Every WWE Backlash World Title Match Ranked From Worst To Best
Highs and lows from the post-Mania shows.
Jinder Mahal's sudden elevation to WWE Title contender may be the most contentious booking decision the company has made in decades.
Not since John Bradshaw Layfield's one week transformation from ailing tag team cowboy to millionaire number one contender in 2004 has a title challenger been received with such bewilderment from the audience at large.
Back then, the company went a step further and put Eddie Guerrero's WWE Championship on the re-christened 'JBL' at Layfield's second attempt. As unthinkable as it may have seemed during his three minute Monday Night Raw loss to Sami Zayn just over one month ago, Jinder may earn similar reward.
WWE have made no secret of their efforts to penetrate a burgeoning Indian market also courted by Impact Wrestling, and Mahal atop the blue brand offers limitless promotional potential.
In elevating 'The Maharaja', the company's first hurdle may be their biggest. With his Backlash pay-per-view title shot set to occur in Chicago, Mahal is likely to face fierce opposition from a traditionally boisterous crowd. Furthermore, his opponent Randy Orton doesn't fit the ideal standard for a 'Windy City' favourite. If the match collapses, Jinder's momentum may fall with it.
It's an awful lot of pressure for both to overcome, but it's well-trodden ground for all company greats. In the 18 years since it's inception, Backlash has played host to some outstanding title clashes as well as some regrettable stinkers. Just where will Orton and Mahal end up amongst these era-defining contests?
15. The Two-Man Power Trip Vs Undertaker & Kane (2001)
Trapped within the inertia of Stone Cold Steve Austin's heel turn, the Two-Man Power Trip combo of 'The Rattlesnake' and Triple H are fondly remembered for their merciless beatdowns of the babyface headliners in mid-2001, but nostalgia tints what was actually a rather destructive and mishandled run.
This high stakes tag team match against The Undertaker and Kane was symbolic of the problems surrounding the unit.
Triple H was inarguably the best in-ring performer in North America at the time, assembling a litany of phenomenal encounters over the prior 18 months that had cemented him in the upper echelon. But the decision to give him Intercontinental Title for this all-belts clash brought out the worst in his detrimental style. Trading the secondary strap with Jeff Hardy, Hunter had gobbled up the popular North Carolinian in the programme, with similar abuse dished out to the other 'Team Extreme' members by Austin.
'The Rattlesnake' himself was currently floating between malevolent champion and lumbering snickering sidekick to 'The Game', who cleverly positioned himself as the de-facto muscle of the team.
'The Brothers of Destruction' didn't help things. Entering the match as tag team champions simply to drop the gold to the heels, Undertaker in particular showed visible disinterest, with a Kane character fans had grown weary of forced to do the heavy lifting for the duo. Just one month on from the greatest WrestleMania of all time, the product already looked a shadow of it's former self.