Backlash (2017)
The 2017 Backlash was the 13th Backlash professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's SmackDown brand division. The event took place on May 21, 2017, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. It was only the second Backlash event to be held in the Allstate Arena, after the 2001 event.
| Backlash | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Promotional poster featuring Shinsuke Nakamura | |||
| Promotion | WWE | ||
| Brand(s) | SmackDown | ||
| Date | May 21, 2017 | ||
| City | Rosemont, Illinois | ||
| Venue | Allstate Arena | ||
| Attendance | 9,800 | ||
| WWE Network event chronology | |||
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| Backlash chronology | |||
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Eight matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Jinder Mahal defeated Randy Orton to win his first WWE Championship, becoming the first wrestler of Indian descent to win the title. In other prominent matches, Kevin Owens retained the United States Championship against AJ Styles, and The Usos defeated Breezango to retain the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. The event was also notable for the televised main roster in-ring debut of Shinsuke Nakamura, who defeated Dolph Ziggler in the opening bout.