What’s the story?
Jinder Mahal just defeated Randy Orton at Backlash to become the WWE Champion, but according to our sources, the Maharaja was not originally scheduled to win the title. Things changed in a last-minute decision as Jinder walked away with the title in hand. The big question is, what was the real reason behind his victory?
In case you didn’t know...
Jinder Mahal became the #1 Contender for the WWE Championship after winning a Six-pack challenge match. Mahal won thanks to the help of the Singh Brothers and some might say it was due to their sacrifice that he is now WWE Champion.
The heart of the matter
Jinder Mahal just pulled the coup of the century in the WWE, after he beat the 13-time WWE Champion Randy Orton for the title. However, our sources originally indicated that this was not supposed to be the case and that Orton was meant to have a lengthy reign before losing the title at Money In the Bank to the ‘Bulgarian Brute’ Rusev.
Things underwent a drastic change on Tuesday when Rusev’s planned return was shelved with no explanation on TV as to why. It is believed the reason for that centred around SmackDown’s lead writer, Ryan Ward, who still wanted Rusev to win Money In the Bank but simultaneously wished to extend the Mahal-Orton feud.
Therefore, the WWE did not put Rusev on TV to set up a match with Orton, until they had decided where they were going.
On Friday, the WWE found a way to not only extend the feud but to also put the belt on Mahal’s shoulder.
However, things took another twist on Sunday morning, when the promotion decided to keep the championship with the Viper and proceed with the Orton-Rusev feud. They even asked Rusev to fly out to Chicago. Things took another twist yet again two hours before the match and the WWE decided that Jinder would be WWE Champion after all.
So in reality, the reason for Mahal becoming the champion was indecisiveness on the WWE’s behalf.
What’s next?
If the WWE do decide to extend the feud between Mahal and Orton, we could see the two clash over the next couple of weeks and if they do decide to introduce Rusev into the fray, maybe we could see a Triple-threat match for the title at Money In the Bank between the ‘Maharaja’, the ‘Viper’ and the ‘Bulgarian Brute’.
Author’s take
Personally, I couldn’t be happier with the fact that Jinder Mahal is the new WWE Champion because if I am being honest Orton’s title run was turning stale and boring. If things go well, then Rusev will be introduced into the feud and we could see a three-way race for the title at Money In the Bank.
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