WWE Backlash is in the rear view. The first premium live event following the historic WWE WrestleMania 39 saw a number of rivalries rekindled including Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn and The Usos mixing it up, this time in six-man action alongside Matt Riddle and Solo Sikoa. The same went for WWE United States Champion Austin Theory, as his Summer 2022 feud with Bobby Lashley got a colossal addition in the form of Bronson Reed. All those matches aside, the biggest praise came in the form of Bad Bunny and Damian Priest’s San Juan Street Fight, as the multi-platinum rapper raised the bar for celebrity matches once again in his impressive performance against The Judgement Day’s big man.
WWE touted WWE Backlash‘s success, noting that the event was the “highest-grossing and most-viewed Backlash in company history.”
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“Viewership ofย Backlashย saw a 28 percent increase versus the record set in 2022,” WWE wrote in a press release. “The event, which featured Bad Bunny, the most-streamed music artist in the world, marked the largest gate ever for any WWE event held in Puerto Rico and the largest gate in the history of Backlash.”
WWE Backlash was only half the party, as the global leader in sports-entertainment also hosted a live episode of WWE SmackDown in the Coliseo de Puerto Rico Josรฉ Miguel Agrelot the night prior.
“More than 34,800 fans descended on San Juan, Puerto Rico, for back-to-back sellout nights of SmackDownย (16,896 attendees) and Backlash (17,944 attendees),” WWE’s press release continued. “It also marked the most social Backlash of all-time, led by over 40 million views of the San Juan Street Fight featuring Bad Bunny vs. Damian Priest. The hashtag #WWEBacklash, accompanied by a custom Bad Bunny emoji, trended No. 1 across the entire evening of sports.”
Beyond the revenue that WWE Backlash generated for both in-person and at-home viewers, the event yielded significant auxiliary income records.
“In addition, Backlash broke merchandise and sponsorship records. As the first-ever WWE event under the expanded partnership with Fanatics overseeing the on-site event retail experience, top-selling items included the WWE Backlashย and LWO Puerto Rico t-shirts,” WWE’s press release added. “Sponsorship revenue surpassed any Backlash event in history, breaking last year’s record with a 98 percent year-on-year increase through partnerships with Netflix’s FUBAR, Mike’s Harder Lemonade and Xfinity.”
This success begs the question of how long until WWE returns to Puerto Rico. Recent reports suggest that they will be back for non-televised live events soon, but another premium live event may be a while away. WWE’s biggest value in running special shows like WWE Backlash in Puerto Rico comes in payment from Puerto Rico’s tourism board. Puerto Rico paid $1.5 million for WWE to bring WWE Backlash to the country, and it has been speculated that they will use that money to bring in a different entertainment act next year.
WWE Backlash is streaming on replay on Peacock.
