Best and Worst Booking Decisions of WWE Backlash 2026 Results
WWE Backlash took place this weekend in Tampa, Florida. The post-WrestleMania show was hoping to wash the taste of a lackluster WrestleMania out of a lot of fans' mouths.
The show was still full of ads, but giving the matches more time was a step in the right direction.
Here's a look at the card from Saturday's PLE:
Let's go through the best and worst booking decision from the show.
Best: Bron Beakker Wins
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Bron Breakker and Seth Rollins opened the show with a grudge match that had been building for months since the original betrayal of Rollins by The Vision.
Both men missed a lot of time with different injuries, but as soon as both men were back, WWE kicked this feud off again.
The match was high-energy and hard-hitting. Both men did a great job of conveying the intensity of the storyline through their physicality, which made this the best choice to open the PLE, even though there were a couple of notable close-call botches.
Having Rollins get the victory would have been an easy decision to make, but WWE opted to go the better route and give the young rising star a major win over one of the top guys in the company.
It might not have been a clean win, with Austin Theory and Logan Paul showing up and getting involved, but The Visionary thwarted their attack, so it wasn't a big factor.
Pushing an up-and-coming talent is never going to be a bad decision, especially at a time when WWE desperately needs fresh blood in the main event scene.
Best: Trick Williams Retains, Worst: Lil Yachty is Still Here
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Sami Zayn had a chance to regain the U.S. title he lost at WrestleMania when he challenged Trick Williams for the belt.
During this feud, the crowd seemed to turn against Zayn and embrace Williams, so WWE has been leaning into it. However, the way the story has played out has been ridiculous.
The Gingerbread Man stuff is just plain corny, and the use of AI in video packages made it even harder to enjoy things that might have been funny had they been made properly.
Whether you like Lil Yachty being involved is a matter of personal opinion, just like any of this, but he has brought almost nothing to this feud other than being the hype man for a guy who is already his own best hype man.
The crypto bro took a few kendo stick shots from Zayn, but Trick Willy got some revenge for him by getting the win to retain his belt. The match had good energy, but it was hard to see past the lackluster build.
Worst: Minihausen
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Danhausen had his first PLE match on Saturday when he took on Kit Wilson and The Miz in a tag team match.
On Friday's SmackDown, he attempted to clone himself by stealing a hair from Brie Bella and using it in a failed experiment that produced a Minihausen, which later turned into multiple Minihausens in the cloning machine.
While Danhausen, Wilson and Miz have done a commendable job making this storyline entertaining, there were so many better options for who the mystery partner could have been.
Having Brie Bella show up in Danhausen's makeup as a clone would have been funny, or Danhausen's real-life friendship with CM Punk could have been used to team them up together for a fun bout.
Whoever was hired to play the main Minihausen was clearly a trained wrestler and did a good job in the role they were given, so none of this criticism is being levied at them. If anything, they made the best of a bad situation.
Predictably, Danhausen and his doppelganger got the win over The A-Lister and Wilson.
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Best: Giving Matches More Time
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One of the biggest complaints fans had about WrestleMania 42, other than the high number of ads, was how short most of the matches were.
Most of the matches at 'Mania were 10 minutes or less, with some clocking in between 4-6 minutes, which is ridiculous for the show that is supposed to be the biggest event of the year.
While Saturday's Backlash PLE still had many commercials, it also gave each match more time, resulting in more enjoyable action.
It would be nice to get more PLEs with more than five matches, but WWE seems to have settled on this number for most of the B-level events, so giving each bout the right amount of time is even more important.
Worst: Releasing Kairi Sane Before Finishing the Story, Best: Iyo Sky Bests Asuka
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The shocking release of Kairi Sane completely changed how the feud between Asuka and Iyo Sky was being told on WWE television.
While it was great to finally see them fight on Saturday, the crowd chanting "We want Kairi" as the match began was a reminder that this story could have had a much more satisfying outcome.
It's unfortunate how this played out, since it is one of the longer-running feuds in the women's division right now.
Thankfully, Asuka and Sky quickly gained the crowd's attention. They are two of the best WWE has right now, and seeing them get to finally have a singles match on a big stage was a lot of fun.
The Genius of the Sky hit the Over The Moonsault to get the victory in a hard-fought match. Despite the build being uneven and lacking one of its key members at the end, the two veteran performers stuck the landing.
In a bit of a twist, Asuka ended up embracing Sky to show how proud she was, which seems to end this rivalry and possibly turn her babyface once more.
Best: The John Cena Classic
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For the past few weeks, WWE has been hyping an announcement from John Cena as something monumental and groundbreaking.
WWE, much like any promotion, often exaggerates the importance of things to make them seem bigger than they are, so we always have to go into these things with our expectations in check.
The 17-time champion waited for the "One more match" chants to die down before getting to business.
He revealed The John Cena Classic, an event designed to highlight the stars of tomorrow from WWE's developmental system and to introduce a new championship.
He said his name would be associated with the title in some way without revealing the design or name of the actual championship, but those details will likely be revealed soon.
He also said the audience will vote to crown the champion of the John Cena Classic, meaning performance and fan opinions will carry more weight than wins and losses in this instance.
This idea may seem unorthodox, but there is never going to be a downside to putting effort into featuring and building the next crop of stars. It's going to be interesting to see how the John Cena Classic is structured and who is involved.
Best: Fatu's Main Event Push
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A family feud took center stage in the main event when Jacob Fatu challenged Roman Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship.
The buildup to this match was easily the most intense of the feuds featured on the Backlash card, and a big reason is Fatu's consistency in portraying his character.
The Samoan Werewolf has become a fan favorite, and his ascension has felt more natural than a lot of main event pushes in recent years. It feels like WWE management and the fans are on the same page with the opinion that Fatu is a star worth pushing.
The Tribal Chief looked like he might have bitten off more than he could chew when Fatu quickly kicked out at one after a Spear and stood defiantly in the face of the champion.
Reigns winning the title less than a month ago at WrestleMania made a loss here feel unlikely, but sometimes a Superstar can still benefit from a situation without winning.
Simply putting him in this position for the first time is enough to set him on his rise to eventually winning the world title. Reigns and Fatu had a good match, and there is a strong chance that the next time they meet, The OTC ends up putting Fatu over.
Despite taking the loss, Fatu ended the show standing tall after decimating Reigns and the referee in a post-match attack. It allowed his character to look strong in defeat, which will help keep his momentum high heading into his next big match.
What did you think of this year's Backlash PLE?
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