The inaugural Backlash in April 1999 was the company's first monthly PPV held after the discontinuation of the originalIn Your House shows, which were monthly PPVs held between the promotion's "Big Five" PPVs at the time:Royal Rumble, WrestleMania,King of the Ring,SummerSlam, andSurvivor Series. The inaugural event had originally been advertised as an In Your House show, but the branding was dropped before the event took place. From its inception until 2009, Backlash held the position as the post-WrestleMania PPV and was held annually in April, with the exception of the2005 event, which was held in May. After the2009 event, Backlash was discontinued and replaced byExtreme Rules in 2010, but after seven years, it was reinstated in2016 and held in September as that year's post-SummerSlam PPV. The events in2017 and2018 were then held in May, but were not the post-WrestleMania PPVs. An event was originally scheduled for June 2019 but was canceled and replaced by a one-off event calledStomping Grounds. Backlash then returned in2020 and was held that June. The2021 event moved Backlash back to May as the post-WrestleMania 37 PPV, thus the event returned to its original concept with the 2021 and2022 events titled asWrestleMania Backlash, but the2023 event reverted to its original name while maintaining the post-WrestleMania theme. The2024 event was WWE's first PPV and livestreaming event held inFrance, as well as the first Backlash held outside of North America.
The2002 event was WWE's first PPV held following the implementation of the originalbrand extension the month prior. With the brand split in effect, the events in 2002 and2003 featured wrestlers from both theRaw andSmackDown brands, but from2004 to2006, Backlash was held exclusively for the Raw brand. FollowingWrestleMania 23 in 2007, brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued, thus the events from2007 to 2009 featured wrestlers from Raw, SmackDown, andECW, the latter of which was established as a third brand in 2006 but was disbanded in 2010. The brand split itself ended in 2011, but was reintroduced in mid-2016. Backlash was then reinstated as a SmackDown-exclusive PPV that year and was WWE's first brand-exclusive PPV of the second brand split, and it was also SmackDown-exclusive in 2017. FollowingWrestleMania 34 in 2018, brand-exclusive PPVs were again discontinued, thus the events since have featured both the Raw and SmackDown brands.
Asecond Backlash event was held the following year afterWrestleMania 2000, thus establishing Backlash as an annual PPV for the WWF.[5][4][6][7] With the exception of the2005 event, which was held in May,[8] Backlash was held every April through the2009 event. Throughout this time, it retained its position as the post-WrestleMania PPV.[4] Following the 2009 event, however, Backlash was discontinued and replaced byExtreme Rules in 2010.[9]
In March 2002, the WWF introduced thebrand extension in which the roster was divided between theRaw andSmackDown brands, which is where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform.[10] The2002 Backlash was in turn the promotion's first PPV held following the implementation of the original brand split and it featured wrestlers from both brands.[11][4] The month after the 2002 event, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE, which became anorphaned initialism in 2011).[12][13] While the2003 event also featured wrestlers from both brands,[14] the2004 event was held exclusively for the Raw brand[15][16] and continued to be Raw-exclusive up through the2006 event.[8][17] FollowingWrestleMania 23 in 2007, WWE discontinued brand-exclusive PPVs,[18] thus the events from 2007 to 2009 featured wrestlers from Raw, SmackDown, andECW,[19][20][21] which had been established as a third brand in 2006 but was disbanded in 2010,[22][23] and the brand extension itself was dissolved in 2011.[24]
After Backlash was discontinued following the 2009 event, it endured a seven-year hiatus. During this time in February 2014, WWE launched their online streaming service, theWWE Network, and in addition to traditional PPV, the events also became available on the Network.[25] In mid-2016, WWE reintroduced the brand split and also brought back brand-exclusive PPVs.[26] Due to the need for more PPV events, Backlash was reinstated, and the2016 event was held exclusively for the SmackDown-brand and was WWE's first brand-exclusive PPV of the second brand split. Backlash that year was also held in September afterSummerSlam, thus ending its previous tradition of being the post-WrestleMania PPV.[27][28] The2017 event was moved up to May and was again SmackDown-exclusive.[29][30] While the event was technically SmackDown's first PPV held afterWrestleMania 33, none of the matches were backlash from that WrestleMania. Furthermore, the Raw-exclusive PPV,Payback, was held between WrestleMania 33 and Backlash.[31] The2018 event was originally scheduled to be a Raw-exclusive PPV,[32] but followingWrestleMania 34 that year, WWE again discontinued brand-exclusive PPVs, thus events held since have featured wrestlers from both Raw and SmackDown.[33] Although the 2018 event was held in May, theGreatest Royal Rumble was held between WrestleMania 34 and Backlash.[34]
In 2019, Backlash was originally scheduled to be held in June, however, it was canceled and replaced by a one-off PPV calledStomping Grounds.[35][36] Backlash then returned in 2020 and was held in June that year. The event was originally scheduled to be held inKansas City, Missouri,[37] but due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, which began affecting the industry in mid-March that year, WWE had to relocate its programming for Raw and SmackDown to theWWE Performance Center inOrlando, Florida withno fans in attendance, although in late May, WWE began using Performance Center trainees to serve as the live audience.[38] The2020 event was in turn held at the Performance Center and was WWE's first PPV event to be announced after the start of the pandemic.[37]
In August 2020, WWE relocated Raw and SmackDown's events to abio-secure bubble called theWWE ThunderDome, which was first hosted at Orlando'sAmway Center.[39][40] In December, the ThunderDome was relocated toTropicana Field inSt. Petersburg, Florida,[41] and then in April 2021, it was relocated to theYuengling Center inTampa, Florida.[42] The 2021 Backlash was in turn WWE's first PPV held in the ThunderDome at the Yuengling Center. The event was originally scheduled to be held in June,[43] but was moved up to May.[44] This in turn positioned the 2021 event as the first PPV held afterWrestleMania 37, thus the event returned to its original concept and was titled "WrestleMania Backlash".[44] The 2021 event was also the first Backlash tolivestream onPeacock's WWE Network channel, following the merger of the American version of the WWE Network under Peacock in March that year.[45]
In July 2021, WWE resumed a live touring schedule.[46] On February 11, 2022, WWE announced that the2022 event would also be held under the "WrestleMania Backlash" name.[47] On March 8, 2023, however, the2023 event was announced and reverted the event series to its original name of Backlash while maintaining its post-WrestleMania theme. It was also announced to take place on Saturday, May 6, 2023, at theColiseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot inSan Juan, Puerto Rico, marking the first WWE event held in Puerto Rico sinceNew Year's Revolution in 2005, and second event overall.[48]
In 2024, the event was announced to be held on Saturday, May 4, 2024, in theLyoncommune ofDécines-Charpieu, at theLDLC Arena marking WWE's first PPV and livestreaming event held inFrance, with the event in turn promoted asBacklash France, subsequently marking the first Backlash held outside of North America.[49]
^Sacco, Justine; Weitz, Michael (April 7, 2011)."The New WWE" (Press release).Connecticut:WWE.Archived from the original on May 3, 2018. RetrievedNovember 25, 2021.
