Backlash 2017 results: Jinder Mahal shocks everyone to become WWE Champion

The first WWE SmackDown Live exclusive pay-per-view since WrestleMania 33, WWE Backlash, promised a hard-hitting, high-excitement show — and it delivered. From a huge debut in the first match to three bruising title matches, Backlash lived up to its potential with an event that kept fans’ attention from start to finish and set the bar in a big way for a summer that should be full of excellent wrestling in WWE.

Jinder Mahal has spent most of the last month chasing Randy Orton, ever since emerging as the surprise winner of a six-way match to earn the number one contender’s slot for the WWE Championship. From ambushing him at WWE Payback in April to weeks of assaults on SmackDown, Mahal did his utmost to rattle Orton and give himself the upper hand — but Orton struck first, battering Mahal inside and outside the ring before the bell even rang to start the match. Once the match did finally start, Orton kept up that momentum, going for an early RKO before going to work on Mahal outside the ring.

Mahal finally got himself some space by driving Orton shoulder-first into the LED board on the ring skirts, and started working on that injured shoulder to try and give himself an advantage and take away some of Orton’s moveset. That wasn’t enough to stop the Viper, though, and Orton came back in a big way, delivering a huge superplex from the top rope before hitting his trademark quick-whip powerslam and a fallaway slam. The shoulder injury kept him from getting enough of a cover to keep Mahal down, though, giving the challenger another opening to exploit.

Orton kept the upper hand, hitting a huge RKO on Mahal that forced the Singh Brothers, who have been supporting Mahal for weeks, to swoop in and pull him out of the ring before Randy could cover him. That made Orton snap, brutalizing the brothers outside the ring before bringing them back in for a stereo version of his rope-drape DDT. As Orton turned to bring his attention to Mahal, though, Jinder surprised him with his huge reverse-chokeslam finishing move to shock the WWE Universe and claim the WWE Championship for himself.

Once brothers in the Wyatt Family, things haven’t been the same between Rowan and Harper since Rowan made his recent return from injury. That led to Rowan demanding a match against his former tag-team partner, a match that Shane McMahon gave him. Rowan came out fast and unleashed a lot of aggression, but Harper got the better of him with two big moves outside the ring — a running shot that knocked Rowan into the timekeeper’s area, followed by a suicide dive that knocked him back into the announcers’ tables.

Ever since Owens won back the United States Championship by brutalizing Chris Jericho and sidelining him, Styles has had his sights set on the self-proclaimed “New Face of America.” Owens inflicted a knee injury on Styles during the weeks leading up to the match, though, and that injury played heavily into this match, with Styles struggling to hit some of his higher-impact moves because of it. Eventually, Owens was able to isolate the injured right leg and work it over, inflicting massive damage to it with submissions and targeted moves. But Styles didn’t give up, fighting through the pain to pull out big moves whenever he could, including an incredible snap suplex on Owens on the ring apron that left the champion in agony outside the ring. In the end, Owens retained his title after an attempt at a Styles Clash on an announcers’ table saw Owens wriggle away and Styles’ injured leg slip into one of the monitor wells in the table. Styles couldn’t get free, and Owens gladly took his countout victory, adding a little insult to injury in the form of a superkick to the back of Styles’ head as he was trying to free his leg after the match.

The self-appointed “Welcoming Committee” of Natalya, Carmella, and Tamina have been trying to establish themselves as the force of the women’s division on SmackDown ever since the Superstar Shakeup sent former champion Alexa Bliss to Raw and brought Charlotte to SmackDown. On Sunday night, they seemed to prove just that, with the trio dominating their opponents, a group that includes the reigning WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion, Naomi. The champion’s explosive offense was kept quiet, thanks largely to the incredibly physical presence of Tamina, and in the end, the Hart trademark Sharpshooter was what Natalya needed to make Becky Lynch tap out.

Ever since arriving at SmackDown as part of the Superstar Shakeup, Zayn has been locking horns with Corbin in an effort to prove that he belongs as part of the blue brand in WWE. Corbin hasn’t hesitated to tell him and show him that he doesn’t think Zayn has a place there, though, and that set up a heated and intense match between the two men. Corbin dominated much of the match, at one point inflicting a back injury that bothered Zayn for much of their fight. But Sami never gave up, fighting through everything Corbin threw at him, eventually landing one of the most emphatic Helluva Kicks that we’ve seen from him en route to a shocking pinfall win that could jumpstart his SmackDown Live career.

Tyler Breeze and Fandango, lately playing the roles of WWE’s “Fashion Police,” have been quickly rising as fan favorites since becoming the number one contenders to the Usos’ tag-team titles. Jimmy and Jey have not been amused with their hijinks, though, and set out to punish their rivals no matter what came at them. Breeze actually came out dressed as a janitor, seeming to catch the Usos — and referee Mike Chioda — completely off-guard, and when he suddenly climbed back into the ring dressed as an old woman, confusion reigned once more. But in between the comedic bits was an actual high-quality tag-team wrestling match chock full of psychology and excellent in-ring work. Still, it wasn’t enough for Breeze and Fandango to overcome the ferocity of the Usos, who eventually managed to knock Breeze into the crowd before laying out and pinning Fandango.

Nakamura and Ziggler finally faced off and fought one another after weeks of circling each other, and as far as ways to start a WWE pay-per-view, you could do a whole lot worse. The fans were eager to see Nakamura’s first main-roster match in WWE, and welcomed his entrance with adulation, singing along with his entrance while Ziggler seethed outside the ring. Ziggler actually had control of the match early on, but Nakamura slowly got more and more of his offense in, becoming incensed after Ziggler spat in his face. That lead to an absolutely dominant spell from the Japanese superstar, who landed his trademark Kinshasa running knee strike to knock Ziggler out cold and give Nakamura the win in his debut.