Bad Bunny Bad Bunny at Wrestlemania 37.

WWE Backlash isn’t typically seen as one of the biggest WWE premium live events of the year. This year, with Puerto Rican music artist Bad Bunny coming home to wrestle Damian Priest, things were different.

Coming off of one of the biggest WrestleMania’s in history, WWE celebrated similar records for Backlash. Much of that was thanks to Bad Bunny wrestling and the Cody Rhodes-Brock Lesnar main event.

For the first PLE in Puerto Rico since 2005, WWE saw sold out crowds at both SmackDown and Backlash, with a combined attendance of 34,800.

In addition, Backlash saw a 28% increase in viewership compared to last year’s record-viewed show. On social media, clips of the San Juan street fight featuring Bad Bunny and Priest totaled over 40 million views.

Pro wrestling obviously isn’t Bad Bunny’s main job, but after wowing fans at Backlash, along with his previous performances at the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania, he’s becoming a top performer and earning respect from many fans.

Whenever Bad Bunny shows up at a WWE show, he brings his sizable fanbase to WWE. Having a star in another industry coming to WWE to become a pro wrestling star is shown to have great crossover appeal both for WWE and Bad Bunny. It’s unknown when Bad Bunny will return to wrestle another match, but when he does, it’ll be memorable.

About Phillip Bupp

Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @phillipbupp