The 2006 Backlash was the eighth Backlash professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw brand division. The event took place on April 30, 2006, at the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. It was the last Backlash event to be Raw-exclusive as following WrestleMania 23 the following year, brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued. The concept of the pay-per-view was based around the backlash from WrestleMania 22.
Seven professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's card, which saw three main matches. The first of these main events was a triple threat match for the WWE Championship, which saw John Cena defeat challengers Triple H and Edge to retain his title. The second main event was Shawn Michaels and "God" versus Vince and Shane McMahon in a No Holds Barred match, which was won by the McMahons. The third main event was a "Title vs. Briefcase match" that pitted Mr. Money in the Bank Rob Van Dam against Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin, with both men defending their respective titles. Van Dam defeated Benjamin, thus retaining his Money in the Bank briefcase and winning the Intercontinental Championship.
The event received 273,000 pay-per-view buys, which was more than the previous year's event received. This contributed to WWE's pay-per-view revenue increasing by $4.3 million from the previous year. When the event was released on DVD, it peaked at second on Billboards DVD sales chart for recreational sports.
Production
Background
Backlash is a pay-per-view (PPV) event that was established by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 1999. The concept of the pay-per-view was based around the backlash from WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania. The 2006 event was the eighth Backlash and featured the backlash from WrestleMania 22. It was scheduled to take place on April 30, 2006, at the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, thus returning Backlash to the April slot after the 2005 event was held in May. Like the previous two years, the 2006 event exclusively featured wrestlers from the Raw brand division.
Storylines
Backlash featured matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing feuds, plots, and storylines. of events that built tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches. All wrestlers were from WWE's Raw brand.
The main event was a triple threat match for the WWE Championship between John Cena, Triple H, and Edge. The buildup to the match began when Triple H lost the Royal Rumble match, a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until one is left and declared winner but participated in the 2006 Road to WrestleMania Tournament, where the winner would become the number-one contender to the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Triple H won the tournament. Cena defeated Triple H at WrestleMania to retain the title after forcing him to submit to the STFU, a move in which the wrestler wraps his arm around the neck of the opponent in a sleeper hold instead of pulling back on the head of the opponent. The next night on Raw, one of WWE's primary television programs, Triple H demanded another shot at the WWE Championship, but Edge and Lita (Edge's girlfriend) interrupted Triple H's segment. Edge said that he became WWE Champion at New Year's Revolution when he cashed in his Money in the Bank title shot, that he won at WrestleMania 21, and defeating Cena at the event, after Cena had defeated five other men in an Elimination Chamber match, a match featuring wrestlers fighting in a ring surrounded by a steel structure of chain and girders. Cena, however, reclaimed the Championship at the 2006 Royal Rumble, when he defeated Edge. Edge claimed that it was time for a new opponent for the WWE Championship, after stating that at WrestleMania, Triple H lost his opportunity when he lost to Cena. All three men had a series of Handicap matches, a match consisting of one team of wrestlers facing off against a team of wrestlers with numerical superiority such as three against two, or two against one leading up to Backlash with Triple H pinning Cena after a Pedigree, Cena forcing Edge to submit to the STFU, and Edge pinning Triple H after a Spear on Triple H. It was then announced that Cena would defend the WWE Championship in a Triple Threat match against Triple H and Edge at Backlash.