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This one wound up main eventing the show, and after what happened in the Styles vs Nakamura match, that decision isn't all too surprising. Joe came out first to a decent reaction from a tired crowd, whereas Reigns barely even got any boos. That isn't a good thing, though, as it's clear to see that many fans just don't care about him anymore.
Before the bell, Joe hit Roman with a cheap shot before battering him with a series of knees and punches. After rolling to the outside, Joe put Reigns through the announcer's table, to the delight of the crowd. Joe then took him back into the ring, and we're ready for the match to get underway - officially, that is.
Joe completely controlled the opening portion of the match, although the crowd died down significantly following the early attack from Joe. We got a rest hold for quite some time, which led to some 'CM Punk' chants from the audience. It felt like we were building towards the big Roman comeback, with Joe telling him "nobody wants you, you just gotta go away". He wasn't entirely wrong.
The commentators said that Joe wasn't out here to win style points, which was confirmed by the fact he went straight back to working on the neck. The crowd started chanting 'boring', before Roman created separation - only for Joe to resume control almost immediately. With Roman on the outside, the Samoan Submission Machine hit a huge suicide dive which got a semi-decent pop from the crowd.
It seemed odd for them to work a match between these two guys like this, especially given how quickly the quality of Backlash dropped off prior to the main event. The pacing felt very off, with Joe continuing to work on the arm & neck of The Big Dog. They started slogging it out after Reigns broke free again, with a big boot from Reigns giving him the advantage - followed by a drive-by kick.
We got some more back and forth action, with Joe running straight into an unconvincing spinebuster from Roman that got a two-count. Reigns then went for the superman punch which was reversed into a sleeper hold, but Reigns broke out of it, only for his second drive-by attempt to be caught by Joe. After finally nailing the superman punch, Joe managed to get his shoulder up at two.
The Rusev Day chants returned as Reigns went for the spear, but Joe managed to land a big kick. Roman recovered and nailed the spear at the second attempt, but Joe got his foot on the bottom rope. Joe locked in the Coquina Clutch, but Roman reversed it into a pinfall attempt - only for another counter by Joe to get the lock. It looked like Reigns was out cold, but somehow, the referee didn't call it and the match continued.
Joe began to set up for the Muscle Buster, but Roman rolled through and nailed the spear - and that's all she wrote.
Roman Reigns defeated Samoa Joe via pinfall
Backlash wasn't the greatest pay-per-view in the world, and unfortunately, Roman Reigns celebrating as we roll off the air didn't help matters.
