PW Weekend Report: WWE Backlash Preview, Top 15 Stories of the Week, Super Juniors, Next Week’s Schedule

Bullet Club is Fine

Chris Jericho made a shocking return to NJPW this Friday attacking Tetsuya Naito and nearly bleeding the Los Ingobernables leader dry after a nasty shot from the ring bell (WATCH THE ATTACK). Jericho hadn’t been seen in Japan since January 5th when he attacked – you guessed it – Naito the day after fighting Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12. The two are expected to do battle at NJPW Dominion, the promotion’s second biggest show of the year, on June 9th.

It seems as if the Bullet Club may be continuing on without Cody Rhodes and Kenny Omega, as the rest of the faction reunited after a huge 10-man tag team match at NJPW Wrestling Dontaku, also on Friday night. Once the two bitter rivals chased each other out of the arena, everyone else seemingly came to the realization that without their drama… the Bullet Club really is fine. The Young Bucks tweeted out a photo with the whole crew, sans Omega and Rhodes, saying just as much.

Speaking of Bullet Club, tickets for the 9/1 ALL IN event at the Sears Centre will go on-sale next Sunday, May 13th. That’s the same time as many of the stars booked will be holding a press conference at the Pro Wrestling Tees store in Chicago. Also, they’re getting POP figures. Also, Taiji Ishimore is Bone Soldier. Dope.

One of the greatest rivalries in the history of professional wrestling will continue, as the reigning, record-breaking IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada has officially thrown down the challenge to Kenny Omega for a title match at NJPW Dominion. Okada won the first match in their series at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in a match rated SIX stars by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, and their second bout went to an even more incredible 60-minute time limit draw. In the semi-finals of the 2017 G1 Climax, Omega would defeat the champion to advance to the finals and tie up their rivalry at 1-1-1. In order to insure that fans will see a clear and decisive winner, the fourth encounter at Dominion will have no time limit, and will be a Best 2-Out-of-3 Falls Match!

WWE Backlash

We’ll have live, exclusive coverage of WWE Backlash this Sunday kicking off with the pre-show at 7/6c on the WWE Network. The show will be headlined by the third entry in the Nakamura/Styles rivalry for the WWE Championship, a special singles match between Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe, four more championship bouts, Daniel Bryan’s first pay-per-view singles match in three years, and a special tag team match featuring Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley facing Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.

Here’s the final WWE Backlash match card.

Best of the Super Juniors

New Japan’s annual Best of the Super Juniors round robin tournament kicks off next Friday, May 18th at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The tournament is entering its 28th incarnation. This year’s BOSJ will feature 16 of the best junior heavyweight wrestlers from all around the world, split into two brackets, including names like IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay, “The Villain” Marty Scurll, Hiromu Takahashi and the newest addition to the Bullet Club, “Bone Soldier” Taiji Ishimori!

The official lineup and brackets will be announced in the next few days, likely at Sunday’s New Japan Road event. For decades Best of the Super Juniors has been a star-maker for junior heavyweight stars. Past winners include legends like three-time winner Jushin Thunder Liger, two-time winner Chris Benoit (as Pegasus Kid), Eddie Guerrero (as Black Tiger II), three-time winner Koji Kanemoto, the only back-to-back winner Tiger Mask IV, Kota Ibushi, Finn Balor (as Prince Devitt), Ricochet and last year’s winner, the juniors ace Kushida.

This Week’s Top 15 News StoriesTriple H Provides Update on Undertaker’s StatusNXT Star Signs New Full-Time WWE ContractWWE Issues Statement on Hulk Hogan’s StatusBackstage Update on Brock Lesnar’s WWE ContractJake Roberts Drops All Charges Against Harry SmithBackstage News on Rusev Day Splitting UpMajor Name Returning to NJPW This WeekWhat Was the Crowd Chanting at Miz on Smackdown?Backstage Update on Jason Jordan’s WWE ReturnWWE Stars Not Allowed to Speak of Sami Zayn in Saudi ArabiaWWE Star Suffers Travel Ordeal Why Nia Jax Took a Leave of Absence in 2017Samoa Joe Pulled From WWE MSG EventNXT Star Suffers Injury, Out 6-9 MonthsCurrent WWE Champion is Expecting a Baby

Here’s the Top 15 WWE YouTube videos of the week as well… 

ResultsWWE RAW (4/30)WWE Smackdown (5/1)WWE 205 Live (5/1)WWE NXT (5/2)NJPW Wrestling Dontaku (5/3)IMPACT Wrestling (5/3)


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Upcoming Schedule

Have an event you’d like us to add to our weekly schedule? Email [email protected] 

Saturday, May 5th

IMPACT x Wrestling Revolver | Twitch | 9PM ET

Sunday, May 6th

NJPW New Japan Road | New Japan World | 4AM ETWWE Backlash Kickoff Show | WWE Network | 7PM ETWWE Backlash | WWE Network | 8PM ET

Monday, May 7th

WWE RAW | USA Network | 8PM ET

Tuesday, May 8th

Lion’s Gate Project 12 | New Japan World | 6AM ETWWE Smackdown Live | USA Network | 8PM ETWWE 205 Live | WWE Network | 10PM ET

Wednesday, May 9th

WWE NXT | WWE Network | 8PM ET

Thursday, May 10th

IMPACT Wrestling | Pop TV |8PM ET

Friday, May 11th

NJPW BOSJ Opening Night | New Japan World | 5:30AM ET

Saturday, May 12th

NJPW BOSJ Night 2 | New Japan World | 5:30AM ET

Sunday, May 13th

NJPW BOSJ Night 3 | New Japan World | 2AM ET


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