Backlash 2018 Jeff Hardy v Randy Orton

Randy Orton will attempt to unseat United States Champion Jeff Hardy at WWE Backlash in what promises to be a knock-down, drag-out fight for the title.

By defeating Bobby Roode to capture the U.S. Title at WWE Fastlane, The Viper became a Grand Slam Champion, a milestone that includes 13 reigns as World Champion. Then, after losing the red, white and blue title in a Fatal 4-Way Match at WrestleMania, he wasted no time getting back in the game by overcoming Roode and Rusev in a fast-paced Triple Threat Match on SmackDown LIVE for the right to challenge his longstanding adversary Jinder Mahal at WWE Backlash. Enter Jeff Hardy.

On the same night that Mahal brought the star-spangled title to Raw as part of the 2018 Superstar Shake-up, Hardy emerged to conquer The Modern Day Maharaja and win the U.S. Championship, bringing it back to SmackDown LIVE when he officially became a member of Team Blue as part of the Shake-up one night later.

Though this sudden turn of events ruined Orton’s plans for a rematch against Mahal, he soon made it clear that he didn’t care who he defeated to win back the title. This Viper proved his point just moments after a tag team bout with Hardy against The Miz & Shelton Benjamin when he dropped the titleholder with a post-match RKO outta nowhere.