WWE Backlash 2017: 5 stats and facts you must know
WWE Backlash is in the books and with it, a whole lot of hoopla, disbelief and shock at Jinder Mahal pulling off the heist of the century and capturing the WWE Championship against Randy Orton.
Admittedly, the Maharaja had help from his entourage, but that still doesn’t take away from the fact that he managed to wrest the most prestigious title in pro wrestling away from a bonafide future Hall of Famer.
And even apart from the main event, the show was surprisingly engaging considering that some felt the build up to the pay-per-view had been rather shoddy and underdone.
Nakamura had a solid in-ring debut, Breezango thoroughly entertained albeit in a losing cause, Sami Zayn bucked the odds once again, and Kevin Owens can still cling on to the moniker, ‘The Face of America’, for now.
Needless to mention, the Chicago crowd was lit, as usual, providing an electric atmosphere for the first SmackDown exclusive pay-per-view since the Superstar Shakeup.
But enough about what we know...what about the things about Backlash that we weren’t aware of? What manner of historical significance did yesterday’s pay-per-view hold, at least on paper?
This is where we run through all that and more, as we list out some of the facts about WWE Backlash 2017 that you need to know!
#1 Randy Orton overtakes Bret Hart
Randy Orton may have lost his WWE strap to the Maharaja, but heading into Backlash with the Title still meant that he usurped Brett Hart, who was in the 6th spot, on the list of longest cumulative reigns as WWE Champion.
Orton has held the belt for 659 days, meaning that only Pedro Morales, John Cena, Bob Backlund, Hulk Hogan and Bruno Sammartino are ahead of him on the list. An interesting fact to note here may be that although Orton and Cena are only separated by 3 Title reigns (13 and 16), Cena has held the top prize for almost twice as long with a cumulative total of 1257 days as WWE Champion.
Of course, the legendary Bruno Sammartino heads the pile with 4040 days as Champion. Now that’s a record that we can safely say, will never be surpassed.