What's Next for Cody Rhodes and Damian Priest After WWE Backlash Wins?

To the surprise of nearly no one, both the Undisputed WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship were successfully defended at WWE Backlash 2024.

Damian Priest managed to defeat Jey Uso—albeit with an assist from The Judgment Day—to hold onto his gold, while Cody Rhodes outlasted AJ Styles in an absolute barn burner to retain his title in the night's main event.

Coming out of the white-hot premium live event in Lyon, France, fans are left wondering what's next for the two top title holders as there was no indication given following their respective matches.

With King and Queen of the Ring set for May 25, it's entirely possible they extend their current feuds until then and take on Uso and Styles in rematches. However, the new rosters for Raw and SmackDown go into effect on Monday, May 6 and several Superstars on both brands will be waiting in the wings for a shot at the prestigious prizes.

Let's look at where Priest and Rhodes are headed post-Backlash as well as what WWE can do to keep their momentum rolling.

WWE Backlash was an extremely predictable pay-per-view on paper, and yet it completely exceeded expectations with how hot the crowd was in Lyon, France and in terms of the card's execution.

Priest is fresh off cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase and capturing the World Heavyweight Championship on Night 2 of WrestleMania 40. As popular of a performer as Uso is, it would have been premature to end Priest's reign at this juncture.

Styles had much less of a chance of unseating Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship after The American Nightmare "finished his story" in arguably one of the greatest WrestleMania main events ever four weeks ago.

Despite both bouts having obvious outcomes, they accomplished what they needed to. Not only did Priest and Rhodes retain their respective titles, they also emerged victorious exactly in the fashion they should have.

Rhodes defeated Styles clean, seemingly earning Styles' respect in the process and proving himself as a fighting champ. Meanwhile, Priest's victory was a direct result of The Judgment Day's interference, which was designed to progress that storyline forward.

The matches themselves were terrific and successfully left viewers satisfied, even if no potential challengers immediately emerged looking for the next shot.

Fans are always looking for fresh feuds and matchups, especially in the main event scene and in world championship pictures. The WWE Draft is designed to shake up the rosters in order to deliver just that.

Extending rivalries isn't necessarily the most exciting option, but a case can be made for WWE running back both Rhodes vs. Styles and Priest vs. Uso in less than three weeks at King and Queen in the Ring.

The short span of time in between pay-per-views doesn't give the company much time to start something new for Rhodes or Priest and have it make sense. That's in addition to a majority of the SmackDown and Raw rosters being busy with the King of the Ring tournament until the event.

Rhodes vs. Styles and Priest vs. Uso were such strong matches that the idea of doing rematches at King and Queen of the Ring shouldn't be seen as a bad thing.

Uso was cheated out the win at Backlash by The Judgment Day and can earn another opportunity on that alone. The rivalry between Rhodes and Styles didn't last long and their in-ring chemistry is clearly off the charts.

Stretching out the storylines for another three weeks would be a perfectly acceptable route to take.

Judgment Day have been teasing tension on and off for the better part of the past two years, but their demise truly feels like it's imminent this time around.

Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh played a significant role in ensuring Priest walked out of Backlash still the World Heavyweight champion. Priest wasn't on board with their help heading into Backlash and he showed signs of frustration after his win as well.

The champ went as far as to prevent Bálor and McDonagh from attacking Uso, heavily implying that a babyface turn for him could be on the horizon.

Judgment Day exiling Priest from the group always seemed to be the endgame as it would set him up for a breakout babyface run. Bálor vs. Priest is inevitable, though it'd work better a a marquee match at SummerSlam and not as soon as King and Queen of the Ring.

If Priest and Uso do meet in a rematch at that event, Priest should ensure Judgment Day involvement isn't allowed to guarantee a clean finish. The unraveling of the faction—an overdue development—should be the lead story on Raw in Rhea Ripley's absence.

Raw unquestionably ended up with the stronger roster in the 2024 WWE Draft, especially as it pertains to top-tier talent.

Roman Reigns being gone for the foreseeable future hurts SmackDown significantly, but in theory, his absence should allow for others to rise to the occasion and steal the spotlight. We've seen that with AJ Styles since WrestleMania 40, but Rhodes will need more high-profile opponents than just The Phenomenal One to defend against.

Per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Rhodes reportedly has no "long-term" direction until The Rock returns to feud with him. That all but confirms Rhodes will be in possession of the prestigious prize for the remainder of the year if Rhodes vs. Rock is believed to be happening sometime in 2025.

As such, it's imperative WWE build up stars Rhodes can feasibly face starting now. Randy Orton and Kevin Owens being busy with The Bloodlines takes them out of the equation, Logan Paul is the reigning United States champion, and Carmelo Hayes isn't ready for that type of push yet.

That doesn't leave many intriguing options on the SmackDown side of things unless LA Knight or Bobby Lashley turn heel.

Rhodes' next challenger may not be obvious, and going back to Styles in that spot for King and Queen of the Ring is fine, but WWE should be spending this time addressing this issue so Rhodes' run doesn't suffer from a lack of legitimate competition.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.