WWE Backlash

WWE Backlash
The WWE Backlash logo circa 2016
Information
Promotion(s)	WWE
Brand(s)	Raw (2002–2009) SmackDown (2002–2003; 2007–2009; 2016–present) ECW (2007–2009)
First event	Backlash: In Your House

WWE Backlash is a professional wrestling pay-per-view event, that was produced every April (with the exception of 2005 and 2016) by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. The event was created in 1999, with its inaugural event produced as an In Your House event in April of that year. The event in 2000 was rebranded as an annual PPV event for WWE. To coincide with the brand extension, the event was made exclusive to the Raw brand in 2004. In 2007, to follow the format of WrestleMania, all PPV events became tri-branded. Extreme Rules replaced Backlash in 2010. Backlash was announced as returning as a SmackDown exclusive event in 2016.

Backlash consists of a main event and undercard which feature championship matches and various other matches. The first Backlash was originally promoted as an In Your House event for World Wrestling Federation (WWF), the former name of WWE. The In Your House event was titled Backlash: In Your House. It took place on April 25, 1999 and aired live on PPV. In 1999, production of In Your House events were canceled, though many of the former In Your House events, such as Backlash, No Way Out, and Judgment Day among others, were rebranded as annual PPV events.

In 2002, WWF was court ordered to change their name, which resulted in the promotion changing its name to WWE. A couple of months before the name change that year, WWE held a draft that split its roster into two distinctive brands of wrestling—Raw and SmackDown., and ECW in 2006. Before the draft, matches featured wrestlers from the roster without any limitations; after the draft, matches only consisted of wrestlers from their distinctive brands. The first Backlash event to be produced under the WWE banner and with roster limitations was Backlash (2003), which took place on April 27, 2003. Later on in 2003, WWE announced that PPV events, excluding WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and the Royal Rumble, would be made exclusive to each brand; Backlash was made exclusive to the Raw brand. After three years of being produced as a brand exclusive event, Backlash 2006 was the final brand exclusive Backlash event of the original brand extension, as WWE announced that PPV events from then on would feature all three brands of WWE. Following the second brand extension in July 2016, WWE announced the return of Backlash as a SmackDown brand event to be held on September 11, 2016.