WWE Backlash 2025 Announced for St. Louis; John Cena, Randy Orton Scheduled to Appear

WWE announced Friday that the Backlash premium live event will be held at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis on May 10.

Legendary WWE Superstar Randy Orton, who is from St. Louis, revealed that he will be part of the show in some capacity:

WWE also announced that John Cena will make his first appearance at Backlash since 2009 as part of his retirement tour.

Since 2021, Backlash has been held annually in May, and it has usually been the first PLE to occur after WrestleMania.

All signs point toward that once again being the case this year, which means Backlash could be a newsworthy show that features plenty of fallout from WrestleMania 41.

As of now, the most highly anticipated aspect of the event is likely related to what Cena's role will be.

At Elimination Chamber earlier this month, Cena won the men's Chamber match to earn an undisputed WWE Championship match against Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania.

While it initially looked as though it was going to be a respectful bout between two longtime friends, Cena did the unthinkable by aligning himself with The Rock and turning heel on Rhodes.

If Cena beats Rhodes at WrestleMania 41 to become a record-breaking, 17-time world champion, he would almost certainly enter Backlash as champion.

Backlash could be the stage for Cena's first title defense, possibly in a rematch against Rhodes, or against a new opponent.

If Cena has a different challenger, Orton would make a ton of sense in that role, especially given the history between them.

After missing a few months due to a storyline injury suffered at the hands of Kevin Owens, Orton made his return at Elimination Chamber and took out KO with an RKO.

Assuming Orton vs. Owens happens at WrestleMania, a win would possibly put Orton in the WWE Championship mix, and he would conceivably want to get revenge on Cena for what he did to his close friend in Rhodes.

The St. Louis crowd would be firmly in Orton's corner, creating the desired reaction for a heel version of Cena. It would also give the WWE Universe the chance to see Cena vs. Orton one last time during Cena's final year as an active wrestler.

Regardless of whether that match happens, many important angles are likely to be furthered coming out of WrestleMania, setting up what WWE will present for the remainder of the spring and into the summer.

Backlash will mark the 12th premium live event in WWE history to take place in St. Louis, and the first since Royal Rumble 2022.

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