Reported details of WWE's decision for the SummerSlam title match revealed 

Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton are all set to clash in a WWE Championship match at SummerSlam and WWE made significant strides with regards to the storyline on the latest episode of WWE RAW.

The challenger and champion cut solid promos to shape the story of their feud, and the company now has a high-profile title match with the potential to steal the show at SummerSlam.

However, we may have never been given a Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton programme had the original plans come to fruition.

Tom Colohue revealed on the latest edition of the Dropkick DiSKussions podcast that the decision to have Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre was made only a week or two ago. However, the discussions of booking the match got underway immediately after 'The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever' at Backlash.

Once the WWE understood the full scope of Edge's injury, the creative team worked towards coming up with another backup plan.

Randy Orton wanted to work with WWE NXT talents

WrestleTalk's Louis Dangoor was the first to report that Randy Orton had shown interest in working with NXT Superstars, such as Adam Cole and Tommaso Ciampa. Alex McCarthy had also corroborated the report and added that the ideal direction would be for Randy Orton to take on Drew McIntyre at SummerSlam.

A few weeks ago, I reported that Randy Orton had been pitching to work with members of the NXT roster at SummerSlam, most notably Adam Cole & Tommaso Ciampa.However, I've been told that due to the shortage of #WWERaw heels, Randy Orton will likely be facing Drew McIntyre.

— Louis Dangoor (@TheLouisDangoor) July 8, 2020

In fairness, I was also told Orton’s immediate thoughts after learning Edge was injured was to pivot to either Adam Cole or Tommaso Ciampa at SummerSlam.Not sure on current plans, but common sense says Randy is top heel/best matchup for Drew. https://t.co/YDxEkxr1zE

— Alex McCarthy (@AlexM_talkSPORT) July 8, 2020

Owing to their social media back-and-forth, WWE would have had a readymade feud to book between Orton and Ciampa.

WWE, however, ended up going for the most apparent match on the list. Tom Colohue also added that the notable travel issues due to the pandemic also played a big role in the change of plans.

Here's what Tom Colohue revealed on the Dropkick DiSKussions podcast:

"Well, the discussions started pretty much immediately after the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever when it became clear that Edge was out. Now, at the time, McIntyre vs. Lesnar was still the plan, so they considered giving Orton something new and something different. Orton, for example, was interested in working with Tommaso Ciampa in NXT, then more travel issues came in. There were a lot of issues preventing people from traveling into or out of the US, and the chances for having an audience at SummerSlam got smaller and smaller. So the actual firm decision was only made a week or two ago, but the discussions started right after Backlash."

Even though Orton vs. Ciampa would have been a fresh and engaging feud, Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre are expected to have one of the best matches of the night at SummerSlam, and the build-up to the match has been really impressive thus far.