The event was also notable for the televised main roster in-ring debut of Shinsuke Nakamura, who defeated Dolph Ziggler in the opening bout.

[7] At WrestleMania 33, Randy Orton defeated Bray Wyatt to win his ninth WWE Championship.

[10] On the April 18 episode of SmackDown, Jinder Mahal, who had moved over from Raw, defeated Dolph Ziggler, Mojo Rawley, Erick Rowan, Luke Harper, and Sami Zayn, who also moved over from Raw, in a six-pack challenge to become the number one contender for the WWE Championship at Backlash.

[14] On the May 9 episode, Orton was interrupted by Mahal, who stated that he would be taking the championship back to his home country of India where they would erect a statue of him.

[16] At WrestleMania 33, Kevin Owens defeated Chris Jericho to win his first United States Championship.

Also on the April 11 episode of SmackDown, AJ Styles defeated Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin in a triple threat match to earn an opportunity for the United States Championship at Backlash.

[18] Over the next couple of weeks, Styles defeated Corbin in back-to-back matches, while Owens sat at ringside on commentary.

[13] On the following episode of SmackDown, however, Owens defeated Jericho to regain the title, making him the defending champion against Styles at Backlash.

[11] On the April 25 episode of SmackDown, Breezango (Fandango and Tyler Breeze) won a Beat the Clock Challenge to become number one contenders: American Alpha defeated The Colóns, but Breezango defeated The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) in a shorter time, thus earning a title opportunity at Backlash.

[12] On the April 4 episode of SmackDown, NXT's Shinsuke Nakamura made his main roster debut by interrupting The Miz and Maryse,[9] who were both transferred to Raw the following week.

[11] The following week, Flair and Naomi's title match ended after they were both attacked by Natalya, Tamina, and Carmella.

[12] On the May 2 episode, Flair, now a face, was attacked backstage by the three heels, now calling themselves The Welcoming Committee, who also tried to convince Becky Lynch to join them.

Later, after some arguing backstage, Flair, Naomi, and Lynch got on the same page, and were scheduled to face The Welcoming Committee at Backlash.

[10] Rowan and Harper then both competed in the WWE Championship number one contender's six-pack challenge, but were unsuccessful.

[15] The following week on Talking Smack, Rowan said that he disliked the fact that Harper had left The Wyatt Family.

[20] On the April 4 episode of SmackDown, NXT's Tye Dillinger made his main roster debut and defeated Curt Hawkins, who was transferred to the Raw brand the following week.

In the end, Nakamura performed an Inverted Exploder Suplex and a "Kinshasa" on Ziggler to win the match.

[23] Later, SmackDown Women's Champion Naomi, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch faced The Welcoming Committee (Natalya, Tamina, and Carmella).

Orton performed Belly-to-Back Suplexes onto the announce tables and an Elevated DDT on the Singh Brothers.

[23] On the post-Backlash SmackDown, Commissioner Shane McMahon announced that Randy Orton invoked his championship rematch against Jinder Mahal for Money in the Bank.

[24] Shane McMahon also announced the five participants for the Money in the Bank ladder match at Money in the Bank with the contract being for a WWE Championship match: AJ Styles, Baron Corbin, Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, and Shinsuke Nakamura.

United States Champion Kevin Owens complained that he should also be in the match since he defeated Styles at Backlash.

Later backstage, Natalya asked Shane McMahon for a SmackDown Women's Championship match, followed by Carmella, Becky, Tamina, and Charlotte, who each felt that they should have a title opportunity.

Shane then scheduled an elimination fatal five-way between them for the next SmackDown where the winner would face Naomi for the title at Money in the Bank.