– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated American Alpha, Breezango, and The Colons to retain their titles
To my surprise, The Usos got the best reaction from the crowd. Everyone was booing The Colons. An Uso hit Chad Gable with a superkick to retain.
– Tye Dillinger defeated Aiden English
English sang his way to the ring and sang some words in Spanish. Dillinger then appeared and got a great reaction at first, with people loving the “10” gimmick. The match was longer than most of English’s that I’ve seen. The crowd was quiet in the middle but got into it when the wrestlers began to interact with them.
Dillinger hit the Tye Breaker to win. He grabbed some “10” signs and took pictures with some people after.
– Luke Harper, Sin Cara & Mojo Rawley defeated Erick Rowan & The Ascension
Harper got the biggest response and people were chanting his name when he wasn’t in. There were also some “lucha” chants for Sin Cara. He hit a swanton on Rowan for the win after Harper had hit a discus lariat.
– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Dolph Ziggler
Ziggler got a lot of cheers when he made his entrance, but Nakamura may have gotten the biggest pop of the night. People sang his theme song throughout the match.
The match was good and may have been the best of the night. Ziggler did his spots, but Nakamura connected with a Kinshasa for the victory.
– Naomi defeated Natalya, Carmella, Tamina, and Becky Lynch to retain her title
Lynch, Natalya, and Naomi all got great reactions, though the crowd was pretty quiet for Carmella and Tamina. The match was too short and everyone did two or three good moves until Naomi hit Natalya with the Rear View to retain.
– Baron Corbin defeated Sami Zayn
This was a typical SmackDown match. Nobody cheered for Corbin and there were “Ole” chants for Zayn. Corbin won with the End of Days basically out of nowhere.
– Randy Orton & AJ Styles defeated WWE Champion Jinder Mahal & United States Champion Kevin Owens
Everyone except Mahal got huge reactions, but I could see him looking like a champ. The Singh Brothers started saying something in Punjabi, then Mahal asked us if we could understand English. When the people said that they could, he said that he would talk in his language and got a lot of boos.
The match was good, with Mahal being kind of afraid of Orton. When people started chanting “RKO,” Owens grabbed the mic and said that we should be chanting “KO” instead.
Near the end, Orton hit both Singh Brothers with a draping DDT. Mahal tried to hit his finisher on Orton, but he failed and was hit by a Phenomenal Forearm. Owens tagged in and connected with a superkick on Styles, then Orton hit Owens with an RKO to a great reaction for the finish.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated American Alpha, The Colons, and Breezango to retain their titles
Breezango got a good reaction from the crowd, especially when Tyler Breeze was doing a comedy spot where he’d roll from corner to corner of the ring. The Usos eventually won by rolling up Chad Gable.
– Tye Dillinger defeated Aiden English
English got booed when he came out clearing his voice. He insulted the audience and told them to listen to him sing. Dillinger got plenty of “10” chants when the crowd got warmed up and he won with the Tye Breaker.
– Mojo Rawley & Sin Cara defeated The Ascension
Rawley might have received the biggest pop in this match, but that’s not saying much. He pinned Viktor with a punch after Sin Cara took out Konnor with a dive on the outside.
– Luke Harper defeated Erick Rowan
The crowd didn’t react to this much aside from some boos for Rowan. Harper ended up winning with a discus lariat.
– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Dolph Ziggler
Nakamura got a huge pop. The crowd chanted his name and sang his theme song throughout the match. Half of the match was Ziggler using a headlock, with them both doing their usual spots before and after. Nakamura hit the Kinshasa for the victory.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi defeated Carmella (w/ James Ellsworth), Natalya, Tamina, and Becky Lynch to retain her title
This was a really short match. They all hit a couple of spots and went to the outside rotating in and out. Naomi retained after hitting the Rear View on Carmella.
– Baron Corbin defeated Sami Zayn
Corbin got big heat. Zayn fought from behind for most of the match while building up comebacks. Corbin ran under Zayn as he jumped off the top and when Zayn turned around he was hit with the End of Days and pinned.
– Randy Orton & AJ Styles defeated WWE Champion Jinder Mahal (w/ The Singh Brothers) & United States Champion Kevin Owens
Mahal got the biggest heat of the night and Orton and Styles got the biggest pops. Mahal and Orton were kept apart from one another for the majority of the match. When they finally did get in together, it didn’t last long.
Owens took a draping DDT and then The Singh Brothers interfered. Orton hit a draping DDT on both of them. Mahal ran in but Styles hit the Phenomenal Forearm on him. Orton then hit the RKO on Owens for the finish.
Nakamura hit the Kinshasa for the win. He was really over with this crowd.
– Luke Harper, Mojo Rawley & Sin Cara defeated Erick Rowan & The Ascension
Harper got a lot of cheers during this one. Rowan pulled out a balloon and inflated it at one point, only to then let it deflate. Harper pinned him after hitting the discus clothesline.
– There was a video promo with The Colons announcing a four-way tag title match for later. They said they’ll win the titles in Puerto Rico.
– Tye Dillinger defeated Aiden English
Dillinger got an okay reaction from the crowd and won with the Tye Breaker.
– AJ Styles & Sami Zayn defeated United States Champion Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin
There were lots of chants for Styles and a few “Ole” chants. Styles won the match for his team after connecting with a Phenomenal Forearm on Owens.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi defeated Natalya, Becky Lynch, Tamina, and Carmella (w/ James Ellsworth) to retain her title
This match felt shorter than the rest, with Naomi winning it after pinning Natalya with the Rear View.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated The Colons, American Alpha, and Breezango to retain their titles
The Colons were playing face and the crowd was really behind them, but they took the loss after The Usos hit a splash off the top rope.
– WWE Champion Jinder Mahal (w/ The Singh Brothers) defeated Randy Orton to retain his title
Mahal hit his finish for the victory. The Singh Brothers attacked Orton after the match while Mahal walked up the ramp, but Orton hit an RKO on both to send the crowd home happy.
– Breezango defeated The Colons and American Alpha in a triple threat tag team match
Fandango pinned Epico to get the win. Not much to say about this match, but the crowd had very split reactions to Breezango.
– Tye Dillinger defeated Aiden English
The Tye Breaker got the win for Dillinger. English sung before the match and got lots of heat. People still love Dillinger’s “10” gimmick.
– Luke Harper defeated Erick Rowan
This was a pretty weak match, with Harper winning with a clothesline. He got some chants during the match. A really drunk person tried to start a chant for Rowan, which got the attention of Harper.
– Shinsuke Nakamura & Sami Zayn defeated United States Champion Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin
Nakamura pinned Owens after hitting him with the Kinshasa. They had a good back-and-forth match and Zayn played face in peril for most of it. Nakamura and Owens got good reactions.
– Mojo Rawley & Sin Cara defeated The Ascension
This was a boring match and the crowd wasn’t into it. Rawley pinned Viktor to get the victory.
Naomi pinned Carmella after hitting the Rear View. Lynch got the loudest reaction from the crowd and spent most of the match getting beat up. Carmella and Tamina’s work was pretty sloppy.
– WWE Champion Jinder Mahal defeated AJ Styles to retain his title
Mahal pinned Styles with a schoolboy after a distraction. Both guys were over huge, with Mahal definitely able to play a believable heel champion. The match itself was pretty good and went about 15 minutes. Styles made Mahal look great, but credit to Mahal for keeping up and working everything well.
Styles hit all his finishers on the Singh Brothers after the match to send the crowd home happy.
Image: @IAmJamesStewart. Report submitted by reader Adam Iacomacci.
– Breezango defeated American Alpha and The Colons in a triple threat tag team match
This was a decent opener, but none of the teams got good pops at all. Fandango used a nice spinning heel kick at one point.
– Tye Dillinger defeated Aiden English
Dillinger hit the Tye Breaker to pick up the win in a kind of boring match. He got a decent pop and there was a lot of heat on English. English ran down Bridgeport a lot.
– Luke Harper defeated Erick Rowan
This was a bad match with a lot of botches, but the crowd was pretty into it. Rowan had a mask that was a mix between the sheep mask and a clown mask. Harper hit a Black Hole Slam to win.
– Shinsuke Nakamura & Sami Zayn defeated United States Champion Kevin Owens & Baron Corbin
All four of these guys received big pops, with Nakamura getting the biggest of them all. Zayn took a brutal End of Days from Corbin into the guardrail early on. Nakamura hit a Kinshasa on Owens to get the victory. This was easily the match of the night.
– Mojo Rawley & Sin Cara defeated The Ascension
They had a boring match and the crowd wasn’t really into it.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi & Becky Lynch defeated Natalya, Carmella & Tamina in a handicap match
Naomi was insanely over and was very impressive in the match. Lynch was also over. There were no crazy spots, but Tamina displayed lots of power. Naomi got the win with the Rear View.
– AJ Styles defeated WWE Champion Jinder Mahal by DQ
This was a good opener that was mostly comedy. Tyler Breeze did the spot where he slowly rolled out of the way when one of the Colons was about to jump off the top. Then, when both Colons were perched on opposite corners, he looked up, then repositioned his body and started rolling to one of the empty corners. The crowd liked it.
– Mojo Rawley defeated Aiden English
English compared himself to Gregg Allman (the Allman Brothers lived in Macon during their heyday). After losing, he challenged anyone from the back to another match.
– Sin Cara defeated Aiden English
Sin Cara won in less than 30 seconds.
– Luke Harper defeated Erick Rowan
This was long and pretty dull.
– Shinsuke Nakamura & Sami Zayn defeated Kevin Owens & Dolph Ziggler
Nakamura hit Ziggler with the Kinshasa and then pinned him to win the match for the babyfaces. The crowd was into it, though the reaction for Nakamura was not as great as I expected. He was way more over when I saw him at NXT in Atlanta last year, but that’s understandably a different crowd.
Naomi wasn’t at the show so this was a two-on-three match. Charlotte tapped out Natalya with the Figure Eight to get the win. The crowd loved both her and Lynch, and Charlotte did some Ric Flair spots that got over big with the audience.
– Baron Corbin defeated Tye Dillinger
There were lots of “10” chants. The match was only okay and was a placeholder before the main event.
– AJ Styles defeated WWE Champion Jinder Mahal by DQ
Styles won by disqualification after the Singh Brothers jumped him. It was a very good main event with a lot of near falls before that. Mahal was booed heavily, and it seemed like legit heel heat to me as opposed to booing out of indifference. In his home state, Styles was the most over person on the show by a landslide.
AJ Styles, Sami Zayn, Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, Shinsuke Nakamura and Kevin Owens will compete at Money in the Bank in the titular match. Jinder Mahal celebrated his championship win with pomp and circumstance, though the good times might not last if Orton gets his say in their title rematch at Money in the Bank.
Baron Corbin made it personal with Sami Zayn, sending him out of the arena in a stretcher. The Fashion Police got another opportunity to crack the case of the Uggos, but didn’t get the job done. A fatal five way match next week will determine the next challenger for Naomi’s SmackDown Women’s title.
Show Recap —
A police motorcade. a black car and a limo showed up. The Singh Brothers rolled out a fancy carpet for the new WWE champion Jinder Mahal, who just kinda stood there and laughed, perhaps soaking it all in.
Shane McMahon came out to start the show. The Money in the Bank briefcase was high above the ring, as that show will be the next SmackDown PPV. Shane announced that Randy Orton has initiated his rematch clause and in his hometown of St. Louis, he will face Jinder Mahal for the WWE title.
Shane also brought up the Money in the Bank match itself. He introduces the five participants for the Money in the Bank Ladder match….AJ Styles arrives first. Baron Corbin, Sami Zayn and Dolph Ziggler follow. Kevin Owens comes out, but Shane says hold on a minute, you know full well you aren’t one of the participants. Shane instead introduces the fifth participant…Shinsuke Nakamura.
Owens cuts off Shane, saying are you really going with these five for the Money in the Bank match? True, Sami and Shinsuke won their matches, but he won his match and AJ gets the shot anyway? SmackDown may be the land of opportunity, but Shane chooses those opportunities. Maybe it’s because he did what Shane couldn’t do at WrestleMania — beat AJ Styles.
Shane says he does have some salient points. So at Money in the Bank, Kevin Owens will be the sixth participant in the match. Corbin says none of you have a chance, so just lower the ladder and give me the briefcase. Styles says let me remind you this is the house that AJ Styles built, wasn’t built with count outs or cheap shots. Styles calls Kevin Owens the Eric Cartman of the WWE and says he’ll show why he’s the franchise player of the WWE.
Zayn starts to cut his promo but Corbin cuts him off, saying he’s still coming off his fluke win. He’s the Rudy of the WWE, and there’s a reason why there was never a sequel. Zayn says he doesn’t mind doing it again and won’t even wait until Money in the Bank.
Ziggler cuts them off, saying he’s the only won who was won Money in the Bank and will do it again. Nakamura says for those who don’t know me, I’m Shinsuke Nakamura, and as for Dolph…he can call him Mr. Money in the Bank.
Shane makes the Zayn/Corbin rematch, as well as a tag team match featuring Ziggler and Owens against Nakamura and Styles.
Charlotte and Becky Lynch defeated Carmella and Natalya
Carmella got the heat on Becky during commercials, which were running concurrently with SmackDown footage. Charlotte got the tag and went to the top rope. Tamina tried to interfere, but Charlotte fought her off, plus Naomi came in to take her out with a crossbody. Carmella and Becky are tagged in and after fighting for a bit, Carmella falls to the disarmher, giving Becky Lynch the submission win in an okay match.
Sami Zayn defeated Baron Corbin
This lasted under a minute. As soon as he got the opportunity, Zayn cradled him for a flash win.
Corbin jumped him after the match, further continuing WWE’s crusade against wins and losses actually mattering. He threw him into the timekeeper’s area and took out a steel chair, slamming it on Zayn’s back. He took him out into the crowd and gave him the snake eyes on a production area table. Corbin kept beating him up until the refs stopped it.
Fashion Files: The Final File (?) aired. Shane McMahon was there, eyeing a Tony Chimel photo. Breezango walked in and asked if he wanted to see them. Shane said he never even called for them. Breezango goes on anyway, saying after their loss Sunday they aren’t capable of being on the case. They turn in their badges and other assorted outfits Tyler has worn in recent weeks.
Shane disagrees, saying they’ve more than proven themselves after Sunday, and in fact Tyler will be in action tonight against Jey Uso and Fandango will face Jimmy. Fandango says it looks like we’re back in the case and scurry off with their belongings.
It’s now time for Jinder Mahal’s big Punjabi Championship Celebration. Indian dancers came out to celebrate, it was actually pretty cool. The Singh Brothers followed, then Jinder. The dancers danced around the ring as Mahal entered.
The crowd booed as Jinder started talking. Shower me with your hatred, he says, but 1.3 billion people in India are celebrating me as champion. You people boo me because I look and talk different. But now you boo me because I exposed you as the fools that you are.
Randy Orton is just like all you, like America — he is on the decline. This is not about you, this is about me celebrating my accomplishment. I celebrate for India. He says to keep quiet as he talks to his people in Punjabi. Fans chanted USA as he cut the promo. Pyro goes off as Jinder celebrates in the ring.
Dancing Lana is still coming.
Tyler Breeze defeated Jey Uso
Jey starts talking about how they have already beaten the two when Fandango starts squirting him with a water gun. Distracted, Breeze rolls him up for the win.
Fandango defeated Jimmy Uso
The next match immediately followed. This lasted a bit longer, but ended the same way. Breeze put on the Granny hair which got Jey mad as they ran around the ring. This distracted Jimmy, which allowed Fandango to, yes, roll him up for the win.
Fandango took a mic and said they wanted a shot at the tag team titles. Jimmy and Jey, still flustered, accepted the challenge. Chioda got the okay from the back, and it looks like we have a SmackDown tag team title match incoming!
The Usos defeated Breezango to retain the SmackDown tag team titles
Crowd got into this pretty fast. One of the Usos went for the dive but Fandango got the knees up and rolled him up in a good nearfall Fandango and Jimmy were fighting on the top rope when Jey tagged in, Fandango unaware. He plants Jimmy with his top rope leg drop but Jey immediately follows with the superfly splash to pick up the win.
Shane was in his office, Fashion File stuff still in tact when Natalya walks in, wanting an opportunity for the women’s title. She says she is the one who won that match. Carmella and James Ellsworth come in, then Becky. The latter says she is the first Smackdown’s women’s champion. Taminia says it’s her turn. Carmella says the queen is waiting for her crown. Shane says there will be a fatal five way match next week, with the winner facing Naomi at the Money in the Bank PPV.
Brian Kendrick says tonight Akira Tozawa will learn his final lesson in a street fight tonight on 205 Live.
Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler
Both heels worked on Nakamura forever. Nakamura finally got a hot tag and worked over Ziggler. Owens took out Styles with a senton on the floor, then rammed his knee in the back of Styles on the apron.
Nakamura came in for the second hot tag of the match and landed a flurry of offense on Owens. After a scuffle between Ziggler and AJ, Nakamura cleared the ring then landed the kinshasa on Owens for the win. Standard, but pretty decent main event.
Nakamura and Styles celebrated in the ring as the show went off the air.
Final Thoughts —
This was a good show in that they made it clear Money in the Bank is a month away, and we already have the participants all lined up for the show,. It also further established Nakamura as one of the top acts of the roster with a big win in the main event.
They did the best job they could with Jinder, as the celebration and ballyhoo was pretty neat, but his promo content has largely been the same as it was the last few weeks leading to Backlash. Eventually the luster and heat that comes with winning the WWE title by surprise is going to die down, and if he keeps going with the same ‘ol song and dance promo, it’s not going to be good television.
This was similar to the Backlash match with Ziggler. The second loudest reaction from the crowd during the night was for Nakamura’s entrance.
– Breezango defeated The Ascension
Breezango won in a run-of-the-mill match.
– Tye Dillinger defeated Aiden English
English started working the crowd well as he came out and did so through the entire match. After Dillinger won, English had a meltdown and challenged anyone else backstage to another match. Mojo Rawley’s music hit and he answered the challenge.
– Mojo Rawley defeated Aiden English
Rawley hit two moves and squashed English.
– Luke Harper defeated Erick Rowan
Harper won in a match that had a similar flow and similar spots as the one we just saw at Backlash. At one point Rowan told us that he “wants some ice cream because it’s delicious.”
– AJ Styles defeated United States Champion Kevin Owens by DQ
Owens came out to the third loudest pop of the night. He worked the mic for a bit and let the crowd know that Styles wouldn’t be wrestling tonight due to the beating that he received at Backlash. Styles’ music hit and he entered the ring. They had a decent match that Styles won via DQ after Owens used a chair.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi, Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch defeated Natalya, Carmella & James Ellsworth
The women and Ellsworth put on a fun match that had the crowd engaged and excited from start to finish.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated American Alpha to retain their titles
The Usos retained in another run-of-the-mill match. Them playing to the crowd was probably the highlight of it as they thought they were in Ohio.
– Randy Orton & Sami Zayn defeated WWE Champion Jinder Mahal & Baron Corbin
Mahal got good heat as he worked the crowd up for a few minutes with the Singh Brothers as he entered the ring. Zayn came out to a healthy pop and Orton got the biggest reaction of the night. The match was mostly Zayn getting worked over and trying to tag in Orton. Orton eventually got in and hit an RKO on Corbin for the win.
Even after having over a month to prepare for the possibility, it’s hard to believe that Jinder Mahal is actually WWE Champion.
Title wins like Mahal beating Randy Orton at Backlash aren’t really supposed to happen in pro wrestling. When you have the ability to control wins and losses, challengers are theoretically built up over time and have enough credibility when they win a championship that the result is either obvious or hardly surprising.
But there was no logical ascent to the top of the card for Mahal. Aside from some small moments like being the person who was tackled by Rob Gronkowski during this year’s Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, there were no signs that any kind of a push was coming prior to him becoming number one contender.
WWE is loading up the card for the June 13th episode of SmackDown in New Orleans.
In an article posted on WWE.com today about the company’s five biggest moments in the city, it was announced that there would be a “triple main event” when SmackDown comes back to New Orleans in June. The episode will be the last main roster WWE show in the city before WrestleMania 34 takes place at the Superdome next April.
The three main events are all rematches from Backlash, with two of them being title matches. Randy Orton will challenge for Jinder Mahal’s WWE Championship after dropping the title to him at Backlash and Kevin Owens will defend his United States Championship against AJ Styles. Owens retained the title by countout against Styles at Backlash.
In the third match set for the show, Shinsuke Nakamura and Dolph Ziggler will again face off. Nakamura made his televised main roster in-ring debut by defeating Ziggler last night.
The episode of SmackDown in New Orleans will also be the go-home show for the brand’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view.
SmackDown’s first post-WrestleMania 33 pay-per-view takes place at the Allstate Arena in Chicago tonight.
Most of the advertising for the show has been built around it featuring Shinsuke Nakamura’s televised main roster in-ring debut. Nakamura will face Dolph Ziggler in his first match on TV since debuting on the SmackDown after WrestleMania.
We’re looking for your thoughts on tonight’s show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match for this show as well as last night’s NXT show, to [email protected].
Randy Orton will defend his WWE Championship against Jinder Mahal on the PPV. Their unlikely matchup was set up after Mahal won a six-pack challenge on SmackDown last month to become the new number one contender.
Elsewhere on the show, Kevin Owens defends his United States title against AJ Styles, The Usos put their tag titles on the line against Breezango, Naomi teams with Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch against Natalya, Carmella & Tamina, Sami Zayn takes on Baron Corbin, and Luke Harper and Erick Rowan square off.
Tye Dillinger vs. Aiden English is also scheduled for the Backlash pre-show. Our coverage begins with that match before the main card kicks off at 8 p.m. ET.
**********
By Dave Meltzer
TYE DILLINGER VS. AIDEN ENGLISH
Decent match ending when English missed a senton off the toip and Dillinger hit the Tye-breaker for the pin. They were playing up that Dillinger was having an emotional breakdown.
SHINSUKE NAKAMURA VS. DOLPH ZIGGLER
Slow match. There was nothing wrong with it. It accomplished its purpose but it was mainly Ziggler doing most of the office, getting a near fall with the Zig Zag until Nakamura used an elbow, the reverse powerslam and the Kinshasa for the clean win.
USOS VS. TYLER BREEZE & FANDANGO FOR TAG TITLES
First two-thirds were comedy. Tyler Breeze was dressed up like a janitor early, and then like a grandma. The Usos took Breeze’s dress off and threw it and it hit JBL in the face. The crowd was with it. Nothing like last night. The last few minutes they got serious. Breeze did a flip off the apron but the Usos caught him and threw him over the barricade. Fandango did a running flip dive. The end saw Fandango on the top rope and Jey superkicked him off the top rope and pinned him.
SAMI ZAYN VS. BARON CORBIN
They did an upset here as Zayn won with the Helluva kick. Corbin dominated the match with Zayn doing his usual good job of selling. It was a basic pattern match. Zayn kicked out of the Deep Six but Corbin doesn’t win with that move ever. Corbin would block many of Zayn’s trademark spots. The crowd popped for the finish but this crowd overall is nothing compared to last night.
The Singh Brothers and Jinder Mahal showed up. Mahal did the foreign menace promo. The crowd reacted to him like he was a star at first and then did all the “what” stuff but since he was taped he didn’t have to detail with it. Some CM Punk chants. Said he would turn the universe of doubters and discriminators into believers. Definitely played up being a babyface in India. Crowd booed him when it was over.
CHARLOTTE FLAIR & NAOMI & BECKY LYNCH VS. NATALYA & CARMELLA & TAMINA
Just a match. A few rough spots but generally okay. Most of the match was Naomi being worked over until Lynch made the hot tag. Lynch was doing well. Tamina played powerhouse some. The finish was Natalya putting the sharpshooter on Lynch in the middle. Nobody saved her and she tapped.
KEVIN OWENS VS. A.J. STYLES FOR THE U.S. TITLE
Very good match. The finish saw Styles hit the forearm off the barricade on the floor. He went for the Styles Clash on the announces table but Styles leg fell into the opening where a monitor would be. Styles was haning from the table with the idea that his right knee was hurt and he was counted out. Owens kicked him after the match. Styles had his knee worked over much of the match. He went for the phenomenal forearm and lost his balance on the ropes and was selling. Very good match. The crowd was into this more than anything so far, but nothing like last night.
LUKE HARPER VS. ERICK ROWAN
Harper got the win back. Both guys worked real hard but the crowd was dead for them in this position. Harper did a tope knocking Rowan in between the announcing tables. Harper turned a power bomb into a huracanrana and hit two superkicks and a spinning elbow.
RANDY ORTON VS. JINDER MAHAL FOR WWE TITLE
They put Mahal over for the title when Randy Orton gave both Singh Brothers the draping DDT and then Mahal came form behind him with a cobra clutch slam for the pin. The crowd was very into the match early, then seemed to lose interest but picked up at the end. It wasn’t a great match but it served its purpose and got a main event reaciton. Most of the match was him working over Orton’s shoulder. Orton hit the RKO but the Singh Brothers pulled Mahal out of ther ring. Orton gave back suplexes on both Singh Brothers on their heads on a table. That was sick. There was a somewhat babyface pop for the title change and there were people doing dueling chants for Mahal early.
WWE finished building to Backlash on last night’s go-home episode of SmackDown in Manchester, New Hampshire.
With some help from the Singh Brothers, Jinder Mahal stood tall over Randy Orton heading into their title match on Sunday night. Mahal also had a match against AJ Styles earlier on SmackDown and Orton faced Baron Corbin in the main event.
Elsewhere on the show, Kevin Owens hosted his own Highlight Reel segment, there was a contract signing for the six-woman tag match at Backlash, and Breezango’s Fashion Files were again featured.
– The show started with a Dolph Ziggler promo video. He told Shinsuke Nakamura that this was the big time and that it wasn’t NXT or Japan.
– Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Dolph Ziggler
Nakamura got a loud pop for his entrance and all of his moves. Ziggler got booed a lot and played up his heelishness to the crowd. Nakamura ended up winning with the Kinshasa. I’ve heard that Nakamura doesn’t work very hard at house shows in the United States from a lot of people, but this was a standard TV match.
– Breezango & Tye Dillinger defeated The Ascension & Aiden English
Dillinger was massively popular and got the biggest pop. The match had a lot of comedy spots and the wrestlers looked like they really enjoyed themselves. There was a lot of crowd interaction as well, especially with English telling the audience to shut up when they were cheering for Dillinger and Tyler Breeze. Breeze ended up getting the pin with a roll-up.
– Luke Harper defeated Erick Rowan
Harper was the fan favorite and played to the crowd a lot, flexing his arms and such. They had a good big-man match, with Harper getting the win.
– SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi, Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch defeated Tamina, Natalya & Carmella (w/ James Ellsworth)
Lynch and Charlotte got big reactions. Natalya did most of the work for the heels, with Tamina barely in the ring and Carmella not doing much when she was in. Ellsworth provided comedy from outside of the ring by reacting to crowd chants and such.
It devolved into a brawl after the heels worked on Lynch. Naomi hit the Rear View on Carmella to get the win after the ring was cleared.
– United States Champion Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn to retain his title
Both guys got big reactions. I had high expectations for them given their past matches together, but they never quite hit the big notes (probably to be expected at the end of a long tour).
Owens stalled at the beginning, leaving the ring and doing all that he could to delay the start of the match. He later took his belt and tried to walk away while Zayn had the upper hand, but Zayn caught him on the ramp and got him back in the ring.
Owens was able to eventually pick up the win. He cut a promo after talking about how hard the tour had been before turning on the crowd and calling everybody garbage.
– Baron Corbin defeated Mojo Rawley
Outside of a few people in the front row who really liked Rawley, the crowd was completely dead for most of this. Corbin won in a squash.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeated American Alpha and The Colons to retain their titles
The Usos and American Alpha got big ovations from the crowd, but the Colons didn’t really get much. The Usos and Colons teamed up early on, which led to friction when one of the Colons tried to pin Chad Gable. An Uso tagged himself in by slapping one of the Colons, leading to an extended comedy segment of the two tagging each other in with harder and harder strikes.
Gable did his face-in-peril thing for a really long time as the heel teams took turns beating on him. He eventually got the hot tag to Jason Jordan to a huge pop. Jordan cleared house and they were setting up a Colon for their finisher when the Usos interfered and got the pin to retain.
American Alpha got a big applause at the end when they were the only ones left in the ring.
– WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated Jinder Mahal (w/ The Singh Brothers) and AJ Styles to retain his title
Orton and Styles got big pops. Mahal got a lot of boos. He dominated a large stretch of the match after Styles had been dumped outside of the ring. The three guys took turns being on the outside, so the match flowed more like a normal singles match.
Styles had gotten back in the ring towards the end and gained the upper hand on Mahal. Mahal fought back, got Styles outside on the apron, and focused on him. The Singh Brothers tried to warn him that Orton was back in the ring, but he turned around into the RKO and Orton got the pin to retain.
After the match, Styles came back into the ring, picked up the belt, and stood with it for a long time without saying anything. He eventually gave it to Orton and raised his hand.
