The Champions mostly retained their Championships at the latest instalment of WWE Backlash, except for the holders of one specific title.
THE 2021 EDITION WAS TITLED “WRESTLEMANIA BACKLASH”
In 2021, the show was scheduled for the May PPV slot, returning it to its original position of being the post-WrestleMania PPV—as a result, the 2021 edition was titled “WrestleMania Backlash”. There was no paying audience as in WrestleMania 37, and it was first WWE pay-per-view produced from the ThunderDome at the Yuengling Center.
ONLY ONE CHAMPIONSHIP CHANGED HANDS
In the Backlash pre-show, the WWE United States Champion Sheamus threw an open challenge, which would not have his Championship on the line. Ricochet accepted the challenge and in the end, an escape from Brogue Kick and a roll-up attempt was insufficient as “The Celtic Warrior” defeated him after a rising knee.
The actual show opened with Rhea Ripley defending the Raw Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair and Asuka in a triple threat match. Ripley pinned Asuka to retain her Championship. Next, The Dirty Dawgs duo of Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode defended their SmackDown Tag Team Championship against Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio. The Mysterios were victorious, putting them in the history books as the first-ever father-son duo to hold a tag team championship in the company.
Next, The Miz, accompanied to the ring by John Morrison, was defeated by Damian Priest in a lumberjack match. The lumberjacks, however, were supposed zombies as a tie-up to “Army Of The Dead”. After that, Bianca Belair defended the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Bayley. Belair won the match after using her braided hair to gain leverage during a pinfall, which Bayley protested following the match.
Next, Bobby Lashley defended the WWE Championship against former Champion Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman. Lashley performed a Spear on Strowman to retain the title.
The main event of Backlash saw Roman Reigns defending the WWE Universal Championship against Cesaro. Cesaro passed out to Reigns’ Guillotine Choke despite a valiant attempt. Following the match, Jey Uso and later Seth Rollins attacked the defeated superstar.
