Backlash 2023 was a hit for WWE.
In a press release that was put out on May 8, WWE celebrated the financial and commercial success of the Backlash premium live event, which took place on Saturday, May 6, 2023. In the release, the company noted that this year's Backlash event is now the highest grossing and most viewed Backlash show in the history of the company.
Viewership was up 28% from the previous year's Backlash show, according to the release. Furthermore, it was the most social Backlash event in history, led by over 40 million views of the San Juan Street Fight that pitted Bad Bunny against Damien Priest.
Fans can read more about the various records that WWE Backlash broke below.
WWE Delivers Record-Breaking Backlash in Puerto Rico
05/08/2023
STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- WWE (NYSE: WWE) today announced that WWE Backlash, which emanated from the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico, became WWE’s highest-grossing and most-viewed Backlash in company history.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230508005412/en/
WWE DELIVERS RECORD-BREAKING BACKLASH IN PUERTO RICO (Photo: Business Wire)
Viewership of Backlash saw a 28 percent increase versus the record set in 2022. The event, which featured Bad Bunny, the most-streamed music artist in the world, marked the largest gate ever for any WWE event held in Puerto Rico and the largest gate in the history of Backlash.
More than 34,800 fans descended on San Juan, Puerto Rico, for back-to-back sellout nights of SmackDown (16,896 attendees) and Backlash (17,944 attendees). It also marked the most social Backlash of all-time, led by over 40 million views of the San Juan Street Fight featuring Bad Bunny vs. Damien Priest. The hashtag #WWEBacklash, accompanied by a custom Bad Bunny emoji, trended No. 1 across the entire evening of sports.
In addition, Backlash broke merchandise and sponsorship records. As the first-ever WWE event under the expanded partnership with Fanatics overseeing the on-site event retail experience, top-selling items included the WWE Backlash and LWO Puerto Rico t-shirts. Sponsorship revenue surpassed any Backlash event in history, breaking last year’s record with a 98 percent year-on-year increase through partnerships with Netflix’s FUBAR, Mike’s Harder Lemonade and Xfinity.
Fans can see Fightful's written coverage of WWE Backlash by clicking here. Furthermore, catch a replay of our post-show review by visiting our YouTube channel.
