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What's the story?
WWE cancelling a PPV isn't exactly a new thing, we all remember 'Great Balls of Fire' after all. However it's incredibly rare that WWE will pull a PPV from their schedule after they've already announced it, found a venue, and created a section on their website for it.
However, that's exactly what they've done for the Backlash PPV scheduled for San Diego in June, this year. But why?
In case you didn't know...
Backlash first debuted as a PPV for WWE in 1999 and has since taken place a further thirteen times. The last Backlash took place last year and featured Daniel Bryan Vs. Big Cass, Roman Reigns Vs. Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman and Bobby Lashley Vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
The heart of the matter
Socaluncensored.com have reported that there won't be a 2019 Backlash as WWE officials do not want it to take place so close to their, as yet unannounced, Saudi Arabia show that's scheduled to take place in June
The Backlash pay-per-view WWE had scheduled for San Diego on June 16, 2019, has been cancelled. The reason for the cancellation is due to the promotion’s next Saudi Arabia event being moved to June 7, 2019, and not wanting to have pay-per-view events nine days apart according to a source in WWE.
As much as it makes sense to not have two big WWE shows taking place so close to each-other, it wouldn't be the first time WWE have had shows so close with WWE Super Show Down, Evolution, Crown Jewel and Survivor Series taking place within six weeks of each-other over October/November last year.
It's unfortunate for WWE who had booked a venue and had filed paperwork and created sections on their website for the Backlash PPV only to have to pull the event due to the Saudi Arabia show being moved, as socaluncensored go on to explain,
The Backlash pay-per-view was never officially announced by WWE but it was listed on the promotion’s touring schedule, on court paperwork WWE filed, and San Diego’s Pechanga Arena had listed it on their event calendar with updated graphics. WWE also created a webpage for it at wwe.com/wwe-backlash-san-diego which now leads to an “access denied” message rather than a page not found message.
What's next?
WWE's Saudi Arabia shows are hugely important to the company given the amount of money they're generating. However, this is yet another small moment of controversy surrounding them as the people of San Diego are no longer getting a PPV as a result.
Do you think WWE should continue with Backlash regardless of how close it is to the Saudi Arabia show? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
