WWE Backlash 2017 match times stats breakdown

WWE's Backlash 2017 lasted for 2 hours 50 minutes and 1 second (2h 50m 01s). Here is a breakdown of the timing for every single second of the show, in chronological order.

The matches are in bold. The "pre-match" segments include video packages, entrances, ring introductions, and any verbal promos that occur right before a match officially begins. The "post-match" segments include any celebrations, replays, angles, attacks, or promos that occur right after a match is finished.

Match Times

The 7 matches combined for a total time of 1h 35m 38s. This means that 56.2% of the show was devoted to bell-to-bell action. This is the 25th highest percentage in this category out of the 58 WWE pay-per-view (PPV) events in my data set, which begins with Royal Rumble 2013.

Here is the sorted list of match times for Backlash 2017. This also includes where each match time ranks out of all 415 matches in my data set.

• 21m 05s: Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles (73rd longest out of 415 matches)
• 15m 50s: Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal (133rd)
• 15m 50s: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Dolph Ziggler (133rd)
• 14m 37s: Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin (153rd)
• 10m 02s: Naomi, Becky, Charlotte vs. Natalya, Tamina, Carmella (259th)
• 9m 18s: The Usos vs. Breezango (284th)
• 8m 56s: Luke Harper vs. Erick Rowan (290th)

Pre-match Segments

The pre-match segments combined for a total time of 42m 41s, which is 25.1% of the show. This is the 17th highest percentage in this category out of the 58 events in my data set.

Here is the sorted list of pre-match segment time for all 7 matches. For some context, keep in mind that the median pre-match segment time in my data set is 5m 23s and the average time is 6m 03s.

• 10m 05s: Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal
• 7m 33s: Naomi, Becky, Charlotte vs. Natalya, Tamina, Carmella
• 6m 53s: Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles
• 6m 22s: The Usos vs. Breezango
• 5m 05s: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Dolph Ziggler
• 4m 34s: Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin
• 2m 09s: Luke Harper vs. Erick Rowan

Two matches received the special treatment of a dedicated video package right before superstar entrances. The videos hyping KO's match (2m 29s) and Mahal's match (2m 42s) combined to take up 5m 11s of the pre-match segment time.

Shinsuke Nakamura’s entrance lasted 2m 38s.

Post-match Segments

The post-match segments combined for a total time of 15m 03s, which is 8.9% of the show. This is the 33rd highest percentage in this category out of the 58 events in my data set.

Here is the sorted list of the post-match segment time for all 7 matches. For some context, keep in mind that the median post-match segment time in my data set is 1m 57s and the average time is 2m 27s.

• 4m 10s: Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal
• 3m 21s: Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles
• 2m 11s: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Dolph Ziggler
• 1m 44s: Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin
• 1m 37s: The Usos vs. Breezango
• 1m 17s: Naomi, Becky, Charlotte vs. Natalya, Tamina, Carmella
• 0m 43s: Luke Harper vs. Erick Rowan

Miscellaneous Segments

That leaves about 9.8% (16m 39s) of the show for everything else. This is the 46th highest percentage in this category out of the 58 events in my data set.

Most of these miscellaneous segments are crammed into the time after one post-match segment ends and before the next pre-match segment begins. Backlash 2017 included 7 different blocks of miscellaneous segments. Here is how long each block lasted, in chronological order:

• Block 1: 3m 28s (Then Now Forever; Opening video and pyro)
• Block 2: 1m 24s (Ads for Extreme Rules & Cricket Wireless; Backstage glance at AJ)
• Block 3: 1m 59s (Ad for WWE Network; Filler commentary)
• Block 4: 4m 40s (UpUpDownDown plays Rocket League; Backstage Mahal promo)
• Block 5: 2m 00s (Ads for WWE Shop & Rocket League; Plug for PPV theme song)
• Block 6: 1m 23s (Recap of Kickoff match; Hype for Talking Smack)
• Block 7: 1m 45s (#WWEHero video; Hype for Extreme Rules)

Summary

Here is a listing of how much total show time was allocated for each match when you add up all 3 components: pre-match time, match time, and post-match time. This list also includes where each total time ranks among the 415 entries in my data set.

• 31m 19s: Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles (83rd longest out of 415 entries)
• 30m 05s: Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal (97th)
• 23m 06s: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Dolph Ziggler (163rd)
• 20m 55s: Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin (192nd)
• 18m 52s: Naomi, Becky, Charlotte vs. Natalya, Tamina, Carmella (221st)
• 17m 17s: The Usos vs. Breezango (251st)
• 11m 48s: Luke Harper vs. Erick Rowan (355th)

Now here is a look at the "Match Time Percentage" for each match. For any given match, this percentage shows how the match time compares to the combined pre-match and post-match segment time. For some context, it's good to know that the median result here since 2013 is 63.0%.

(Here's an example calculation: an entry with a match time of 6m 00s, pre-match time of 3m 00s, and a post-match time of 1m 00s has a score of 60.0%, because the match time of 6m 00s is 60% of the total sum of 10m 00s for all three components.)

• 75.7%: Luke Harper vs. Erick Rowan
• 69.9%: Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin
• 68.5%: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Dolph Ziggler
• 67.3%: Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles
• 53.8%: The Usos vs. Breezango
• 53.2%: Naomi, Becky, Charlotte vs. Natalya, Tamina, Carmella
• 52.6%: Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal

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Final Results for Backlash 2017

Match - 56.2% - 1h 35m 38s

Pre-match - 25.1% - 42m 41s

Post-match - 8.9% - 15m 03s

Miscellaneous - 9.8% - 16m 39s