From the WWE Rumor Mill: Why Jinder Mahal reportedly won the WWE Championship

What’s the story?

Jinder Mahal just defeated Randy Orton at Backlash to become WWE Champion but, according to our sources, The Maharaja was reportedly not originally scheduled to win the title. Things changed and a last-minute decision saw Jinder walk away with the title in hand. The big question is, what was going on behind the scenes before the belt was put on him?

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 Singh Brothers, whose sacrifice, some might say, was why he is now WWE Champion.

The heart of the matter

Jinder Mahal just pulled off the coup of the century in WWE, beating 13-time WWE Champion Randy Orton for the title. However, this was reportedly not supposed to be the case as 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. Seemingly, SmackDown’s lead writer, Ryan Ward, still wanted Rusev to win Money in the Bank but also wanted to extend the Mahal-Orton feud. Therefore, WWE did not put Rusev on TV to set up a match with Orton until it had decided in which direction it was going.

On Friday, WWE found a way to not only extend the feud but also put the belt on Mahal’s shoulder. However, things apparently took another twist on Sunday morning, with the promotion deciding to keep the championship on The Viper and proceed with the Orton-Rusev feud; and Rusev was even asked to fly out to Chicago. There was yet another twist in the tale, and two hours before the match, WWE reportedly decided Jinder would be WWE Champion after all.

What’s next?

If WWE does decide to extend the feud between Mahal and Orton, we could see the two clash over the next couple of weeks. If they decide to introduce Rusev into the fray, maybe we could see a Triple Threat Match for the title between The Maharaja, The Viper, and the Bulgarian Brute at Money in the Bank.

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