List of current champions in WWE
At the top of WWE's championship hierarchy are the WWE Universal Championship on Raw and the WWE Championship on SmackDown. The Universal Championship is held by record two-time champion Brock Lesnar, who won the vacant title by defeating Braun Strowman at Crown Jewel on November 2, 2018; previous champion Roman Reigns had to relinquish the title due to illness (leukemia). The WWE Champion is Daniel Bryan, who is in his fourth reign. He won the title on the November 13, 2018, episode of "SmackDown Live" by defeating AJ Styles.
Backlash (2003)
The predominant match at Backlash was a WWE Championship match between John Cena and the reigning champion, Brock Lesnar; the main feud from the SmackDown! brand heading into the event. Their feud began on February 13 on "SmackDown!", when Lesnar and Cena last fought, which ended with Lesnar almost ending Cena's career by using the F-5 to propel his leg into a ring post. At WrestleMania XIX, Lesnar challenged for the WWE title held by then-champion Kurt Angle. Toward the end of the match, Lesnar botched a shooting star press when he underestimated the distance, slamming his head into Angle's side and ribcage. This stunned Lesnar and forced Angle to improvise the finish of the match. Lesnar then capitalized and regained the WWE title. On the April 3, 2003 episode of "SmackDown!", then-General Manager, Stephanie McMahon announced a WWE Championship tournament, where the winner would receive a WWE Championship match at Backlash against Lesnar. John Cena was involved in the tournament, where he defeated Chris Benoit in the finals on the April 17, 2003 episode of "SmackDown!" to earn a WWE Championship match at Backlash. The week before Backlash, the feud intensified during a main event match involving Lesnar and A-Train, where Cena interfered by breaking a pinfall attempt by Lesnar. After the match, Cena hit Lesnar with his trademark chain and the WWE Championship title belt.
The main match on the undercard from the Raw brand, was a Six-man tag team match involving the team of Triple H, Ric Flair, and Chris Jericho facing Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, and Booker T. The feud began on the March 31, 2003 episode of "Raw", in a backstage segment, where Booker T was being medically attended following his title match with Triple H at WrestleMania XIX, as Flair came into the scene to confront and taunt Booker T. Later that night, Jericho cut a promo, where he complained that he should have won his match against Michaels at WrestleMania XIX. After the promo, Booker T defeated Jericho via disqualification after Flair interfered in the match and attacked Booker T. Afterwards, Triple H came down to the ring, where he, Jericho, and Flair attacked Booker T simultaneously. The attack caused Michaels to come down to the ring to help Booker T to no avail, as Jericho locked Michaels in the Walls of Jericho and Triple H locked Booker T in an Indian deathlock. The following week on "Raw", Nash entered the feud during a main event tag team match between the team of Triple H and Jericho facing Michaels and Booker T. After Booker T pinned Triple H to earn the victory for his team, Flair came into the ring and attacked Booker T, followed by Jericho attacking Michaels with a steel chair. The attack led to the return of Nash, who had been sidelined with an injury, who attacked Jericho and Flair. After the turn of events, Triple H prepared to hit Nash with a sledgehammer, only to retreat the ring soon afterwards. The week later, Nash said that he wanted Shawn and Hunter to be friends again, only for Triple H to tell him that they should side together, as Shawn turned on Nash in 1994. Triple H and Flair fought against Booker T and the Hurricane and lost thanks to Shawn Michaels. Jericho then attacked Shawn and Nash came to the rescue, but accidentally hit Booker with the Sledgehammer. The feud intensified during the week before Backlash, during a main event World Heavyweight Championship match between Booker T, and the reigning champion, Triple H, with Michaels as the special guest referee. During the match, Michaels superkicked Triple H, resulting in Flair and Jericho coming into the ring and attacking Michaels and Booker T. Nash then came down to the ring, where he dispersed Jericho and Flair. He also helped Michaels and Triple H back to their feet, only to receive a low blow by Triple H.