The inaugural Backlash in April 1999 was the company's first monthly PPV held after the discontinuation of the original
In 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, and
Survivor 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 the
2005 event, which was held in May. After the
2009 event, Backlash was discontinued and replaced by
Extreme Rules in 2010, but after seven years, it was reinstated in
2016 and held in September as that year's post-SummerSlam PPV. The events in
2017 and
2018 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 called
Stomping Grounds. Backlash then returned in
2020 and was held that June. The
2021 event moved Backlash back to May as the post-
WrestleMania 37 PPV, thus the event returned to its original concept with the 2021 and
2022 events titled as WrestleMania Backlash, but the
2023 event reverted to its original name while maintaining the post-WrestleMania theme. In addition to this theme, the 2024 event will be titled
Backlash France as it will be WWE's first PPV and livestreaming event held in
France, as well as the first Backlash held outside of North America.
The
2002 event was WWE's very first PPV held following the implementation of the original
brand extension the month prior. With the brand split in effect, the events in 2002 and
2003 featured wrestlers from both the
Raw and
SmackDown brands, but from
2004 to
2006, Backlash was held exclusively for the Raw brand. Following
WrestleMania 23 in 2007, brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued, thus the events from
2007 to 2009 featured wrestlers from Raw, SmackDown, and
ECW, 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. Following
WrestleMania 34 in 2018, brand-exclusive PPVs were again discontinued, thus the events since have featured both the Raw and SmackDown brands.
A
second Backlash event was held the following year after
WrestleMania 2000, thus establishing Backlash as an annual PPV for the WWF.[5][4][6][7] With the exception of the
2005 event, which was held in May,[8] Backlash was held every April through the
2009 event. Throughout this time, it retained its position as the post-WrestleMania PPV.[4] Following the 2009 event, however, Backlash was discontinued and replaced by
Extreme Rules in 2010.[9]
In March 2002, the WWF introduced the
brand extension in which the roster was divided between the
Raw and
SmackDown brands, which is where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform.[10] The
2002 Backlash was in turn the promotion's very 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 an
orphaned initialism in 2011).[12][13] While the
2003 event also featured wrestlers from both brands,[14] the
2004 event was held exclusively for the Raw brand[15][16] and continued to be Raw-exclusive up through the
2006 event.[8][17] Following
WrestleMania 23 in 2007, WWE discontinued brand-exclusive PPVs,[18] thus the events from 2007 to 2009 featured wrestlers from Raw, SmackDown, and
ECW,[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, the
WWE 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 the
2016 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 after
SummerSlam, thus ending its previous tradition of being the post-WrestleMania PPV.[27][28] The
2017 event was moved up to May and was again SmackDown-exclusive.[29][30] While the event was technically SmackDown's first PPV held after
WrestleMania 33, none of the matches were backlash from that WrestleMania. Furthermore, the Raw-exclusive PPV,
Payback, was held between WrestleMania 33 and Backlash.[31] The
2018 event was originally scheduled to be a Raw-exclusive PPV,[32] but following
WrestleMania 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, the
Greatest 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 called
Stomping Grounds.[35][36] Backlash then returned in 2020 and was held in June that year. The event was originally scheduled to be held in
Kansas City, Missouri,[37] but due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, which began affecting the industry in mid-March that year, WWE had to relocate its programming for Raw and SmackDown to the
WWE Performance Center in
Orlando, Florida with
no fans in attendance, although in late May, WWE began using Performance Center trainees to serve as the live audience.[38] The
2020 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 a
bio-secure bubble called the
WWE ThunderDome, which was first hosted at Orlando's
Amway Center.[39][40] In December, the ThunderDome was relocated to
Tropicana Field in
St. Petersburg, Florida,[41] and then in April 2021, it was relocated to the
Yuengling Center in
Tampa, 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 after
WrestleMania 37, thus the event returned to its original concept and was titled "
WrestleMania Backlash".[44] The 2021 event was also the first Backlash to
livestream on
Peacock'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 the
2022 event would also be held under the "WrestleMania Backlash" name.[47] On March 8, 2023, however, the
2023 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 the
Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in
San Juan, Puerto Rico, marking the first WWE event held in Puerto Rico since
New Year's Revolution in 2005, and second event overall.[48] The 2024 event was announced to be held on Saturday, May 4, 2024, in the
Lyoncommune of
Décines-Charpieu, marking WWE's first PPV and livestreaming event held in
France, with the event in turn titled
Backlash France, subsequently marking the first Backlash held outside of North America.[49]
^Sacco, Justine; Weitz, Michael (April 7, 2011).
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^Powell, John (April 30, 2001).
"McMahonMania at Backlash". SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2009.{{
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^Powell, John (April 22, 2002).
"Hogan champ again at Backlash". SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2009.{{
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^Powell, John (April 28, 2003).
"Goldberg suffers Backlash". SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2009.{{
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^Powell, John (April 19, 2004).
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^"Sokol, Chris (May 2, 2005).
"Hulkamania rules Backlash". SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2009.{{
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^Elliott, Brian (May 1, 2006).
"Heaven can't help Backlash". SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved November 19, 2007.{{
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^Hillhouse, Dave (April 28, 2008).
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