The 2016 Backlash was the 12th Backlash professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's SmackDown brand division. The event took place on September 11, 2016, at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia. It was the first Backlash held since the 2009 event, subsequently making it the first to livestream on WWE's online streaming service, the WWE Network, which launched in 2014, and it was the only Backlash to be held in September. Following the reintroduction of the brand extension in July 2016, Backlash was the first brand-exclusive PPV of the second brand split and was the first brand-exclusive PPV held since the 2007 No Way Out. The original concept of Backlash was based on the backlash of WrestleMania, however, the 2016 event dropped this theme as it was instead held after that year's SummerSlam—the post-WrestleMania theme would return with the 2021 event.

Seven professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's card, and an additional one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, AJ Styles defeated Dean Ambrose to win the WWE World Championship, making him the first wrestler since Kurt Angle to hold world championships in WWE, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. The event also determined the inaugural champions for SmackDown's women's and tag team divisions, which were won by Becky Lynch and the team of Heath Slater and Rhyno, respectively.

Unlike a large majority of WWE pay-per-view events, the 2016 Backlash did not see a DVD or Blu-ray release.

Backlash is a pay-per-view (PPV) event that was established by WWE in 1999. It was held annually from 1999 to 2009, however, in 2010, Backlash was discontinued and replaced by Extreme Rules—in April 2011, the promotion ceased going by its full name of World Wrestling Entertainment, with "WWE" becoming an orphaned initialism. In August 2011, WWE ended the first brand extension, but in mid-2016, the brand split was revived and the roster was again divided between the Raw and SmackDown brands where the wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform. WWE also brought back brand-exclusive PPVs, and due to the need for more PPV events, on July 25, 2016, Backlash was reinstated to be held exclusively for the SmackDown brand. As a result, it was WWE's first brand-exclusive PPV of the second brand split and was the 12th Backlash. Tickets went on sale July 30 through Ticketmaster.

The original concept of the pay-per-view was based around the backlash from WWE's flagship event, WrestleMania. The 2016 Backlash, however, was scheduled to be held on September 11, 2016, at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia, thus ending its previous tradition of being the post-WrestleMania PPV. The event was instead held after SummerSlam that year. It was the first and so far only Backlash to be held in September. In addition to traditional PPV, the event was also livestreamed on the WWE Network, which is WWE's online streaming service that launched in February 2014.

The event comprised eight matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the SmackDown brand, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television show, SmackDown Live.

At SummerSlam, Dean Ambrose retained the WWE World Championship against Dolph Ziggler, while AJ Styles defeated John Cena. On the following SmackDown, Styles taunted Ziggler about his loss, provoking him to attack Styles. Later, Styles was declared the no. 1 contender for the WWE World Championship at Backlash, which prompted Ziggler to come out to demand a shot at the title. Styles would defeat Ziggler in the main event of the August 23 episode of SmackDown, to prevent the title match from being turned into a triple threat match involving Ziggler.

At the 2016 WWE Draft, WWE Women's Champion Charlotte was drafted to Raw, leaving SmackDown without a women's championship. On the August 23 episode of SmackDown, the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship was unveiled, and a six-pack elimination challenge between Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, Carmella, Naomi, Natalya, and Nikki Bella was slated for Backlash to crown the inaugural champion. Bella had returned from injury two nights before at SummerSlam, when she had joined Natalya and Alexa Bliss to replace the suspended Eva Marie in a winning effort against Becky Lynch, Carmella, and Naomi. Nikki was set to face Carmella following the unveiling of the title, whom she had pinned at SummerSlam. Instead, however, Carmella turned villainous by attacking Nikki during a pre-match interview and again during Talking Smack, SmackDown's aftershow.