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Tye Dillinger def. Aiden English (Kickoff Match)



CHICAGO — Aiden English sought to make sure the spotlight was on him in his hometown during the WWE Backlash Kickoff.

Once again, though, Tye Dillinger ensured that the night started off with a “Perfect 10.”

The Drama King kicked off the evening with a song, but the encore he attempted to force on the Windy City was cut off by Dillinger’s arrival.

There was no question that Chicago was firmly behind the SmackDown LIVE newcomer, evidenced by the plethora of “Perfect 10” signs in the WWE Universe.

Despite Dillinger’s best efforts to take control, however, the nefarious English wore down his adversary.

English sang that Dillinger “wasn’t going anywhere” until the WWE Universe rallied behind The Perfect 10, willing him back to his feet.

English’s inability to put Dillinger down almost led to a tear-filled breakdown for The Drama King.

He managed to keep his emotions under control, but English couldn’t keep away from the Tye-Breaker, which led to victory for The Perfect 10.

Shinsuke Nakamura def. Dolph Ziggler



CHICAGO — The Artist Known as Shinsuke Nakamura completed the first stroke of his masterpiece at WWE Backlash, denying a defiant Dolph Ziggler in the Japanese icon’s much-hyped in-ring debut as a member of the SmackDown LIVE roster.

Ever since he bowed on Team Blue two nights after WrestleMania, Nakamura has found himself in the crosshairs of The Showoff, who claimed The King of Strong Style was an overhyped unknown, and little more than a pretender to the throne Ziggler had been holding down for the entirety of his WWE career.

Ziggler’s trash-talk reached its pinnacle during the Backlash Kickoff, when he promised to “put on a clinic” against Nakamura as his way of telling “told you so” to all the “fanboys” who came to Chicago in support of the two-time NXT Champion, and preemptively pitied anyone who had to follow him.

Ziggler did, indeed, put on the clinic he promised, employing tricks of both the professional and amateur trade to keep his opponent at bay.

The Showoff subjected Nakamura to collegiate-style single-leg takedowns and cradles, as well as the high-style, high-velocity elbow drops that have come to define his sports-entertainment career.

Nakamura refused to stay down, however; kicking out of both the Zig Zag and a particularly gnarly superkick to the back of the head, he responded to each of Ziggler’s taunts with something between bemusement and pride, though he never seemed like he wasn’t enjoying the competition on some level.

That, of course, changed when some combination of frustration and arrogance led Ziggler to disrespect Nakamura even further and, at that point, The King of Strong Style stopped having fun and put on a clinic of his own.

Nakamura draped Ziggler over the ropes, nailed him with a knee to the side of the head, then followed with an exploder suplex and a final Kinshasa knee that brought the curtain down on The Showoff.

While it’s Shinsuke Nakamura who gets to say “told you so” at the end of WWE Backlash, Ziggler should take some consolation that he was right about one thing: After tonight, it’s hard not to pity whoever has to follow him and face Shinsuke Nakamura next.

SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos def. Breezango



CHICAGO — Breezango was ready to make the biggest bust in WWE history at WWE Backlash. Unfortunately for The Fashion Police, The Usos escaped the Windy City with the SmackDown Tag Team Titles by the skin of their teeth.

Tyler Breeze’s deep undercover work looked to continue during this bout; eschewing his normal ring couture, Prince Pretty arrived to the ring in a janitor’s jumpsuit with mop in hand.

Breeze was committed to his cover, using his mopping skills to evade The Usos’ grasp, only to have his faux mustache knocked off his face with a hard superkick.

Prince Pretty’s recognizance continued as he changed outfits and entered the ring as an old lady, drawing “Let’s go, Grandma!” chants from the WWE Universe.

The champions, fed up with their challengers’ hijinks, clobbered Breeze into the canvas.
Fashion Police however, showed that their earning the title match was no fluke, as they battled back and nearly captured the championship on several occasions.

When The Usos tossed Breeze into the Allstate Arena crowd, Fandango came close to winning the match himself, executing a daring dive over the ropes and to the outside floor.

Yet as he threw Jey Uso back into the ring and climbed the ropes, Jimmy grabbed Fandango’s leg, keeping him in perfect position for a superkick from Jey.

That allowed the brothers to get the three count and survive another night as the SmackDown Tag Team Champions.

Sami Zayn def. Baron Corbin



CHICAGO — It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.
And the biggest underdog of them all stunned the baddest wolf in the woods at WWE Backlash.

Baron Corbin had grown so tired with Sami Zayn’s refusal to “stay down” during their rivalry on SmackDown LIVE that he warned The Underdog from the Underground against showing up to the SmackDown LIVE-exclusive event at all.

Well, show up Zayn did, and not only did he bristle at the notion that he was a dead man walking against The Lone Wolf during a Backlash Kickoff interview in the Social Media Lounge, he came out of the blocks with an explosive run of offense that only stopped when he tweaked his lower back in the process.

With a target exposed for him, Corbin went in on Zayn’s lumbar with merciless abandon, pulverizing it with trips into the turnbuckles, backbreakers and bear hugs that left Sami writhing in agony.

His explosiveness taken away, Zayn attempted to claw his way back with short, high-impact maneuvers. Yet The Lone Wolf continued to treat Zayn like a human punching bag, pounding away at his back and turning him inside out with a clothesline.

Zayn, however, persisted, absorbing Corbin’s offense with such resilience that The Long Wolf took to flat-out stomping him against the ropes after Zayn kicked out of the Deep Six.

In the end, Zayn used Corbin’s own aggression against him, dodging a charge that sent the big man tumbling through the ropes, booting him into the turnbuckle the second Corbin climbed back up and unleashing one last-gasp sprint into the Helluva Kick.

And against all odds, at least for a three count on this night, it was Baron Corbin who stayed down.

Natalya, Carmella & Tamina def. SmackDown Women's Champion Naomi, Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch



CHICAGO — The team of SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi, Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch attempted to bond ahead of their Six-Woman Tag Team Match at WWE Backlash.

Unfortunately, they could not unite and overcome the dastardly tactics of Natalya, Carmella & Tamina, as the “Welcoming Committee” exited Chicago standing tall once again.

The Irish Lass-Kicker was eager to start the fight against Tamina, but she found herself overpowered by the second-generation Superstar.

The tide turned in her team’s favor, however, when Charlotte Flair entered the bout and neutralized Natalya.
It wouldn’t be for long, though, as the Welcoming Committee soon regained control by nefarious means.

Natalya, Carmella & Tamina worked as a unit throughout the fight, utilizing quick tags and employing distractions to keep their team in control.

Their teamwork nearly paid off after Tamina planted Naomi into the mat with a Samoan Drop, though Charlotte managed to save the SmackDown Women’s Champion.

Though she couldn’t secure the victory at that moment, in the end, it was Tamina who was the X-factor for her team.

When Lynch had Natalya on the ropes, the towering Superstar rushed into the ring and distracted The Irish-Lass Kicker, giving The Queen of Harts the much-needed opening to lock on the Sharpshooter and force Lynch to tap out.

The “welcoming committee” gloated after their victory, but the trio of Naomi, Charlotte and Lynch are determined to make sure that this rivalry is far from over.

United States Champion Kevin Owens def. AJ Styles via count-out



CHICAGO — The Kevin Owens Show continues on a technicality.
The United States Champion defeated AJ Styles at WWE Backlash in a manner that was hardly decisive, but certainly enough to keep the star-spangled title on The Prizefighter’s shoulder.

The Phenomenal One entered to a hero’s welcome in the Windy City and The New Face of America did his best to spoil it, unleashing a barrage that was half as pretty and twice as effective.

Owens blasted the challenger with fists, forearms and knees; Styles, having found himself in a fistfight, decided to fight on Owens’ terms.

The Phenomenal One answered the champion with some back-alley brawling that he only occasionally augmented with moves a little more scientific, like the Ushigoroshi.

The maneuver was enough to put the match back on an even ground, but it left The Phenomenal One with a tweaked knee.

Styles’ proverbial attempt at a home-run —a Styles Clash off the apron — was then thwarted when Owens slammed The Phenomenal One’s leg against the turnbuckle, threw him cartilage-first into the steel steps, and strung AJ up in the ropes so his knee took the full brunt of a Cannonball.

Miraculously — phenomenally, even — Styles managed to hang on, though his knee was so banged up almost all his big moves were taken away from him.

Worse, the ones that he could hit took as much out of him as they did Owens.
(He attempted a Phenomenal Forearm and collapsed on the ropes; later, he almost couldn’t stand up after landing a Pele Kick.)

Styles took the fight to the outside with a suplex to the ring apron and a Phenomenal Forearm off the timekeeper’s area.

However, as AJ attempted to seal the deal with a Styles Clash atop the commentary table, The New Face of America showed that he was ready.

He writhed free of the setup and shoved Styles’ leg into the monitor hole while the ref approached the ten count, returning to the ring just in time to retain his title.

When the official attempted to free a visibly frustrated Styles following the loss, Owens administered one final superkick that could truly be described as a cheap shot.

As the commentary team pointed out, KO might owe this one to luck more than anything else.
But in Kevin Owens’ America, as in all other Americas, a win is a win.

Luke Harper def. Erick Rowan



CHICAGO — Though he demanded a match to exact more punishment on Luke Harper, it was Erick Rowan who felt the fury of his former Wyatt Family brother at WWE Backlash.

Going right after Harper, Rowan sent his foe crashing from the top rope into the steel ring steps, then whipped him hard into the ringside barricades.

The Superstar with the unsettling collection of masks exerted his will on Harper, wearing the big man down.

Rowan tried to dish out the ultimate punishment with a top-rope splash, but Harper moved out of the way, sending his former partner crashing onto the mat.

Rowan looked to be drawing inspiration from his creepy mask, but Harper cut his musing short, wiping Rowan out at ringside with a daredevil dive that turned the tide of the bout.

Rowan planted his adversary into the canvas with a monstrous powerbomb, but every time he kept going back to his mask, Harper was ready to send him reeling back to it with a thunderous superkick.

After a discus clothesline that nearly took Rowan’s head off, Harper got the three count, seemingly putting an end to this brutal family rivalry.

Jinder Mahal def. Randy Orton to become the new WWE Champion



CHICAGO — In the future, when Jinder Mahal claims his time has come, we would be wise to take him at his word.

The Maharaja completed the most improbable career turn in recent memory at WWE Backlash and defeated Randy Orton to win the WWE Championship, putting to rest a brazen, month-long campaign where the young Superstar stared down a 13-time World Champion and refused to blink once in the face of his foe.

In hindsight, that might have just served as more motivation for The Apex Predator: Orton jumped Mahal and beat him down before the match even started, sending Sunil & Samir Singh scurrying in the process.

Mahal refused to allow the match to be called off, but he was easy pickings for The Viper at the start, coming a half-second away from eating an RKO.

The only early offense The Maharaja managed to get in came after throwing Orton into the LED boards on the side of the ring.

Orton’s left shoulder absorbed the collision, and though he got his hits in where he could, Mahal took each of them and stayed the course, grinding away at The Viper’s injured arm to such a degree that Orton never truly recovered.

Orton did find daylight by sending Mahal shoulder-first into the ring post and executing a suplex, but the champion kept his left arm close to his body for the whole match, and each signature move he executed seemed to wear slowly away at his pain threshold.

Mahal continued the punishment by throwing Orton twice into the ring post, but when The Singh Brothers saved the Maharaja from an RKO, The Apex Predator turned his attention to Sunil & Samir.

He may, ultimately, wish he hadn’t. Orton’s dismantling of Mahal’s acolytes was textbook (he even seemed a little guilty after sending one of them tumbling almost 360 degrees through the air), but when he executed a double hanging DDT on both brothers, Mahal ran up from behind and administered the Khallas to win the WWE Championship.

Seizing hold of the championship, Jinder Mahal celebrated in and among a shocked WWE Universe, the hopes of his nation fulfilled, his claims of superiority vindicated, and the confidence of a man who will never, ever be hindered again.