Winners, News And Notes On May 8, 2022

WWE WrestleMania Backlash 2022, from the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Rhode Island, featured The Bloodline (Roman Reigns and The Usos) vs. Drew McIntyre and RK-Bro (Riddle and Randy Orton) in a non-title six-man tag main event. The event previously advertised WWE unifying the WWE Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships.

WrestleMania Backlash also featured an “I Quit” Match for the SmackDown Women’s Championship between Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair. Rousey won the match with an armbar through a steel chair, becoming the new WWE SmackDown women’s champion.

Last week’s broadcast of WWE SmackDown garnered 1.953 million viewers.

WrestleMania Backlash Match Card

• Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey
• Cody Rhodes vs. Seth “Freakin’” Rollins
• AJ Styles vs. Edge
• Happy Corbin vs. Madcap Moss
• Bobby Lashley vs. Omos
• Drew McIntyre and RK-Bro vs. The Bloodline

• April 29, 2022—1.953 million
• April 22, 2022—1.952 million
• April 15, 2022—2.142 million
• April 8, 2022—2.230 million
• April 1, 2022—2.359 million

WrestleMania Backlash 2022 Ticket Sales

• WrestleMania Backlash 2022 Venue: Dunkin’ Donuts Center (Providence, R.I.)
• WrestleMania Backlash 2022 Tickets Distributed: 8,060
• WrestleMania Backlash 2022 Available Tickets: 194

AEW vs. NJPW Forbidden Door Sells Out (Pro Wrestling Bits)

WrestleMania Backlash Results | Sunday, May 8, 2022

Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins

Seth Rollins really leaned into fans chanting along with his theme song, but they went even crazier for Cody Rhodes.

Those holding out hope for Cody Rhodes using a trap door at pay-per-views were let down as the days of Rhodes’ trapdoor entrance seem to be permanently over.

The story of this match was the “value of preparation” as Seth Rollins was even more prepared for Cody Rhodes and he countered Rhodes’ signature maneuvers throughout.

This great opener earned a well-deserved “this is awesome” chant.

Cody Rhodes continues to tease the Pedigree and get massive reactions for it.

Seth Rollins got immense heat for mocking Cody Rhodes with Dusty Rhodes’ famed punches.

RIP to the rest of this card, because nobody is going to be able to follow this opener.

Omos def. Bobby Lashley

Omos as the “Nigerian Giant” has a nice ring to it.

Bobby Lashley’s entrance with the platform is one of the best in WWE.

Omos screamed “he’s too small” while throwing Bobby Lashley around the ring, and I pray that “he’s too small” becomes a meme.

This match was basically a remake of Andre the Giant’s fight in the Princess Bride.

There was great heat for this match, as fans really rallied behind Bobby Lashley to slay the giant.

If Omos was going to win here, there was no need to beat the giant at WrestleMania. A winning streak that includes two wins over Bobby Lashley would have kept up the mystique of this giant, but with this 50/50 booking, both Lashley and Omos were hurt.

Edge def. AJ Styles

Edge’s ring entrance is much longer now as the ring announcer included all of Edge’s major accolades.

The second Corey Graves said AJ Styles was entering this match with one good arm, it was a wrap for Styles’ chances of winning this match.

We’ve known the story of this match since Edge and Damian Priest injured Styles, and that story was Edge working over Styles’ arm.

This match’s one stipulation was that Damian Priest was not to interfere, yet Priest interfered.

The finish saw the latest member of Judgment Day interfere to help Edge win—Rhea Ripley.

Ronda Rousey def. Charlotte Flair—“I Quit” Match for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship

There was a scary German Suplex early where Ronda Rousey landed on the back of her head.

After four years, Ronda Rousey finally got her revenge with the kendo sticks by brutalizing Charlotte Flair with two kendo sticks.

The crowd was getting restless for this match, chanting “we want tables!”

Fans showed signs of fatigue during an otherwise good match/brawl. Thankfully, the match leveled up for a great finish as soon as Charlotte said “Happy Mother’s Day!”

Madcap Moss def. Happy Corbin

The vignette for this match played like an after-school special.

This was actually a pretty solid match, but the crowd took this one off as they quietly awaited the main event.

Following this match, it was announced that Charlotte Flair has a “fractured radius.”

The Bloodline vs. Drew McIntyre and RK-Bro

Despite this being a star-studded main event, these fans only chanted “Randy!” after both entrances.

Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns could work at WWE Hell in a Cell before WWE goes back to Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton at Allegiant Stadium for Money in the Bank.

Roman Reigns brilliantly trolled this crowd by tagging in for a possible confrontation with Drew McIntyre, only to tag back out and get immense heat. Nobody loved this more than Pat McAfee, who cackled maniacally.

At its peak, there was a lot of heat for this match.

Despite doing a good job of building up to Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre, these fans chose to chant “Randy” while McIntyre was being beat down by Reigns. In fact, McIntyre hit the Claymore Kick, and after doing all the work, these fans still wanted Randy to get the glory.

Orton hit the most amazing RKO on Roman Reigns, mid-Superman Punch, and the Dunkin’ Donuts Center went nuts for it. Corey Graves described it as “beating Superman to the punch.”

Reigns delivered a uranage on McIntyre through a table, and Pat McAfee interestingly called it a “Rock Bottom.”

Roman Reigns picked up the win over Riddle in the finish, which is fitting because this match simultaneously built up to Reigns vs. McIntyre and Reigns vs. Orton.