned during Backlash is enough to warrant a 'Down', especially considering that WWE actually got its brand of comedy correct in the very next match.

By succeeding with the Danhausen gimmick moments later, WWE shone some spotlight on how hokey and Vince McMahon-pilled the Gingerbread Man angle was.

2. Wins And Losses Truly Don’t Matter

When John Cena came out to make his “groundbreaking” announcement, everyone likely breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn’t a commercial for Club WWE. He went on to unveil the 'John Cena Classic', pitting main roster stars against NXT wrestlers, which sounded like a great idea.

Then the wheels fell off.

Cena said that this event would crown a new champion, meaning WWE is now introducing the John Cena Championship, which would be the 20th active title between WWE and NXT.

But this announcement really fell apart when Cena laughingly said he would strive for a level of excellence with this title, only to reveal that the fans would vote to crown the champion: “A superstar might not win the match, but their hustle could win your heart.”

A wrestler literally could lose every match, but if they’re a fan favourite they could win the title. It’s all up to the discerning WWE fans, the same ones that chant “one more time” after a babyface has been put through a table and sit on their hands until instructed to come up for the finish.

This has to be a wet dream for the company that has long maintained in practice that wins and losses don’t matter. Now, there’s a championship where the results are irrelevant.

The only way to make this worse would be to limit fan voting to those who sign up (and pay) to be part of Club WWE.

1. The Opposite Of Making Breakker

Knowing WWE, there will be a rematch or 2 between Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker, so they didn’t need to empty the tank with the first match.

In storyline though, these former stablemates have been at each other’s throats for months, attacking each other and trying to position themselves at the top of the roster. What we got was not a hockey fight, but a typical WWE match, formulaic in its beats and overly long (at 21:30, it was the longest match on the card).

That standard WWE match did Breakker, a wrestler whose calling card has been explosive speed and destruction, no favours. He had to settle in for a slog, only getting to show off his skills in short bursts. There were a few nice sequences, especially down the stretch – and those final 3 minutes might make you forget the first 18 – but you shouldn’t disregard the boring, time-filling stuff because there were cool moves and near-falls at the end.

In reality, they could have shaved 10-12 minutes off of this and made it more of a sprint, focusing on them battering each other. Bron’s spots would have stood out more, the energy levels would have remained higher, and we would have gotten a lean, fun match rather than 20-plus minutes of back-and-forth action.

Ups…

4. An Improvement On WrestleMania

Running back a subpar match between Sami Zayn and Trick Williams, given that in recent weeks the feud had focused on a Gingerbread Man costume as a major plot point, was a risky prospect.

However, Sami has been embracing his “earnest babyface” heel gimmick, proclaiming that he’s the same good guy he’s always been, all while succumbing to his worst instincts. Trick, meanwhile, is the clear crowd favorite, but he’s not a high-fiving, do-good hero, and that also came through during this match.

The pair had a longer, better match on Saturday night, one complete with some nice countering sequences. Williams went for a Trick Shot, which Sami dodged and attempted a Blue Thunder Bomb, only for Trick to nail a Bookend for the 2. Trick’s Cyclone Kick got countered into a Blue Thunder for 2 after that.

Lil Yachty got involved a couple times and ate some punches and a Helluva Kick from Zayn, which factored into the finish, with a distracted Sami spending too much time dealing with the rapper and allowing Williams to recover and hit the Trick Shot for the win.

Good, but not great, but Trick’s value is his character work rather than bell-to-bell action; and Sami will make a fantastic heel when he fully embraces the turn.

3. Pure Silliness

Danhausen might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but he’s managed to hit on something in WWE, and his first PLE match on Saturday was another success story.

The Miz and Kit Wilson were set to face Danhausen and a partner of his choosing. Speculation ran the gamut from CM Punk (a friend behind the scenes) to Papa Shango. In the end, Danhausen decided to clone himself, resulting in a “Mini-Hausen” coming out of the box to tag with the full-sized version.

This could have been a really bad joke that fell flat on its face, but a few things ensured its success: Mini-Hausen being awesome at flying around the ring and throwing himself at his opponents, and Miz and Wilson bumping like madmen for the mini.

The match built to the point where Kit threw Mini-Hausen back into the cloning machine, only for all the Mini-Hausens from WrestleMania 42 to emerge and swarm Wilson. This gave way to more comedy spots involving a mirror to reflect a curse and a misfiring fire extinguisher before Danhausen finished Miz off with a pump kick.

Unlike the Gingerbread Man shtick, this was never intended to be anything other than light comedy, and everyone played their roles perfectly. Should this be on every PLE? Absolutely not. However, every so often, a match like this just makes you laugh, and that’s really all that’s needed.

2. IYO Topples Her Mentor

Looking at the Backlash card, there was one match that stood out as something purely for wrestling fans. The only question was whether IYO SKY and Asuka would get to deliver the kind of match their feud deserved.

The duelling Japanese stars got plenty of time and weaved a really good match that built to SKY finally overcoming her mentor and picking up the win. They took turns throwing the other with German suplexes at one point. Asuka hooked IYO in the Asuka Lock a couple of times, with SKY very nearly passing out. A few of their signature spots – Asuka’s flurry of kicks and strikes, IYO's Asai moonsault to the floor – came deep into the match, which was impressive because they kept the fans invested throughout the bout without resorting to cheat codes.

In the end, SKY hit a German and a Bullet Train Attack, then finished Asuka with a moonsault for the clean pin. Solid match that ended their rivalry (they hugged afterward, with Asuka seemingly waving goodbye to fans) and hopefully sets IYO up for her next chapter.

1. Roman Survives Fatu

Backlash’s main event had one major goal: Make Jacob Fatu a legit main event star. Whilst the proof will come next time Fatu wrestles in a high-profile match, no one can deny that Roman Reigns did his level best to elevate his cousin in this World Heavyweight Championship match.

Fatu no-sold Roman’s early offence, perplexing the 'Tribal Chief'. Reigns finally regrouped after a Jacob applied a Tongan Death Grip on the floor, targeting his hand and arm. Unrelenting, Fatu kept coming at Roman and stymying his offence, kicking out of a Superman Punch at one and jumping back to his feet immediately, leaving Reigns shocked while fans chanted for Jacob.

The story of the match that continued to play out saw Fatu constantly going for the Tongan Death Grip and Roman swinging for the fences with Superman Punches and spears, only for Jacob to keep kicking out. Finally, Fatu locked in the grip, and a desperate Roman flailed, grabbing the referee, then ripping the turnbuckle pad off and (inadvertently?) ramming Jacob’s head into the exposed steel. One spear later, and Roman had (barely) retained his title.

That was a clever finish. It protected Fatu, who only lost when he got driven into the steel hook. Roman, meanwhile, looked outmatched and desperate, but there’s a legitimate question of whether exposing the steel and using it was intentional, or if it was just dumb luck.

Afterward, Fatu snapped and beat up Roman, the ref and officials, standing tall with the title as the show went off the air. If fans didn’t view the 'Samoan Werewolf' as a main event threat, they should now.