The first WWE premium live event following Wrestlemania 39 was confirmed to be WWE Backlash 2023 in early May. As per WWE’s announcement, Bad Bunny will host the show on Saturday, May 6 from the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico, marking another international outing for the WWE.
While nothing in particular on the match card of WWE Backlash 2023 has been declared, the hope is that the Smackdown Women’s Championship will be on the line on the show which has just changed hands at the grandest stage of them all. Hence, the champion will probably go through her first title defense.
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In the co-main event of WrestleMania 39 Saturday, 2023 Women’s Royal Rumble winner Rhea Ripley defeated Charlotte Flair to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Then two nights later on Raw after WrestleMania 39, Rhea confronted Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair and mentioned her to be the luckiest woman in WWE because she didn’t choose to face her at WrestleMania.
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Rhea Ripley to get a surprising challenger for WWE Backlash 2023
Rhea said they are eventually going to collide in a match where she will defeat her but that match isn’t happening at WWE Backlash 2023. Rather, The Nightmare could be receiving a brand new opponent for the blue brand.
As seen on the latest episode of SmackDown, Judgment Day (Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio) defeated The LWO (Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar) in a tag team match. During this match, Rhea tried to interfere, but Zelina Vega stopped her to plant the seeds of an upcoming match between the two at WWE Backlash 2023.
According to The Wrestling Blog, Rhea vs. Zelina is the plan for WWE Backlash 2023 in Puerto Rico on May 6th:
“They teased Zelina vs Rhea at SmackDown to see how the fans would react. The reason for this is because they plan on making Rhea vs. Zelina at Backlash for the SmackDown Women’s Title.”
Some might consider Zelina not to be so up-to-the-mark with her wrestling career that could earn her a title match opportunity. But she’s picked up some strong momentum in recent times and WWE would also like to bring her back in competition for at least one night since WWE Backlash 2023 will be hosted from her hometown.
