Last night, Backlash was a night to remember for several reasons. Here are my thoughts on the card as well as the results.
Shocked The World
The beginning of the match was absolutely brilliant, Randy Orton attacked Mahal before the match started. Then Orton sent gave a warning to the Singh bros not to get involved in the match. Eventually, Mahal was able to slow down the pace of the match. He targeted Orton shoulder over by banging into the LED boards and eventually into the ring post multiple times. It was a brilliant strategy because of Orton previous shoulder history.
The Singh Brothers saved the Mahal from an RKO because he was down and out. The Singh Brothers pulled him out of the ring. As a result, Orton snapped and he made an example out of the Singh Brothers but he tossed both of them on different announcer’s table.
Orton wasn’t done with the Singh Brothers as he gave them a double DDT on the ropes. Mahal capitalized on the distraction and hit his finishing move the Camel Clutch Full Nelson Slam. He got the win and he shocked the world as he became the new WWE Champion.
Perfect start
A lot of fans were irate that Nakamura and Ziggler started off the show. However, it was a genius move to set the tone for a historic night. Fans were patiently waiting for The King of Strong Style Nakamura made his pay-per-view debut.
The Showoff did his very best to slow down Shinsuke Nakamura and keep his unique offense on hold. That being said you can only hope to contain Nakamura. He used his deadly knees to do damage to Ziggler’s ribs and head. Ziggler focused on Nakamura’s head and he managed to kick out of the Zig Zag move.
The finishing sequence was insane Nakamura connected with a knee to the side of Ziggler’s head, which was followed by an Exploder Suplex.This set up a Kinshasa knee to Ziggler and it was all over Nakamura picked up the win in his pay-per-view.
By Any Means Necessary
AJ Styles was looking add more gold to his collection. However, the Phenomenal One had his hands full with Kevin Owens. In the beginning of the match, Owens slowed down the pace of the match in his favor. A turning point of the match was when Styles attempted to hit a Styles Clash off the ring apron. Owens had different plans he slammed The Phenomenal One’s leg against the turnbuckle and into the steel steps. Then he hit Styles with a vicious Cannonball with all his weight.
Despite being in tremendous pain AJ Styles lived up to his name The Phenomenal One. He continued the match on a damaged leg. Styles attempted a Phenomenal Forearm and collapsed on the ropes being in too much pain. The two took the fight outside. He hit a suplex to the ring apron and a Phenomenal Forearm off the timekeeper’s area to Owens.
The finishing sequence was very innovative, AJ attempted to hit a Styles Clash on top of the commentary table. Owens had a master plan as he put Styles leg into the TV monitor setup on the commentary table. Owens was able to retain his US Title via a disqualification. This means we could see this feud moving forward.
Conclusion
This pay-per-view was beyond special for my thoughts listed above. Not to mention Chicago and Allstate Arena had so many legendary shows in the past. I would have to give this show a nine out of ten. A large part of this score was because of the shock value of Jinder Mahal winning the WWE Championship.
Backlash results
The Usos defeated Breezango Jey Superkick to Fandango
Sami Zayn defeated Baron Corbin via a Helluva Kick
Natalya, Carmella, and Tamina defeated SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch. Natalya made Becky Lynch via Sharpshooter
