Backlash (2018)

The 2018 Backlash was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE, held for wrestlers from the promotion's main roster brands, Raw and SmackDown. It was the 14th Backlash and took place on May 6, 2018, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Nine matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. Due to the Superstar Shake-up (draft) that occurred in mid-April, several matches were interpromotional matches as they were scheduled before the shake-up occurred. In the main event, Raw's Roman Reigns defeated SmackDown's Samoa Joe. Also on the card, SmackDown's WWE Championship match between defending champion AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura ended in a draw, and in the opening bout, Seth Rollins retained Raw's Intercontinental Championship against SmackDown's The Miz. The show was also notable for Daniel Bryan's first singles match on a PPV and livestreaming event since Fastlane in February 2015. The event was originally planned to be held exclusively for the Raw brand, after the 2017 event was SmackDown-exclusive, but after April's WrestleMania 34, brand-exclusive PPV and livestreaming events for the main roster under the second brand split were discontinued. This made it the first Backlash since 2009 to feature multiple brands during a brand split. An originally planned 2019 event was replaced by Stomping Grounds, but Backlash was reinstated in 2020. The event garnered negative reviews from critics, with the finish to the WWE Championship match and main event being particularly criticised, the latter for both its card placement and fan reaction towards the match itself. Other criticisms were levied against the rest of the card being middle of the road, as well as the Nia Jax promo after the Raw Women's Championship match. However, the Intercontinental Championship opening bout received praise, and was singled out as the...