Backlash tonight
WWE presents Backlash tonight on the WWE Network and it is the company蘑菇视频 third special event in a month as well as its second in nine days.
Seven matches have been announced for the main card along with one bout for the Kickoff Show, and it will be interesting to see what direction WWE goes with several of the matches.
The main event is expected to be A.J. Styles defending the WWE championship against Shinsuke Nakamura in a no disqualification match.
Adding the stipulation gives the WWE Creative team an easier way to put the title on Nakamura while not making Styles lose credibility.
Could Nakamura use a low blow, like he did at WrestleMania, to lead into his finisher to win the title?
Other title matches will see Seth Rollins defend the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Jeff Hardy defending the United States title against Randy Orton, Nia Jax defending the Raw Women蘑菇视频 title against Alexa Bliss, and Carmella defending the Smackdown Women蘑菇视频 title against Charlotte Flair.
Also on the card, Roman Reigns faces Samoa Joe, Daniel Bryan faces big Cass and the team of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens takes on Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman.
The Kickoff Show match is Bayley against Ruby Rose.
Interesting Zayn note
Speaking of Zayn, rumors had leaked out after the Greatest Royal Rumble card about why he was not on the show.
WWE ran an injury angle that left him off of the show, but according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it had to do with Zayn having Syrian bloodlines.
The WWE announcers were informed of Saudi Arabian rules and told what to say and not say during the broadcast in relation to customs.
One of the directives was to not mention Zayn at all.
When Zayn was in NXT, WWE wanted to build him up as a Middle Eastern star and he even wrestled in Riydah, Saudi Arabia, for three straight nights with no issues before he was on the main roster.
WWE releases quarter numbers
On Thursday, WWE announced its first quarter results.
Revenues reached $187.7 million, which was on-par with the first quarter in 2017.
WWE Network paid subscribers increased five percent to 1.56 million and digital views increased a whopping 56 percent to 6.7 billion and hours consumed increased 69 percent to 243 million across digital and social media platforms.
WrestleMania 34 broke the Mercedez-Benz Superdome蘑菇视频 highest grossing entertainment event at $14.1 million and the event hit a record 2.12 million global households on the WWE Network which made it the most-watched Mania in history.
Kane wins Mayoral primary
Glenn Jacobs, known in the wrestling world as Kane, won the Knox County Mayoral Primary on Tuesday and is expected to win election come August.
WWE Network 2.0?
Recently, WWE released a video on its corporate website about upgrading the WWE Network to a 2.0 version.
It will deliver a more personalized experience for fans, and it is set to be released later this year.
More details to follow as they are released.
Injured star returning
Jason Jordan, Kurt Angle蘑菇视频 鈥渟on,鈥� has been cleared to return to the ring after neck surgery.
Hogan return imminent?
Hulk Hogan was inducted into the Boys and Girls Club Hall of Fame this week, and his next move may be back into the good graces of WWE.
Fired in 2015 when word broke that he used a racial slur years prior, Hogan has owned his actions and WWE is said to be happy with how he has handled things.
Hogan蘑菇视频 in-ring days are over, although a s pot match here or there is always possible, and it is not known if he would sign a legends deal to make appearances or have an on-camera role.
On this date:
In 2002 in a press release, WWE announces its name change from WWF to WWE to emphasize the 鈥渆ntertainment鈥� aspect of the company.
Word broke the day before but the company officially announced the change with the press release.
A major aspect of the name change came when WWE had lost a court case to the World Wildlife Fund, also known as WWF, over the WWF scratch logo it began to use in 1998.
16 years after the name change, and WWE caters its PG product to kids who were not even born when the change was made and most look at 鈥淲WF鈥� much like kids in the 1980s and 1990s looked at the 鈥淲WWF鈥� before its name change.
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