AJ Styles will be Cody Rhodes first title challenger at Backlash

He defeated LA Knight on SmackDown to earn the right.

WWE wasted no time getting right to figuring out Cody Rhodes’ next WWE championship challenger on Friday Night SmackDown this week, as LA Knight and AJ Styles came together in a rematch from WrestleMania 40 to decide who moves on to the main event of Backlash on May 4, 2024, in France.

Knight got here by defeating both Santos Escobar and Bobby Lashley in a triple threat match while Styles did the same in his victory over Rey Mysterio and Kevin Owens.

The match was a fairly standard affair. Knight appeared to have the edge throughout much of it but Styles used an eye poke late to give himself an opening and a follow up Phenomenal Forearm was all it took to put LA’s shoulders to the mat for the three count.

He cheated, and they were sure to point it out, but it sure felt like a clean loss. Either way, this makes for a heel program for the top title in the promotion.

The updated Backlash card:

• WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs.
• World Heavyweight Championship: Damian Priest (c) vs. Jey Uso