Sunday night's WWE "Backlash" 2017 results are now in the history books and they'll include mention of a brand new champion. "The Maharaja" himself, Jinder Mahal, will leave Chicago's Allstate Arena as the brand new WWE World Champion. Jinder shocked the world by hitting his finisher on Randy Orton just moments after The Viper had taken out The Singh Brothers. The latest events from the WWE pay-per-view will certainly take a bit of time to sink in for members of the WWE Universe as the next "SmackDown Live" arrives. Here's a recap of Sunday's WWE "Backlash" PPV results, including the winners and losers.
'Backlash' match results
On the "Kickoff Show" "Perfect 10" Tye Dillinger collected the win that most fans expected, with the fans getting into the act as usual. It was a good, free match to get fans hyped. However, the pay-per-view started off with the man everyone had been waiting for, Shinsuke Nakamura.
In Nakamura's main roster debut match, he got to take on "The Showoff" Dolph Ziggler. While both men had some entertaining spots in the match, Shinsuke didn't come away looking as strong as he might have in a more convincingly booked win. However, he ultimately fought through Dolph's big finishers and hit his own, the running knee for the win.
Tyler Breeze and Fandango gave the fans their comedy for the night as they took on The Usos for the tag titles.
Breeze incorporated several disguises into the routine, as he fought as a janitor with a mop and then as an elderly grandmother at different points of the match. Eventually, things got serious, but the Usos had a trick up their sleeve and pulled off a doubleteam heel move to shove Fandango off the corner. That allowed them to escape with their titles.
The women's division got a bit of time to shine, but basically showed a continuation of events from "SmackDown Live." It ultimately ended like those sorts of matches do, with everyone getting involved toward the end. However, Natalya got the upper hand late on Becky, putting her into a Sharpshooter to make "The Lass Kicker" tap out.
That allowed the "Welcoming Committee" to gloat on the ramp.
In a surprising match, Sami Zayn showed why he is that underdog everyone doubts. There were plenty of people, this writer included, who weren't expecting him to be victorious against Baron Corbin. However, Zayn was able to outlast and outsmart his opponent to get the pinfall win in the end. After the PPV when on "Talking Smack," Zayn even mentioned that he might participate in the "Money in the Bank" ladder match that's on the way for a shot at the title.
In other single's action, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan went at it. Down the stretch of their bout, they exchanged strikes in the center of the ring. Rowan tried to hit a power bomb but Harper reversed it for a Hurricanrana and then a superkick.
After another superkick, Rowan tried to get himself revved up, but Harper hit him with the discus clothesline for the winning pinfall. Not the greatest of matches, but fans will now wait to see where WWE goes next with these two former Wyatt Family members.
Big Championship matches
In the two championship bouts, fans got a great match with a not-so-great finish, and then a shocking winner in the other. AJ Styles and Kevin Owens put on probably the match of the night, although there are fans who probably feel let down by the ending. Styles and Owens were battling outside the ring as the ref was counting them out. Styles went for a Styles Clash only to have Owens manage to stick AJ's hurt leg in an opening on the table.
Styles became stuck in wires and cables that were in there and couldn't get back to the ring. With that, Owens retained his United States title. He would go back to the outside and kick Styles in the back of the head to add insult to injury.
The main event provided a major shocker to WWE fans as Randy Orton had the World Championship on the line against former mid-carder Jinder Mahal. The Singh Brothers were at ringside and played an important part down the stretch. At one point, Orton destroyed the duo, tossing them onto and over the commentary tables outside the ring. The duo continued trying to intefere, but Orton grabbed both on the apron and hit a double draping DDT. However, his opponent was waiting behind him and grabbed Randy for a Cobra Clutch slam finisher.
The camera shots after Jinder won the title captured the disbelief of fans in the arena, showing just how much of a shocker this latest event was. Nobody had ever seen Jinder becoming a No. 1 contender as fast as he did, let alone actually winning the championship. However, WWE is a place where shocking things happen, including The Undertaker losing at "WrestleMania" and "The Maharaja" becoming the new WWE Champion.
Overall, the pay-per-view delivered some entertaining moments, and surprise winners. In particular, the Styles vs. Owens match stood out overall, while the tag-team match was an entertaining comedy spot. The final events of the night gave fans the kind of shocker that is unexpected within WWE, which made it worth watching.
WWE fans, what did you think of the WWE "Backlash" 2017 pay-per-view on Sunday night?