Five key takeaways from WWE Backlash as major new face debuts and young stars shine

WWE Backlash: France is in the record books after a loud and raucous night in Lyon that saw Cody Rhodes retain his Undisputed Championship.

Rhodes outlasted veteran AJ Styles in the main event of an action-packed show as WWE staged a Premium Live Event in the country for the first time.

It marked a successful first major outing for Rhodes after winning the top male title in the company at WrestleMania in April at the expense of Roman Reigns.

But while The American Nightmare stood tall to take the acclaim of one of the liveliest crowds in recent memory, there were plenty of other major talking points from the night.

Here talkSPORT.com brings you five key takeaways coming out of WWE’s Backlash: France.

WWE smashes another major record in France

WWE is in the money lately, that much is true. Records are tumbling, shows are getting bigger and crowds are getting louder.

While that makes for great fun, it’s also fair to say it’s expensive if you’re forking out for tickets.

WWE confirmed during Backlash that the event broke the record for the biggest arena gate in company history – a staggering fact when you consider that the crowd was less than 12,000 in total on the night.

6

Money in the Bank in London last year previously held that distinction at a gate of $3.32 million, according to noted analyst Brandon Thurston, leaving eyes watering at how much WWE must’ve pocketed on Saturday night.

There’s serious depth in the women’s roster

With the Four Horsewomen in WWE edging closer to the end of their careers – or at least their time as full-time performers for the company – a recent criticism of the company is a lack of time investment in future female stars.

Backlash might well have put some of those fears to bed, thanks to great outings for the likes of Tiffany Stratton in the Women’s Championship match, and Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair’s winning the Women’s tag team titles.

That Stratton and Cargill in particular were afforded considerable time to shine on such a major show is no small thing. With a seasoned pros like Bayley and Becky Lynch leading the line as singles champs, the female roster in WWE looks like it’s in good hands, top to bottom.

The Bloodline might go on forever

If you felt The Bloodline started to crumble when The Usos first left the fray last year, and that it crumbled when Roman Reigns lost the WWE Undisputed Universal title at WrestleMania, think again.

In the absence of Reigns, WWE have switched gears with the Bloodline and appear to have installed Solo Sikoa as the faction’s de facto leader and boosted him with the arrival of Tama Tonga in recent weeks.

6

6

The Wiseman Paul Heyman has looked increasingly uneasy at the savage direction Sikoa seems to be taking the Bloodline – further so at Backlash thanks to the arrival of Tonga’s brother and former tag team partner Tanga Loa.

Loa aided Tonga and Sikoa in downing Kevin Owens and Randy Orton, leaving fans in little doubt there’s more mileage in the Bloodline yet.

European crowds are loud – very loud

Despite WWE Chairman Nick Khan cooling speculation that London may get to host WrestleMania in the near future, boss Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque extended an invitation to Mayor Sadiq Khan to discuss hosting the megashow – a notion Levesque repeated in the post-show press conference following Khan’s re-election.

The reason for that will, in part, be because of the incredible atmosphere WWE gets at shows in Europe, Backlash the latest in a long line of events played out to a near-frenzied live audience.

With Clash at the Castle coming to Scotland later this year and Bash in Berlin on its way to Germany not long after, it seems WWE knows it’s on to a good thing by keeping Europe sweet.

Jey Uso is ready for the top

If there was any doubt as to Jey Uso’s credentials for being a top level WWE Superstar, Saturday night’s Backlash probably put them to bed.

6

6

His outing – a defeat to Damian Priest in the World Heavyweight Championship match – was tepid enough in itself, but there were enough telltale signs that the former tag team specialist is on his way to big, big things.

Though the Backlash crowd was loud and rowdy throughout, they came unglued for Uso, and the scenes for his entrance were noted by Levesque as among his highlights for the night.

Jey has the look, charisma and popularity to lead the line for WWE. It might be time to start betting on it. Yeet!