Report: WWE Unlikely To Go Back To Puerto Rico For Some Time
It could be a while before another WWE PPV in Puerto Rico
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May 8, 2023
While Backlash has been viewed as a resounding success for WWE, don't expect the company to hold another pay-per-view in Puerto Rico anytime soon.
Backlash was only WWE's second pay-per-view in Puerto Rico and the first since New Year's Revolution 2005. The show emanated from the Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in San Juan.
WWE were paid $1.5 million by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company to hold the event on the Island of Enchantment and Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE will only go back for a pay-per-view if they are paid to do so. As the tourism board will likely use their funds to bring in other events to Puerto Rico, WWE are unlikely to be brought back in the near future.
"The thing is, they're only going to come if they get paid to come. So, that's up to how much the tourism board wants to pay. And usually, when it comes to this type of thing. Everything is different. Generally speaking, if they want to bring you in, if the tourism board brings you in, they're not going to bring you in every year. They're going to use their money to bring in another act...they're going to use their money on another act next year, it won't always be WWE. For them to do a pay-per-view generally, and London is the exception, because when they go to London they're not getting paid by a tourism board, they just feel like it's time to do it. But for them to come and do this, they're going to have to be paid. They will go down there and do a house show, but for them to do a pay-per-view, they're going to want a million and half dollars or whatever. That was what the rate was here. They got paid a million and half dollars by the tourism board to come in," Meltzer said.
Backlash was headlined by the first match between Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar. The match marked out for the most praise was the San Juan Street Fight between Bad Bunny and Damian Priest that featured the involvement of Judgment Day and the Latino World Order, as well as the WWE returns of Carlito and Savio Vega.
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