What’s the story?
As noted by Bryan Alvarez on a recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Radio (WOR), he acquired knowledge through someone in India about WWE promoting Jinder Mahal as a 2-time WWE Champion in the country.
On that note, it was also revealed that none of the people involved in the title-change, were made privy to WWE’s plans of AJ Styles winning the WWE Championship until the very end.
In case you didn’t know…
The WWE reportedly placed the WWE Championship on Indo-Canadian Superstar Jinder Mahal, owing to the promotion’s aspirations to break through in the Indian and Asian market.
Besides, the vast majority of industry experts opined that the WWE higher-ups planned to keep the belt on the Maharajah until the promotion is done with its tour of India next month.
The heart of the matter
Speaking of which, the WWE shocked the entire professional wrestling community by having Mahal lose the belt to Styles on this week’s episode of SmackDown Live.
In fact, it was noted on WOR that although industry pundits were privy to the banter of Mahal being promoted for the upcoming India tour as a 2-time WWE Champion, not even veteran journalist Dave Meltzer was aware of the plans about Mahal dropping the title to Styles on SmackDown.
Furthermore, it’s now being emphasized that none of the people involved in the situation were aware of the title changing hands, right until Tuesday morning. However, it’s being noted that the WWE’s plan of having Styles win was a last-minute change, given the fact that "The Phenomenal One" was initially being advertised for a match against Rusev in order to earn a spot on the blue brand’s Survivor Series team.
What’s next?
WWE Champion AJ Styles faces Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at the Survivor Series PPV which goes down at the Target Center in Houston, Texas on November 19th.
Additionally, several experts are of the view that WWE may have Styles drop the belt to Mahal either before or during the organization’s tour of India, especially given that AJ hasn't been announced as part of the tour.
Author’s take
Well, the WWE seem to be on a roll here; surprises galore for the WWE Universe!
Regardless, Mahal had a good run as Champion, and all negativity aside here’s wishing him the best of luck going forward. Besides, we do have an awesome replacement for the Maharajah, as "the Phenomenal One" faces the "Beast Incarnate", Brock Lesnar!
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