Cody Rhodes And The Real Winners and Losers from WWE Backlash 2024 Match Card

WWE rolled into Lyon, France on Saturday for Backlash, the annual post-WrestleMania show that continues some storylines and introduces others, all while hoping to build on the momentum created at The Showcase of the Immortals.

This year's event came at a time when the company found itself faced with several absences of top stars due to injuries, leaving the card lighter on star power but still brimming with talented individuals looking for a spotlight to prove themselves.

Some competitors capitalized on the opportunity while others found themselves handcuffed by the creative that accompanied their matches.

Here are the real winners and losers from Backlash 2024.

Tanga Loa attacked Randy Orton and Kevin Owens to help his brother, Tama Tonga, and Solo Sikoa win a wild and chaotic Street Fight at the top of the Backlash card.

The arrival of the former Guerrilla of Destiny is the latest twist in a Bloodline story that continues to write chapters beyond the end of Roman Reigns' historic run as undisputed WWE universal champion.

The greatest narrative in company history continues to add pieces, evolve characters, create story threads and set up full-circle moments to pay off fans' commitment and investment in the epic story.

Loa strengthens this incarnation of The Bloodline and adds another element to a group that threatens to be as dangerous and dominant as Reigns and Co. ever were.

That is, until The Tribal Chief returns to take his spot at the head of the table back.

Add to that the potential reunion of The Usos, the impending arrival of the monstrous Jacob Fatu and the wild card that is Paul Heyman, and you have a recipe for a chapter every bit as good as its predecessors.

The match may have lacked a compelling back story, but that didn't stop Bayley, Naomi and Tiffany Stratton from tearing the house down Saturday with a match that was among the best on the card.

An action-packed encounter saw all three competitors shine, with Bayley proving why she is the WWE women's champion, Naomi turning in her best performance since her return and Stratton showing why she's the future of women's wrestling in the promotion.

The women's divisions on Raw and SmackDown are brimming with talent, as evidenced in this match. But they need better creative support to benefit from the same engaging storylines as their male counterparts.

Had they had it entering this event, what was already one of the better matches of the night would have been even more memorable.

As it was, though, Bayley, Naomi and Stratton delivered a fantastic contest that showcased their excellence and gave fans plenty of reason to be excited about what comes next for the SmackDown women's roster.

The Kabuki Warriors lost the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, dropping the titles to Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair in a match that was better and more competitive than anyone could have expected.

That does not erase the subpar booking of the champions entering the contest, though.

Asuka and Kairi Sane are the best women's tag team in WWE. They have proved their ability to work great matches with opponents of any style or background and have great presence and presentation, but it's no stretch to say no one expected them to roll into Lyon and retain their titles.

They were never booked as legitimate threats to defeat Belair and Cargill, which directly affected fans' investment in the match.

The fans inside the LDLC Arena appreciated the action, popped for the near-falls, and even broke out a "this is awesome" chant or two, but the idea that The EST of WWE and the most dominant newcomer in the company would somehow lose never crossed their minds.

That's an indictment of the creativity behind the match.

The Kabuki Warriors have earned better than that and still have plenty to offer the women's division, regardless of the show they appear on. Here, though, they were treated like lame-duck champions whose participation was merely a formality.

It was clear on Friday's SmackDown that the fans in Lyon were red-hot for the WWE product and they brought that energy again 24 hours later to provide Backlash with one of the most unforgettable environments in company history.

They were invested, loud, energetic and single-handedly elevated every match on the card.

They cared about everything. No match was unimportant and no Superstar was an afterthought.

Everything felt special and significant, and the result was an event that may have looked like a glorified house show on paper but was a fun, quality PPV featuring wrestlers inspired to live up to the energy of the crowd. Major props to the fans in the LDLC Arena for both shows.

Hopefully, electric atmospheres in venues across the globe will become the norm.

Anyone who thought AJ Styles was maybe washed up or could not hang in a main event match in 2024 was silenced emphatically by his performance at Backlash.

The Phenomenal One hopped in the DeLorean and dialed it back a handful of years to deliver one of the best showings of his WWE career.

Styles was great, breaking out Kenta Kobashi's Burning Hammer on undisputed WWE champion Cody Rhodes at one point as he sought to capture the top prize in the company for the first time since 2017.

The 46-year-old addressed his own future in the industry with The Ringer Wrestling Show, admitting that retirement is not far off. He understands his own in-ring mortality, as most athletes do. Or at least should.

Still, there was plenty of doubt that he could have the great main events he did while rising to prominence in TNA, New Japan Pro-Wrestling and early in his WWE run.

At least for one night, and undoubtedly fueled by the electric response of the French fans, Styles proved that his style may have slowed, but he is capable of having the sort of superb performance that inspires discussion about his place among the best to do it.

The first televised title defense for any new champion is a tone-setter. It is of the utmost importance to their reign that it lives up to expectations and does not disappoint.

Such was the scenario facing Cody Rhodes as he took to the squared circle in the main event of Backlash for an Undisputed WWE Universal Championship defense against AJ Styles.

There were questions about his opponent's ability to have a great match at this point in his career, not to mention concerns about the lack of future opponents for The American Nightmare beyond Lyon.

With so much uncertainty, it was never more imperative for Rhodes to knock his first title defense out of the park. And he did just that.

The 38-year-old fed off the energy of the crowd in Lyon and matched the intensity of his determined opponent. The result was an emotionally intense contest that stuck to traditional wrestling and still had fans biting on every counter, reversal and near-fall.

Ultimately, the champion delivered Cross Rhodes and put Styles down for three. His first defense was an unqualified success.