WWE Making Some Serious Bank To Bring Backlash To Puerto Rico
WWE is all set to bring the upcoming May premium live event Backlash to Puerto Rico. The company even recruited famed Puerto Rican Grammy-award winner Bad Bunny to serve as host of the show. However, if you believed WWE was traveling outside the continental United States for a show this big out of the goodness of its corporate heart, you might want to think twice about how WWE typically operates. The premiere wrestling company in the world is getting paid a hefty chunk of change to do so.
According to Fightful Select, WWE will be cashing a check to the tune of $1.5 million for Backlash — and the accompanying "SmackDown" — to come to Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot on May 6. The Puerto Rico Convention Center District Authority (PRCDA) and the Puerto Rico Tourism Company are responsible for paying such a royal fee for WWE's presence. Backlash will mark the first major WWE event held on the island territory since New Year's Revolution in 2005 was headlined by an Elimination Chamber Match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship that featured the likes of Triple H, Randy Orton, Batista, Edge, Chris Jericho, and Chris Benoit. Triple H walked out the champion that night.
In the past, Backlash has played a key role in the WWE event calendar, often carrying on unfinished business from the previous month's WrestleMania. With quite a few programs seemingly not at their conclusion just yet for WrestleMania 39, Puerto Rico may be in line to pay good money for some important matches.