Detailed Results
After Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan helped their Riott Squad leader Ruby Riott pick up the win over Bayley on the Backlash Kickoff, the co-branded pay-per-view gets underway with gold on the line as Seth Rollins would defend the Intercontinental Championship against “The A-Lister” The Miz. During the match, The Miz would manage to avoid the Curb Stomp of Seth Rollins before both champion and challenger would ultimately find themselves on the ring apron. This is where Seth would go for a knee to the face of The Miz, but The Miz would move out of the way and Rollins would slam his knee into the ring post! The Miz is quick to pounce on the injured knee, locking in the Figure-Four Leg Lock but Rollins is able to counter into a submission of his own but the challenger counters back into the Figure-Four before Seth gets to the ropes to force the break. Shortly after this, The Miz would capitalize on Seth’s weakened knee, scoring with the Skull Crushing Finale but the champion kicks out at the last second!
Rollins then goes for his superplex into the Falcon Arrow but, after Seth lands the superplex, the Falcon Arrow would prove too much for Seth’s knee to handle and The Miz would take advantage, hitting another Skull Crushing Finale, but Rollins kicks out again! The Miz then looks for the Skull Crushing Finale off of the second rope, but Seth would fight off The Miz before Rollins looks for the Curb Stomp off of the second rope but The Miz would get out of the way. Champion and challenger then each try for a roll-up before Rollins puts The Miz down with the Curb Stomp, struggling to make the cover as Seth clutches his knee as Rollins scores the three-count to successfully retain the Intercontinental Title in an awesome opener.
In a rematch from WrestleMania, former best friends would face off at Backlash as Nia Jax would defend the RAW Women’s Title against the self-proclaimed “Goddess” Alexa Bliss. Throughout the match, Alexa Bliss would do everything in her power to try and topple her opponent but, in the end, it was Nia Jax catching the challenger out of mid-air, planting Alexa with the Samoan Drop, pinning Alexa to retain the RAW Women’s Title.
The United States Championship would then be on the line at Backlash as Jeff Hardy would defend the prestigious championship against a familiar rival, “The Viper” Randy Orton. In the end, it was Jeff Hardy avoiding the RKO before scoring with the Twist of Fate and the Swanton Bomb, pinning Randy Orton to pick up the win and successfully retain the United States Title.
Elias would then make a special appearance at Backlash, trying his best to perform for the Newark crowd. However, Elias would be interrupted by The New Day, Rusev Day, and No Way Jose, who leads a conga line that also features Titus O’Neil, Apollo Crews, Dana Brooke, and Breezango. Elias’ night then goes from bad to worse as Elias would be ambushed by Bobby Roode as “The Glorious One” plants Elias with the Glorious DDT. Roode then dances to the back with No Way Jose, The New Day, Titus O’Neil, Apollo Crews, Dana Brooke, and Breezango.
In his first one-on-one pay-per-view match in three years, Backlash would then see Daniel Bryan go one-on-one with the seven-footer Big Cass. Big Cass would dominate much of the match but Daniel Bryan would hang in there, ultimately bringing the seven-footer down and locking in the Yes Lock, making Big Cass tap out to pick up the win. After the match, Big Cass would attack Daniel Bryan from behind, tossing Daniel around the ringside area before Cass brings Daniel back into the ring. Cass then sizes Bryan up before blasting Daniel with the big boot. The seven-footer then leaves the ring with a smile on his face.
The SmackDown Women’s Title would then be on the line at Backlash as Carmella would make her first defense of the SmackDown Women’s Title against the woman she beat for the title, Charlotte Flair. During the match, Charlotte Flair would go for one of her signature moonsaults but Carmella would move out of the way and the challenger would land hard on her left knee. The champion is quick to capitalize, kicking Charlotte in the knee before stacking Charlotte up for the three-count to retain the SmackDown Women’s Title.
The top prize in WWE would then be defended at Backlash as “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles would defend the WWE Championship against “The Artist” Shinsuke Nakamura in a No Disqualification Match. After dominating AJ Styles in and out of the ring for the majority of the match but still not managing to put Styles away, Shinsuke Nakamura would introduce a steel chair into the match as Nakamura would slam the champion on the steel with a reverse exploder suplex but AJ would kick out. Nakamura then sizes Styles up for the Kinshasa, but as the challenger charges at the champion, AJ would hurl the steel chair right into the knees of Nakamura! Unfortunately for AJ, the chair would bounce off of Nakamura’s knees and catch the champion right in the face, bloodying AJ’s cheek. Styles then locks in the Calf Crusher on Nakamura but the challenger counters before AJ counters into an attempted Styles Clash. However, Nakamura would avoid the Styles Clash before AJ tries again for the Styles Clash but Nakamura escapes before striking with a low blow to the champion. However, this time, AJ would have a low blow in return for Nakamura, leaving both competitors down in the ring! Styles and Nakamura then make it back to their feet, trading shots in the middle of the ring before both men hit low blows on each other at the same time. This would leave both Styles and Nakamura laid out in the ring, both unable to answer the referee’s ten-count as the heated contest ends in a double count-out, meaning that AJ retains the WWE Title.
In tag team action, “The Monster Among Men” Braun Strowman would team with “The Dominator” Bobby Lashley to face Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn at Backlash. During the match, the friendship between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn would hit a roadblock as the two would bicker and repeatedly throw each other into the ring before Sami slaps Owens across the face. Sami then makes a quick retreat from the ring, looking on as Bobby Lashley slams Kevin Owens with a stalling suplex, pinning Owens to pick up the win for his team. After the match, the two powerhouses were not through with Kevin Owens as Braun Strowman would bring Owens back into the ring, planting Owens with the running powerslam. Sami then checks on Owens on the outside and this would give Braun the opportunity to get his hands on Sami Zayn as Strowman would bring Sami back into the ring as well, planting Sami with a running powerslam as well! Braun and Bobby then stand tall in the ring, having laid waste to Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn.
Then it was time for the main event as the intense rivalry between Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe would be renewed at Backlash as “The Big Dog” Roman Reigns would go one-on-one with “The Destroyer” Samoa Joe. Before the match can begin, Samoa Joe would catch Roman Reigns with a headbutt before the battle spills to the outside and this is where Joe would slam Reigns through the Spanish announce table with the uranage! Joe then hurls Reigns over the announce table before tossing “The Big Dog” over the French announce table as well! “The Destroyer” then rolls Roman back into the ring, waiting as the referee checks on Reigns. Roman would tell the referee that he is ready to fight so the referee calls for the bell as the match officially gets underway. During the match, Roman Reigns would score with the Spear to Samoa Joe but Joe was able to get his foot on the bottom rope to avoid defeat. Joe then locks in the Coquina Clutch but, after Roman tries to use the submission move to pin Joe, Joe would let go of the hold before locking in the Coquina Clutch again with Roman managing to get to the bottom rope to force the break. Roman then manages to avoid the Muscle Buster before “The Big Dog” connects with another Spear, this time keeping Samoa Joe down for the three-count as Roman Reigns picks up the win.
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