WWE: Updated Card for Backlash 2023, Steve Austin on WM 39 Absence, More on NXT Apr. 18, 2023 Viewership

Apr 22, 2023

Three New Matches Added to Backlash 2023, Updated Card

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show in Columbus, Ohio featured three new matches officially added to the card of Backlash 2023, which takes place on May 6th in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

This first new match announced was a SmackDown Women’s Championship match of Zelina Vega vs. Rhea Ripley (c). In a backstage segment on the show, Vega asked WWE official Adam Pearce to give her a title match against Ripley as payback for everything the Judgement Day has done recently. Vega also stated that as being the only female Puerto Rican on the roster, she wanted to have something to prove and represent her people at the event. Vega also pulled out a chancla as a warning if Pearce did not give her the match.

"Let me know what Mami says…" 😏@ZelinaVegaWWE just asked @ScrapDaddyAP for a #SmackDown Women's Championship Match against @RheaRipley_WWE at #WWEBacklash in Puerto Rico! 👀#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/o8fT61qjYB
— WWE (@WWE) April 22, 2023

The second new match announced was an United States Championship Triple Threat match of Bronson Reed vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Austin Theory (c).

The third and final new match announced was a singles match of Seth Rollins vs. Omos.

Updated card for WWE Backlash 2023:

The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa & The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) vs. Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, & Matt Riddle
Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
United States Championship Triple Threat match – Bronson Reed vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Austin Theory (c)
SmackDown Women’s Championship – Zelina Vega vs. Rhea Ripley (c)
Seth Rollins vs. Omos

Steve Austin Comments on Reason for Not Wrestling at WrestleMania 39

As noted before, WWE had pitched several match offers to WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin to gauge his interest in potentially wrestling at their WrestleMania 39 event earlier this month in Inglewood, California.

Sports Illustrated held a recent interview with Austin. One of the topics discussed included Austin’s reasons for his absence from WrestleMania 39 and why he did not accept any of WWE’s match offers for the event.

“I haven’t spoken to this, but I’ll give you the story, I met with some people from WWE. We talked about the possibility of me wrestling at WrestleMania 39. The biggest thing in my mind was the presentation and what kind of match it was going to be. Going back to 38, the way the KO thing was presented—I love KO—I turned that down three, four, five times until the creative finally came to what it ended up being. I didn’t want it constructed as a real match, per se. I needed something that could turn into one, and it did, but I think that’s why we got away with it. The Dallas crowd was very receptive. I hadn’t been around, so the timing was right.
But to do a proper match, I’d have to be in off-the-charts shape. I told them, and this is the exact truth, I said, ‘Guys, I’m just fixin’ to go into production on this show, Stone Cold Takes on America, and until we start production, I don’t know what my life looks like. I can’t commit.’ Sure enough, there were technical issues before we finished. I was supposed to finish a month before we did. There’s no way, with the schedule I was doing—driving an RV all over God’s creation, doing all I was doing—that I would be ready. I had two 30-pound dumbbells, a 45-pound sandbag, and a 25-pound kettlebell. Working 15 hours a day, then getting in a 30- or 40-minute workout, that doesn’t get you ready for WrestleMania. I was really protected at WrestleMania 38. This time, that wasn’t going to be the case. That was a true statement: Until this show was over, I couldn’t commit.”

More on NXT Week 184 Viewership – April 18, 2023

The April 18th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT gain a small increase in overall viewership and a slight increase in key demographic ratings and key demographic rankings.

NXT drew 565,000 viewers and a 0.14 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 17th place.

Detailed viewership and key demographic breakdowns were not available in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Dave Meltzer reported that the main reason for NXT’s increases this week was due to the large gains from their female key demographic viewership and older key demographic viewership groups, which were up 51.9% and 21.4% respectively compared to last week’s show. This reportedly offset the decline from their male key demographic viewership group, which was down 11.1% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the 2023 NBA Playoffs Game 2 of New York Knicks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers drew 2,716,000 viewers on TNT, the 2023 NBA Playoffs Game 2 of Atlanta Hawks vs. Boston Celtics drew 520,000 viewers on NBA TV, the 2023 NHL Playoffs Game 1 of New York Rangers vs. New Jersey Devils drew 775,000 viewers on TBS, the 2023 NHL Playoffs Game 1 of Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Toronto Maple Leafs drew 715,000 viewers on ESPN, the 2023 NHL Playoffs Game 1 of Winnipeg Jets vs. Las Vegas Golden Knights drew 267,000 viewers on ESPN2, Curse of Oak Island drew 2,506,000 viewers on History Channel, 7 Little Johnstons drew 696,000 viewers on TLC, and Real Housewives of New Jersey drew 765,000 viewers on Bravo.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 183,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 104,000 male viewers (down 11.1%) and 79,000 female viewers (up 51.9%) for a split of 56.8% in favor of males.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was down 0.7% in overall viewership but up 13.7% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was up 10% compared to the same week last year.