Backlash will be the first Smackdown exclusive pay-per-view since the Superstar Shakeup moved and mixed around a lot of talent. There will be a lot of first time encounters and some surprising match ups on the show. Will Backlash go above and beyond or will it fall short? Let’s find out.

Probably the least exciting show on the card tonight will have to be Sami Zayn vs Baron Corbin. While both men are good workers in the ring and have alright chemistry together there really isn’t any weight behind the rivalry, they’re not really fighting to achieve anything. Hopefully this just isn’t going to be another way for WWE to bury Sami. If booked right Sami can still lose to make Baron look like a monster, but it can also make Sami look strong.

The tag team division on Smackdown isn’t really anything to write home about, none of the teams are really being utilized like American Alpha who has seemed to almost fade into the background after losing the titles. The match at Backlash will see Tag Team Champions The Usos take on Breezango. Breezango is being booked very nicely in the past months with funny skits and pretty decisive wins over the other teams. This match can either be pretty good or really bad it’s hard to say which direction it will take, but one things for certain WWE has to start making the tag division matter and this is a good starting point for making this happen,

The only other non title singles match will see Dolph Ziggler take on  Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura debuted not long ago on an episode of Smackdown and jumped right into a feud with the newly turned heel, Dolph Ziggler, This was probably the best person WWE could have had Nakamura start a program off with. They are both great workers and it can be possible that they have great chemistry together. Shinsuke will more than likely be picking up the win here and moving on the bigger things, but this is a really nice starting point for his main roster debut.

On to what will probably end up being the best match of the night. Kevin Owens will be defending his US Championship against a newly turned face AJ Styles. Both of these men are amazing wrestlers, with Styles being said to be one of the best in the world right now. It’s a toss up on who will win, but these guys are going to tear the house down and put on easily the best match of the night.  

Easily the most interesting matchup of the night is going to see WWE Champion Randy Orton defend his title against challenger Jinder Mahal. It was shocking when Jinder won the match to become number one contender for the title, but it’s nice to see WWE trying new stuff out, but no one is really expecting this match to be anything too great. It would be nice to see Jinder win and a nice change of pace for WWE, but that’s unlikely.

Backlash looks to be a pretty good pay-per-view. All that’s left to do is sit back and see what WWE comes up with.