World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) will be hosting the premium live event (PLE) Backlash on May 6th from the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The event will be live-streamed through Peacock and, will be hosted by Puertorican music star Bad Bunny.
WWE Backlash Will Take Place in Puerto Rico
Rumors regarding an event in Puerto Rico have circulated since the Survivor Series press conference. When reporter Isa “Demon Diva” Ramos of Lucha Libre Online asked Triple H regarding the possibility of running a PLE in Puerto Rico. Triple H’s response was, in short, “If the money is right”, and adding a “Stay tuned”. This began to spark speculation on the local market which then expanded when reports of an event coming in February or March circulated. Nothing came of that original rumor. Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics had originally reported that May 6th was the chosen date for Backlash. But no location had been confirmed at the time. But now, WWE confirms the location of their May 6th Backlash event.
Bad Bunny’s Involvement
BREAKING: @sanbenito will host #WWEBacklash on Saturday, May 6, live from the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico.https://t.co/ZAxFmcSyW0
— WWE (@WWE) March 8, 2023
Bad Bunny’s name being attached as host of the event will clearly be WWE’s way to bolster ticket sales and grab media attention. While a sellout was pretty likely, his attachment likely means WWE can increase prices for them. A major obstacle for WWE shows in Puerto Rico has always been the cost of flying their TV production to the island for one event despite lower price value due to the local economy. A higher price and value make that easier thanks to Bad Bunny’s attachment.
Nicknamed “El Choliseo” in reference to comedian Jose Agrelot’s own nickname of “Don Cholito”, the last time WWE ran a televised event in Puerto Rico’s top venue was 2005’s New Year’s Revolution. Though the event was a success, its stage was oddly simple. Two Puerto Rico flags. A simple structure for its rather small monitor and decorative palm trees. Even the ring bell used in the event was peculiar as it wasn’t WWE’s normal one. The event was a 15,764-person sellout, which would be the first attendance record of the venue. Since then, WWE has only run house shows in the venue, and as the years had gone by, what seemed like a yearly stop for them, became rarer. Their last house show was on October 2nd, 2021. With their visits being every two years from 2013 onward.
The announcement has already been covered by all major media markets locally, of course noting Bad Bunny’s attachment to it. Oddly enough, this has already sparked an odd concern with wrestling fans. As many have voiced great concern other the potential of Bad Bunny fans, with no real affinity for wrestling or WWE, hoarding or scalping tickets for the Backlash event purely because of the star’s involvement. With no real understanding of what his role is slated to be at the event. However, as things stand, that concern doesn’t seem to be any different than what would happen with any other event when it comes to scalpers.
With Bad Bunny’s name being so attached and the previous March/February date rumors also including a tag team match between him and Rey Mysterio against Dominik Mysterio and fellow Puertorican Damian Priest, it’s expected that he will have a match at the event. Given Logan Paul’s residency on the island, his status for this event is also likely to draw attention, given it’s the event following WrestleMania and he’ll be coming off his match with Seth Rollins.
It’s also worth noting that there is no location announced yet for the May 5th edition of Smackdown. There is a gap currently in WWE’s ticket schedule between Monday Night Raw in Fort Worth, Texas on May 1st and Smackdown in Knoxville, Tennessee on May 12. While it’s likely that any other shows from Puerto Rico would’ve been announced in tandem with the announcement of Backlash, that gap is likely to create some speculation.
Credit to Jorge L. Cruz for the events schedule information.
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