WWE Backlash will take place tonight (Sat., May 9, 2026) from Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida. While there will a “Countdown” pre-show, the premium live event itself begins at 6 p.m. ET. In the United States, the first hour will be on cable network ESPN2 , while the entire show streams HERE on the ESPN Unlimited service. For the rest of the world, Backlash is on Netflix.
The PLE is our first since WrestleMania 42, and will include one championship rematch from Vegas, now with Trick
Williams defending the Men’s U.S. title against Sami Zayn. The main event will feature the new WWE World Heavyweight champion, Roman Reigns, defending the strap in a long-awaited family clash against Jacob Fatu. Backlash will also feature two matches with a lot of story behind them in Bron Breakker vs. Seth Rollins, and Asuka vs. IYO SKY. Plus, the wrestler whose voice you may be hearing in your head now when I tell you that ”at Backlash” he’ll team with a MYSTERY PARTNER to face The Miz & Kit Wilson.
It’s a lot to process. Luckily for you Cagesiders, our staff of learned wrestling blowhards is here to help figure out just how the event is going to play out with predictions for each match on the card.
Let’s get to it.
WWE BACKLASH PREDICTIONS
WWE World Heavyweight championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Jacob Fatu
Geno Mrosko: I’m going to guess they do something crazy here, considering the push they made for Fatu surrounding his history and overcoming as much, especially since Reigns isn’t going to be around for the next month. Make him chase again. Hey, if it doesn’t make sense to you ask yourself this: how much WWE creative makes sense right now? Boom, roasted. Pick: Jacob Fatu
Sean Rueter: It must be that last promo talking, because I think it’s more likely the Usos get involved (without Roman’s blessing possibly?) and Fatu moves his war to them for a while. But I’m picking with ALL GAS. NO BRAKES. YADADAMEAN! Pick: Jacob Fatu
Kyle Decker: I’m more curious about how they make this interesting. Reigns as a champion was often more about setting up high drama than anything. Guaranteed ref bump – oh here come the Usos and here comes Solo etc etc. With Roman as a babyface, we’re not going to get that very same formula. But I bet it will be similar and I think end finish will be what we all expect in regards to who walks out with that title. Pick: Roman Reigns
Claire Elizabeth: Listen, Fatu keeps saying he cannot lose this match, and I do not want to say he’s going to lose this match in a place where he can find out I said it, ya dig? I mean realistically I think the numbers game is on Roman’s side… and Jacob’s all gas, no brakes nature makes him likely to overcommit like Sonic Hedgehog accidentally bouncing into some spikes because you didn’t press jump hard enough… but no, no the Samoan Werewolf has this one. Pick: Jacob Fatu
Cain A. Knight: WWE gave the Tongan Death Grip to Fatu to create some doubt about the outcome of this match. The main issue with that is Haku never came anywhere close to sniffing the top of the card when he used it in WWE, so it’s hard to buy into WWE’s claims about how sacred and dangerous the move is. Good effort, but there’s no way Roman Reigns is losing the world title less than one month after winning it in the main event of WrestleMania. Pick: Roman Reigns
Marcus Benjamin: Logic says pick Roman. For a few weeks in a row, Jacob left Roman gasping for air while looking like a force the champ just can’t handle. But, as Geno pointed out, WWE creative isn’t exactly in the logic business these days. I think there’s less places to go with Jacob if he doesn’t win than if he does. Whereas the choices are always infinite with the Tribal Chief. Pick: Jacob Fatu
M. G0MEZ: The inclusion of the Usos and Solo Sikoa, a teased confrontation between the OTC and Seth Rollins, Reigns’ selling of Fatu’s Tongan Death Grip, and even “clerical errors” with Reigns’ schedule have done a great job casting doubt on the outcome. Still, this feels more like the start of something rather than the end of the Tribal Chief. Pick: Roman Reigns
Jon Velez-Jackson: Fatu going over would make for a much more interesting story, but Reigns will still win, even if he lied to us all about no longer being a part-timer. WWE also looks to be trying to recapture the magic of the original Bloodline angle. Pick: Roman Reigns
Josh Jagler: With a short turnaround between WrestleMania and Backlash, they’ve done a decent enough job of trying to make us think that Fatu has a shot to win the title here. While this is a big spot for the Samoan Werewolf, I don’t see a way this match ends that doesn’t involve ‘ones’ being raised to the sky and a celebration in the Gomez household. Pick: Roman Reigns
Men’s United States championship: Trick Williams (c) vs. Sami Zayn
Geno Mrosko: Whoop that trick. Pick: Trick Williams
Sean Rueter: Look all I know is these guys have made their midcard feud a topic of conversation between a WrestleMania match with an obvious outcome, and a Backlash rematch with an even more obvious outcome. Zayn’s done it throughout his career, and T. Willy’s showing a knack for it (but he won’t be in the midcard for long). That’s the kind of stuff that impresses me as a long-time wrestling watcher nowadays, even if I didn’t enjoy most of what we got on the latest SmackDown. Oh yeah, that obvious outcome. Pick: Trick Williams
Kyle Decker: Will Michael Cole’s guy get his revenge on Sami Zayn? Tune in to find out. Pick: Trick Williams
Claire Elizabeth: I hate to say it but Sami Zayn is gotten to. I’m writing this during SmackDown commercials and he’s spent all night, not strategizing, not warming up, not working up a gameplan, but fuming because the rest of the roster is play-acting a funeral for the Gingerbread Man. C’mon, Sami, get your head in the game already! Pick: Trick Williams
Cain A. Knight: Sami Zayn must pay for dismembering and murdering the Gingerbread Man, even if he already paid for it during Gingerbread’s funeral. Pick: Trick Williams
Marcus Benjamin: A Mania rematch that solidifies Trick as the champ and hopefully brings a swift end to this gingerbread man nonsense. Sigh. This feud really could’ve went the extra mile to be something memorable. Instead, a gingerbread man outfit became the lasting image. Pick: Trick Williams
M. G0MEZ: Williams dropping the U.S. title back to Zayn three weeks after winning it would kill his momentum. That can’t happen, especially as a wrong must be righted. #JusticeForGingerbread. Pick: Trick Williams
Jon Velez-Jackson: With apologies to Sami and his respectable body of work, Trick needs to move on from this feud to bigger things. Pick: Trick Williams
Josh Jagler: WrestleMania felt like a big coronation for Trick Williams and him losing here just wouldn’t make a ton of sense. Pick: Trick Williams
Singles match: Asuka vs. IYO SKY
Geno Mrosko: The rumors of Kairi Sane coming back to close up her storyline here are interesting, and I would think that would mean Iyo Sky picks up the win. I actually think they’re finally going to wrap this up and do that anyway. Pick: Iyo Sky
Sean Rueter: Personally, I hope Kairi Sane doesn’t pull a Ron Killings here. Unless they put it in writing they’ll book her even half as strongly as they did in the Mae Young Classic and NXT so many years ago. But honestly, I think this should wrap up after this either way, and that means… Pick: IYO SKY
Kyle Decker: This should have been the Mania match with a legit build (and Kairi would have still been employed at the time), but I still think they felt that Rhea/Jade didn’t have enough juice so they added Iyo to the mix, derailing any plans she had with Asuka. It will still be a really good match though. In fact, it could steal the show. Pick: Iyo Sky
Claire Elizabeth: Asuka is completely overconfident here and it’ll be her downfall. It’s been years since it was true that no one was ready for her, she’s run off her only ally, and now she picks a fight with her greatest student? Bad move, Empress. (PS please teach me how to spit the poison mist?) Pick: IYO SKY
Cain A. Knight: One benefit of this match taking place at Backlash instead of WrestleMania is that it likely would have been capped under 10 minutes at WWE’s biggest show of the year. It’s a shame that WWE released Kairi Sane and undermined this story in the process, but IYO and Asuka will still make it work because they are two of the best on the roster. Pick: IYO SKY
Marcus Benjamin: IYO’s looked like a bit of a chump as Rhea’s sidekick. And Becky just called her IYO Jannetty! So yeah, give IYO the win. Let’s not overthink this one. Pick: IYO SKY
M. G0MEZ: Asuka seemingly has nothing left to do in WWE except elevate her former student in what should be an emotionally charged battle that could steal the show. Pick: Iyo Sky
Jon Velez-Jackson: The release of Kairi Sane certainly took a lot of wind out of the sails of this rivalry, but this will no doubt be a highly competitive, fun match. Fans have been rightly clamoring for this one for years, and I can see this bout being better than a number of matches at WrestleMania 42. Asuka is already a legend, and her losing will feel like a passing of the baton. Pick: Iyo Sky
Josh Jagler: I’m envisioning Liv Morgan and Iyo Sky squaring off at Summerslam, and Iyo is going to need something to keep her occupied until then. My excitement for this match would be heightened if Kairi was around, but I’m still looking forward to these two going at it, and then running it back again once or twice this spring. To really give this rivalry enough juice to continue, I think Asuka needs to win. Pick: Asuka
Singles match: Bron Breakker vs. Seth Rollins
Geno Mrosko: Rollins can handle losing, it’s time to really make someone and I mean make the damn guy. Pick: Bron Breakker
Sean Rueter: Rollins needs a PLE win at some point. He should probably beat at least one Vision member on ESPN too at some point this year, seeing how he was written off for his (real) injury last year. But this seems like a bad spot to hang even a DQ loss on the Steiner spawn. Still think that’s what they’re gonna do though. The beatdown after the ref calls for the bell will either drive home the point that Seth has no friends, or we’ll get the tease of some back-up for him. But technically… Pick: Seth Rollins
Kyle Decker: I think they rushed this program because of Seth’s injury, and I bet they think it’s too soon for Breakker here. While I agree with everyone that Seth can handle the loss, I don’t think they tease Seth & Reigns and immediately have him lose within a week. Pick: Seth Rollins
Claire Elizabeth: Meanwhile, in this match the teacher really is still as good as he thinks he is, and the learner has all the tools but hasn’t quite picked up the majority yet. To be clear I won’t be surprised if Bron spears Seth in half and gets himself to the pay window here, but I really think it’s Rollins’ match to lose. Pick: Seth Rollins
Cain A. Knight: I think it’s a tough pill to swallow for Bron Breakker if he loses his WWE return match against his number one rival. Seth Rollins has zero friends, and that will bite him in his very handsome ass when a YouTube douchebag gets involved yet again. Pick: Bron Breakker
Marcus Benjamin: Seth’s lack of alliances or just people who like him plays into this one. That and I can’t imagine Bron losing his first big match back from injury. Pick: Bron Breakker
M. G0MEZ: Breakker has backup, while Rollins only has Becky Lynch, though he may have made a successful appeal to the Street Profits. Too bad they’ll likely need more time to decide if they want to buy what Rollins is selling. What should be the first of a series, the edge goes to “The Badass” in the opener. Pick: Bron Breakker
Jon Velez-Jackson: Seth Rollins has been one of the most dependable stars in WWE for years now, so it’s hard to imagine him losing again so soon after picking up an “L” against Gunther at WrestleMania. However, it’s even harder to imagine Breakker, one of the most naturally gifted young wrestlers in recent memory, losing after being sidelined by an injury. Pick: Bron Breakker
Josh Jagler: Reverse momentum on a go-home show would lead me to believe that Seth wins here, but I think this story is about Bron Breakker and his return. This won’t be the end of this rivalry, which leads me to believe that Bron is going to win. Pick: Bron Breakker
Tag match: Danhausen & TBD vs The Miz & Kit Wilson
Geno Mrosko: It’s going to be Danhausen and a little person dressed as him, isn’t it? Pick: Danhausen & TBD
Sean Rueter: No matter whether it’s a clone or who Bryan Alvarez said it would be, the three-named participants will make sure this entertains me. And regardless of who his partner is, the winner will be… Pick: Danhausen
Kyle Decker: At first I was thinking they could have it be Oba Femi who would just wreck shit and leave and then Danhausen can do his bit afterwards. But they probably don’t want the Ruler so close to such a comedy act. I bet it’ll be Ryder Cardona since he’s had some history with Kit & Miz. But Danhausen will be getting the win. Pick: Danhausen and Cardona
Claire Elizabeth: Kit Wilson said the only person toxic enough to team with Danhausen is Danhausen and I think he’s right. I dunno what dark arts and black magicks Danhausen will need to use to pull it off, but I think it’s gonna be enough to get the winhausen. Pick: Danhausen & Danhausen
Cain A. Knight: Danhausen is undefeated and clearly doesn’t even need a partner to beat low card wrestlers like The Miz and Kit Wilson. But if I have to take a stab in the dark, I’ll say Jelly Roll is the mystery man who helps him humiliate these guys again. Pick: Danhausen & TBD
Marcus Benjamin: Yeah let’s not waste time here. Pick:Danhausen & friend
M. G0MEZ: Having the heels go over in a comedy match makes for a bad punchline. Whether Danhausen shows up with CM Punk or CP Munk, Royce Keys or Alicia Keys, the whole point is to make the crowd laugh as Miz and Wilson get their comeuppance. Pick: Danhausen & TBDhausen
Jon Velez-Jackson: Like everyone else on the staff has said, there’s no way Danhausen will lose in what is sure to be (at the very least) an entertaining match. Pick: Danhausen and Mysteryhausen
Josh Jagler: Easiest one to call. Pick: Danhausen & Stephen A. Smith
BONUS PICK… What’s John Cena’s “history-making news?!?!
That’s how we see the evening’s matches playing out. In the comments, tell us where we’re wrong or why you agree, and give us your predictions for WWE Backlash 2026!
![Danhausen’s mystery partner at WWE Backlash is [possible spoiler redacted]](https://glance-mob.glance-cdn.com/public/cardpress/binge-magazine-card-generation/spaces/US/en/sb-nation/images/ppid_2cf3d240-image-177827168207558715.webp)
