WWE has just canceled their June PPV event. WWE Backlash. The event, which was supposed to take place on June 16 in San Diego, has been canceled completely.
There was supposed to be the next WWE event in Saudi Arabia in May right before Money in the Bank but that international event was moved to June 7.
Since Backlash was just one week later, WWE does not want to have two “PPV” events so close together — which means they consider the show in Saudi Arabia a PPV this year.
However, there is another reason they canceled Backlash, according to Wrestling Observer Radio.
It was also mentioned to us that some people didn’t think the optics of having a pay-per-view called Backlash immediately following what is likely to be another controversial event in Saudi Arabia would be good.
Last year, WWE went to Saudi Arabia twice, which caused many WWE fans to question the decision as the company is building the women into such an important role. No women’s’ match was allowed on the show due to the Kingdom’s laws concerning women.
So Backlash is gone, due to The Saudi event being scheduled nine days before. In a financial sense, this is bad for the female superstars, right? https://t.co/oNtqZiACKc
— M (@MarkRedbeliever) April 21, 2019
Just the last month, 14 women’s rights activists were arrested in Saudi Arabia.
Interestingly, there is an NXT TakeOver show in San Jose scheduled for June 8, although WWE has yet to officially announce that yet.