Backlash 2017: Jinder Mahal Made History on a Show That Barely Deserved It

Tye Dillinger and Aiden English work a straightforward Kickoff match built around Dillinger's popularity and English's theatrical heel act. The crowd is willing to participate in the Perfect Ten chants, which gives the bout more energy than the wrestling itself creates. English controls enough of the middle to establish a comeback, but the match never develops beyond basic television structure. Dillinger eventually lands the Tye Breaker and wins cleanly after a little more than eight minutes. It is competent, easy to follow, and harmless, but there is no meaningful escalation or pay-per-view-level drama. As an opener for the pre-show, it does its job; as a match worth revisiting, it offers very little.

Shinsuke Nakamura's televised main-roster in-ring debut gets the time and presentation necessary to feel important, even if the match itself stops short of greatness. Dolph Ziggler works aggressively and repeatedly cuts off Nakamura's signature bursts, giving the newcomer more resistance than a showcase squash would provide. The near falls off the Zig Zag and superkick create credible danger without making Nakamura look vulnerable for long. Once Nakamura finds room for the inverted exploder and Kinshasa, the result feels decisive and the crowd responds accordingly. The fifteen-minute structure is conventional, but the atmosphere and historical context lift it above a routine singles match. It succeeds primarily because WWE treats Nakamura's first televised main-roster bout like an event.

The Usos and Breezango mix comedy with competitive tag wrestling in a match that is more entertaining than its title stakes suggest. Tyler Breeze's janitor and elderly-woman disguises generate easy laughs and briefly let Breezango control the tone without making the champions look foolish for the entire match. Once the novelty fades, the Usos bring sharper strikes and faster tandem offense, while Fandango handles the late comeback. Jey Uso's superkick ends the match cleanly after nine minutes and keeps the champions protected. The gimmick-heavy opening prevents the bout from becoming a serious title classic, but the timing is good and the audience remains engaged. It is a fun midcard detour rather than a meaningful championship statement.

Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin build a solid singles match around the obvious contrast between Zayn's resilience and Corbin's power. Corbin controls long stretches with physical offense and cuts off several comeback attempts, which gives Zayn's eventual rallies a clear purpose. The match is methodical rather than explosive, but both wrestlers maintain enough urgency to keep fourteen minutes from dragging badly. Zayn survives the heavier offense and catches Corbin with the Helluva Kick for a clean, somewhat surprising victory. That result gives the match a useful payoff and protects Zayn as a credible threat heading into Money in the Bank. It is not memorable enough to seek out, but it is one of the card's more structurally sound undercard matches.

The six-woman tag is competent but crowded, with most of its value coming from advancing the new SmackDown women's alliances rather than producing memorable wrestling. Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Naomi have the stronger individual star power, while Natalya, Carmella, and Tamina work as a coordinated heel unit. The frequent tags keep the pace moving, but the match rarely settles into a sustained story before another wrestler enters. Natalya forcing Lynch to submit to the Sharpshooter gives the Welcoming Committee a useful victory and keeps the division unsettled heading toward Money in the Bank. The ten-minute runtime is appropriate, yet nothing about the action reaches the level of a major-event attraction. It functions primarily as storyline connective tissue.

Kevin Owens and AJ Styles deliver the best wrestling on Backlash 2017 even though the finish prevents the match from reaching a higher tier. Owens targets Styles' leg and repeatedly slows the pace before Styles answers with sharper aerial offense and increasingly urgent counters. The twenty-one-minute runtime gives the match room to breathe, and the late sequence around the announce table creates a believable opening for a decisive finish. Instead, Styles becomes trapped in the table structure while attempting a Styles Clash and is counted out. The ending protects both men and extends the rivalry, but it also leaves the audience without the payoff the preceding work earns. The match is still technically strong, well paced, and the clearest in-ring highlight of the show.

Luke Harper and Erick Rowan receive nine minutes to settle a Wyatt Family grudge, but the match never finds the intensity the history between them should create. Both men throw heavy strikes and power offense, yet the pacing remains strangely flat and the crowd has little reason to invest in a rivalry that already feels secondary. Harper's offense is the cleaner of the two, while Rowan's control segments slow the bout without adding much tension. The Discus Clothesline gives Harper a decisive victory and ends the match cleanly. There is nothing catastrophically bad about the work, but the segment lacks atmosphere, urgency, and consequence. Placed directly before the world-title main event, it feels like filler occupying a valuable spot on the card.

Jinder Mahal's championship victory is historically significant, but the match that produces it is more notable for the result than the wrestling. Randy Orton controls much of the action and repeatedly neutralizes The Singh Brothers, including a series of punishing suplexes around the announce area. Mahal gets enough offense to remain present, yet he rarely feels like the stronger wrestler or a convincing threat without outside help. The finish comes when the Singh Brothers pull Mahal away from an RKO, Orton attacks them again, and Mahal catches the distracted champion with the Khallas. The crowd reacts strongly to the shock title change, but the interference-heavy structure makes the new champion feel protected by circumstance rather than elevated through performance.