Backlash 2018

**Backlash (2018)** was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the UWF. It took place on May 28th, 2018. The event took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was the first annual UWF Backlash event, and marked the first pay-per-view event where no championships changed hands.

Five matches were contested on the main card. In the main event, Cesaro retain his UWF Championship against both Intercontinental Champion The Miz and Television Champion Vinny Marseglia in a Champion of Champions match. On the undercard, Jimmy Jacobs won the Money in the Bank match, and Drew Gulak defeated Orange Cassidy to become the number one contender to the Television Championship. Also, Triple H defeated Daniel Bryan, and Minoru Suzuki, Roman Reigns, and The Brian Kendrick won a six-man tag team match against Jay White, Matt Hardy, and Sin Cara.

## Storylines

On the April 25th episode of *Revolution*, Maxine announced a Champion of Champions match between UWF Champion Cesaro, Intercontinental Champion The Miz, and Television Champion Vinny Marseglia for the UWF Championship at Backlash. The next week, the trio were in a six-man tag team match against Chris Jericho, Marty Scurll, and Sheamus, which ended with Cesaro and Marseglia leaving Miz high and dry as the Intercontinental Champion was knocked out by a Brogue Kick and rendered unconscious during the application of the Crossface Chickenwing. On the May 9th episode of *Revolution,* Cesaro and Marseglia won a tag team match against Drew Gulak and Orange Cassidy, but Cesaro was hit with a Skull Crushing Finale after the match by The Miz. On the go-home episode of *Revolution*, Cesaro, after winning a match against Roman Reigns, avoided an attack from Miz but was knocked out by Marseglia with the Television Championship.

On the April 25th episode of *Revolution*, Maxine and Ethan Carter III announced a Money in the Bank match at Backlash, and announced Sheamus, Chris Jericho, Jimmy Jacobs, Seth Rollins, and Marty Scurll as five of the six entrants. Later that night, Bubba Ray Dudley defeated Matt Hardy and Roman Reigns to earn the sixth and final spot in the ladder match. Additionally, Jacobs and Scurll defeated Sheamus and Jericho respectively in singles matches. The next week, Jericho, Scurll, and Sheamus won a six-man tag team match against Cesaro, The Miz, and Vinny Marseglia, after which Jericho hit a Codebreaker on Scurll. On the May 9th episode of *Revolution*, Sheamus was attacked off-screen by Bray Wyatt. Later that night, Maxine added Wyatt to the Money in the Bank match to replace Sheamus, who suffered a severe leg injury from the attack. Additionally, following Jericho's win over Jacobs, Scurll attacked Jericho with an umbrella. On the go-home episode of *Revolution*, Jacobs, Wyatt, and Scurll defeated Jericho, Rollins, and Dudley in a six-man tag team match, and a brawl ensued among all the competitors.

In the weeks before WrestleMania, Triple H hyped up the announcement of a new protege he would be bringing into the UWF. On the April 25th episode of *Revolution*, the protege was revealed to be himself, a fact resented by one-time rival Daniel Bryan, who verbally confronted Triple H after the announcement. The next week, the two had a match that ended with Bryan rolling up Triple H while using the ropes as leverage. Triple H responded to this by, on the May 9th episode of *Revolution*, demanding a rematch with Bryan and hitting a Pedigree on him after his match with The Miz.

At WrestleMania, Drew Gulak and Orange Cassidy both won an Ultimate X match to earn a number one contendership for the Television Championship. However, on the April 25th episode of *Revolution*, Ethan Carter III scheduled a match between the two at Backlash for the title shot. The Gentlemen's Club defeated The Hired Gunns in tag team action later that night. On the final two episodes of *Revolution* before Backlash, The Gentlemen's Club lost back-to-back matches against the team of Cesaro and Vinny Marseglia, and Titus Worldwide.

On the May 9th episode of *Revolution*, Maxine announced a six-man tag team match between the team of Sin Cara, Jay White, and Matt Hardy and the team of Roman Reigns, The Brian Kendrick and Minoru Suzuki for Backlash. The winning team would be placed in a triple threat on the next episode of *Revolution* to determine a number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship.

## Event

#### **Preliminary matches**

The show kicked off with Roman Reigns cutting a promo on his tag match. Backstage, Charly Caruso made good on her WrestleMania bet and went on her promised date with Orange Cassidy for winning the Ultimate X match. Elsewhere, Renee Young interviewed Daniel Bryan. Finally, Seth Rollins cut a promo on the Money in the Bank match.

The first match of the night saw Roman Reigns pin Sin Cara following a Spear to win a six-man tag team match for Minoru Suzuki and The Brian Kendrick. The trio went on to fight for an Intercontinental Championship opportunity on the next episode of *Revolution*.

The next segment was a production error, where an interview from Chris Jericho taking place after he would win the Money in the Bank match accidentally played. Elsewhere, Bray Wyatt shared dialogue on his match with Sister Abigail. The feed revisits Orange Cassidy preparing for his match. Inside the arena, Larry Sweeney announced his debut and declared himself Transatlantic Champion. Then, the yet-to-debut Enzo Amore cut a promo, followed by Marty Scurll giving his thoughts on the Money in the Bank match. Finally, a video package preceded the match between Orange Cassidy and Drew Gulak.

The second match saw Drew Gulak force Orange Cassidy to tap out to the Gu-Lock to become the number one contender to the Television Championship. This would mark Cassidy's final match with the company.

Outside the arena, Jimmy Jacobs and Chris Jericho cut different but similar promos on the Money in the Bank match.

The third match saw Triple H pin Daniel Bryan following a Spinebuster, as Triple H used the ropes for leverage during the pin in the same fashion that Bryan had weeks earlier.

Backstage, The Undertaker and Seth Rollins cut promos, followed by Enzo Amore coming out to the ring to address the New York audience. Next, The Hired Gunns cross over with Edge and Christian in the latter's only appearance until the end of the year. FInally, Vinny Marseglia and Paul Heyman cut promos on the Champion of Champions match.

The fourth match saw Jimmy Jacobs win the Money in the Bank match, earning a UWF Championship opportunity whenever and wherever he sees fit. Jacobs would hold the briefcase until SummerSlam.

Backstage, Renee Young interviewed Rick Rude, who revealed Eric Bischoff as his manager. Finally, a video package played to hype up the main event.

#### **Main event**

The main event of Backlash saw Cesaro pin The Miz following a Neutralizer to retain the UWF Championship in his first and only successful defense. The finish came after a botched interference from The Hired Gunns left Miz vulnerable.

## Aftermath

On the June 6th episode of *Revolution*, Larry Sweeney defeated Marty Scurll in his debut match to advance to the 2018 King of the Ring Quarterfinals. The next week, Vinny Marseglia defeated The Brian Kendrick to also make the quarterfinals. On the June 22nd episode of *Revolution*, Sweeney pinned Jimmy Jacobs while Marseglia pinned Triple H to both advance to the tournament semifinals. The next week, Sweeney and Marseglia beat Matt Hardy and Seth Rollins respectively to reach the 2018 King of the Ring Finals. On the go-home episode of *Revolution*, the contract signing between Sweeney and Marseglia descended into chaos, resulting in Sweeney fleeing Marseglia.

On the June 6th episode of *Revolution*, Cesaro's UWF Championship celebration was interrupted by Chris Jericho, who turned heel by attacking the fan-favorite champion. The next week on The Highlight Reel, Jericho explained that his being left out of the King of the Ring tournament was the company denying him an opportunity, so he instead took an opportunity for himself by standing up to the UWF Champion. On the June 22nd episode of *Revolution,* Cesaro and Jericho were on opposing sides of an eight-man tag team match won by Cesaro's team after Cesaro reversed a Codebreaker from Jericho. On the July 5th episode of *Revolution*, Cesaro and Jericho verbally confronted one another on a Miz TV segment, which led to a staredown with no physical interaction. Later that night, Jericho distracted Cesaro during his match, causing him to get pinned by The Brian Kendrick. On the go-home episode of *Revolution*, Jericho hit a Codebreaker on Cesaro, costing them a tag team match against CM Punk and Seth Rollins.

On the June 15th episode of *Revolution*, Daniel Bryan attacked Triple H following the latter's interview, indicating that their feud isn't over yet. The next week, Triple H ambushed Bryan before his King of the Ring Quarterfinal match with Seth Rollins, causing Bryan to be eliminated from the tournament. On the July 5th episode of *Revolution*, Marty Scurll defeated Triple H. After the match, Scurll attacked Triple H with an umbrella, as well as Bryan who had come to take advantage of a downed Triple H. Maxine announced on UWF.com that Scurll, Bryan, and Triple H would take part in a Triple Threat Street Fight at King of the Ring.

On the June 6th episode of *Revolution*, Roman Reigns defeated Minoru Suzuki and The Brian Kendrick to become the number one contender to The Miz's Intercontinental Championship. On the June 22nd episode of *Revolution*, Reigns speared Miz after the latter's victory over Sammy Guevara, holding the Intercontinental Championship high afterward.

On the June 6th episode of *Revolution*, Enzo Amore cost himself and The Undertaker a tag team match win in their debuts against Rick Rude and CM Punk after Undertaker ignored Amore's calls for a tag. The next week, Undertaker defeated Amore, albeit by DQ after Amore kicked Undertaker in the groin. On the go-home episode of *Revolution*, Amore and Undertaker once again teamed up, this time victorious against Adam Cole and Velveteen Dream in a match where the winning team would earn a spot on the King of the Ring card, However, the post-match celebration descended into a brawl between the two competitors.

## Results

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