Jinder Mahal claims the WWE Championship at WWE Backlash. Photo by WWE.com
The Maharaja era has begun.
Jinder Mahal shocked the world as he took the WWE Championship from Randy Orton in the main event of WWE Backlash Monday (Manila time) in Chicago.
The Viper was on the brink of successfully defending his title after hitting an RKO out of nowhere, but the Singh Brothers pulled Mahal out of the ring. Orton then, attacked the two and nail them double rope-hung DDT, but that led to Mahal capitalizing on the distraction and hitting the Cobra clutch slam for the pinfall win.
The triumph put the exclamation point on Mahal’s surprising ascent to the top after being a part of the Superstar Shake-Up last month.
In other matches, Kevin Owens retained his United States Championship via count-out.
AJ Styles was about to put the self-proclaimed New Face of America through the announce table with a Styles Clash. Owens, though, escaped and Styles’ right leg fell in the monitor gap and got caught in the wires, which kept the Phenomenal One from getting back to the ring after the referee’s 10-count.
Shinsuke Nakamura also made his main roster debut with a victory over Dolph Ziggler, hitting a Kinshasa to silence the Showoff.
The Usos retained their SmackDown Live Tag Team Championships, fending off Breezango after Jey Uso superkicked Fandango.
The team of Carmella, Tamina, and Natalya also emerged triumphant in their six-women tag match over SmackDown Live Women’s Champion Naomi, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch, with Natalya forcing Lynch to tap out to her Sharpshooter.
Sami Zayn pulled off a victory over Baron Corbin, surprising the Lone Wolf with a Helluva Kick for the three-count.
Luke Harper topped his former Wyatt Family ally Erick Rowan with a superkick followed by an axe handle to the chest.
Tye Dillinger also beat Aiden English with a Tye Breaker in the kickoff show.