Ranking All 7 WWE SmackDown PPVs Since the Brand Split
By Adam O'Brien
WWE.com
7. Backlash 2017
SmackDown Live went into WrestleMania with a reputation for being the superior brand, which is why it was so important to uphold that pattern as we moved past the annual spectacle. With April’s “Superstar Shake-Up” shifting some names around, there was a clear opportunity for the brand to maintain its popularity and stay fresh.
That’s a lot easier said than done, however, as SmackDown delivered its worst brand-exclusive pay-per-view thus far seven weeks after WrestleMania 33. The brand’s second Backlash event since the draft looked terrific on paper, but a lot of the matches that promised to be outstanding unfortunately fell a little bit flat.
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- SmackDown reminded us of how pointless the brand split is
We kicked things off with Shinsuke Nakamura’s highly-anticipated debut match, after almost two months of teasing with Dolph Ziggler. While the match was good, it didn’t come close to matching the hype that surrounded it – given how slow the bout would end up being for a debut. It would be a somewhat disappointing first match for Nakamura, a pattern that continued into the would-be Match of the Night.
AJ Styles and Kevin Owens tore the place down in a tremendous match that certainly lived up to expectations, but fans felt cheated out of a clean finish when Owens would retain via count-out after getting Styles all caught up in the announce table.
A six-woman tag match failed to impress, with Naomi failing to live up to her role as champion due to the fact that she didn’t defend the strap. The highlight of the evening would be Sami Zayn’s surprise victory over Baron Corbin, given how many times Zayn has been used to put over those poised above him for a push.
That wouldn’t be enough to redeem the event, however, as the main event would prove that the WWE relied solely on controversy for this event to get over. Jinder Mahal’s jaw-dropping victory of the WWE Championship has been one of 2017’s biggest talking points so far given the man went from being no more than a jobber on Raw to being the face of SmackDown Live. Even so, the main event was uninteresting and didn’t get people talking until the referee counted three.