WWE Wrestlemania Backlash 2021 Match Card And Predictions

It's time for those who were wronged at Wrestlemania to get their revenge--or backlash. The next WWE PPV is none other than Backlash--now called Wrestlemania Backlash--taking place on Sunday, May 16. The event will feature a few rehashes of WM37 bouts with a few different stipulations or additions. Here's what you can expect from the card.

WWE rebranded the Backlash PPV as Wrestlemania Backlash, and it will be taking place again in the Thunderdome, which is currently in the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida. However, why the show does have "Wrestlemania" in the title--the first WWE PPV since the pandemic started with an audience--the public won't be in attendance for this one. The show starts at 7 PM ET / 4 PM PT, with a Kickoff Show airing one hour prior. Said preshow will air for free on Peacock, as well as on Twitter and YouTube.

Numerous championships will be defended, including Bianca Belair's first defense of the Smackdown Women's Championship; however, it won't be a rematch against Sasha Banks. This time, she'll be taking on Bayley. Additionally, Cesaro will finally get a Universal Championship match against the "head of the table" Roman Reigns. Considering the caliber of matches Cesaro puts on, this will be one to watch.

As of this writing, there are seven matches on the card, and there is a good chance a couple more will be added in the upcoming days, especially after Friday's episode of Smackdown.

WWE Wrestlemania Backlash Match Card:

• Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Braun Strowman (WWE Championship)
• Bianca Belair (c) vs. Bayley (Smackdown Women's Championship)
• Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair (Triple Threat Match for the Raw Women's Championship)
• Roman Reigns vs. Cesaro (Universal Championship)
• Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode (c) vs. Rey Mysterio & Dominik Mysterio (Smackdown Tag Team Championship)
• Damian Priest vs. The Miz (Lumberjack Match)

While most of the world can watch Wrestlemania Backlash on the WWE Network, wrestling fans in the US will need to subscribe to NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock. While the service has a free tier, Wrestlemania Backlash will only be available to stream on the Premium and Premium Plus tiers, which cost $5 a month and $10 a month respectively. The difference between the two is that Premium Plus is ad-free.

Aside from WWE content, Peacock is the home to movies, TV shows, original content, and live events. This summer, Peacock will be the streaming home to the Tokyo Olympics--which were supposed to take place in 2020 but were delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Predictions:

Later this week, there will be a special episode of GameSpot's professional wrestling podcast Wrestle Buddies, where we discuss our predictions for the upcoming PPV. For now, here's a prediction for one of the possible main event matches.

Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Braun Strowman (WWE Championship)

If there's one thing WWE loves right now, it's turning a one on one feud into a Triple Threat match for a PPV. The Strowman Express is tossed into this Lashley/McIntyre feud to get the most amount of large, muscle-men into a championship match. While there's been a huge push with Strowman recently, I don't see him winning the WWE Championship here. This could be a good time for McIntyre to regain the title, but I see Lashley retaining through nefarious means.