It was the 17th annual Backlash and took place on Sunday, May 8, 2022, at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions.

It aired on pay-per-view (PPV) worldwide and was available to livestream on Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in international markets.

Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands,[6][7] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.

[10] The Usos appeared on Raw the following week to issue a challenge to the Raw Tag Team Champions, RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle),[11] who accepted and the match was made official as a Winners Take All Championship Unification match at WrestleMania Backlash.

Because of what had transpired, Reigns' special counsel, Paul Heyman, then met with WWE official Adam Pearce backstage where Heyman announced that the resulting tag team championship unification match was called off and instead, a six-man tag team match pitting The Bloodline against RK-Bro and McIntyre was scheduled for WrestleMania Backlash.

[13] At WrestleMania 38, Charlotte Flair defeated Ronda Rousey to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship.

[14] On the following episode of SmackDown, Rousey, who wanted a rematch with a clear winner, challenged Flair to an "I Quit" match.

[10] During Talking Smack the next day, however, the championship rematch was subsequently granted and scheduled for WrestleMania Backlash.

[15] At WrestleMania 38, former All Elite Wrestling wrestler and Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes made his return to WWE after six years as Seth "Freakin" Rollins' surprise opponent, where Rhodes was victorious.

Styles ran the ropes, leading to both men hitting a cross body block to each other at the same time.

The masked person revealed herself to be Rhea Ripley, thus being added to Edge's stable, The Judgment Day.

[21] After that, Charlotte Flair defended the SmackDown Women's Championship against Ronda Rousey in an "I Quit" match.

It was soon after revealed that Flair had (kayfabe) broken her radial bone in her forearm and would be out of action indefinitely.

In the end, Moss ran the ropes and performed a Sunset Flip to win the match.

[21] In the main event, Drew McIntyre and RK-Bro (Randy Orton and Riddle) faced The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, and Jimmy Uso) (accompanied by Paul Heyman) in a six-man tag team match.

At ringside, Reigns leapt off the ring steps and performed a Superman Punch on Orton.

[22] On the following episode of Raw, Cody Rhodes was given a United States Championship match against Theory.

AJ Styles then attacked Edge, but Judgment Day gained the upper hand.

[25] On the May 30 episode, a six-person mixed tag team match pitting Morgan, Styles, and Bálor against The Judgment Day was made official for Hell in a Cell.

[26] MVP hosted a segment of the VIP Lounge, praising Omos for his victory over Bobby Lashley.

Lashley interrupted, but was attacked by Cedric Alexander, who wanted to rejoin MVP and reform The Hurt Business.

The Usos accepted and the match was scheduled for the following week,[28] where The Usos won after Roman Reigns prevented Jey from being hit by Riddle's top-rope RKO (while Reigns' special counsel Paul Heyman distracted the referee), followed by Jey performing a top-rope Uso splash, to become the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions.

[30] On the May 27 episode of SmackDown, Shinsuke Nakamura, whose tag team partner, Rick Boogs, was also out of action due to an injury, joined forces with Riddle and attacked The Usos, who were able to retreat.

[31] On the next episode of Raw, Nakamura and Riddle defeated The Usos via disqualification when Jey used a scooter.

[26] The match took place on the June 3 episode of SmackDown, where The Usos retained after Sami Zayn, who had repeatedly been lobbying for an alliance with The Bloodline over the last few weeks, played Roman Reigns' theme music.

[28] The next day on Talking Smack, it was reported that Moss suffered a (kayfabe) cervical contusion.

[32] Charlotte Flair made her first appearance since WrestleMania Backlash on the December 30 episode of SmackDown, where she challenged and defeated Ronda Rousey in an impromptu match to reclaim the SmackDown Women's Championship for a record-setting seventh time.