WWE Backlash: Jinder Mahal becomes WWE Champion

May 22 (UPI) -- Jinder Mahal made good on his promise to Randy Orton Sunday at Backlash when he defeated The Viper to become the new WWE Champion.

The main event of the night, Mahal was able to overcome an early ambush by Orton inside the ring before the match could officially start. Frustrated with how Mahal has been getting the upper hand in recent weeks on Smackdown Live, Orton looked to punish The Maharaja and his henchmen, The Singh Brothers.

The Singh Brothers saved Mahal from being pinned by Orton following an RKO and then the 13-time world champion directed his attention towards Mahal's followers outside the ring.

After a brutal beatdown that ended with a double hanging DDT on both brothers, Mahal sneaked back into the ring to nail a distracted Orton with The Khallas for the three count. As the crowd looked on in shock, Mahal raised the WWE Championship in celebration throughout the arena.

Also during Backlash, Kevin Owens defended his United States Championship against AJ Styles in a hard-hitting competitive bout that began to favor the champ after The Phenomenal One was grounded with a tweaked knee.

Owens would then spend the match focusing on Styles' injured knee that prevented him from performing his signature maneuver, the Phenomenal Forearm. As the battle raged on outside the ring, Styles then attempted a Styles Clash atop the commentary table before Owens was able to slip away after trapping his opponents leg inside a monitor hole.

The self-proclaimed New Face of America then quickly rushed back into the ring as Styles was counted out by the referee as he was unable to break free of the table. Afterwards, Styles was seen looking frustrated as limped to the back with help from WWE officials.

The Smackdown-exclusive event also featured Shinsuke Nakamura defeating Dolph Ziggler, The Usos retaining their Smackdown Tag Team Championships against Breezango in a comedic match that featured Tyler Breeze attempting to disguise himself as a janitor and then as a grandmother, Sami Zayn defeating Baron Corbin, Luke Harper defeating Erick Rowan and Natalya, Carmella and Tamina coming out on top against Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Smackdown Women's Champion Naomi.