What's the story?
We reveal the full story of the chaotic chopping and changing that occurred before the WWE finally decided to put the WWE Championship on Jinder Mahal at Backlash.
In case you didn't know...
Randy Orton has been heavily pushed throughout 2017, winning the Royal Rumble and the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 33. Jinder Mahal's push came from out of nowhere. After years as an enhancement talent, Jinder moved to SmackDown and won a 6 pack challenge to become the No.1 contender, aided by The Singh Brothers.
The heart of the matter
Sources originally indicated to us that Randy Orton's title reign had been planned since last August and that he was set for a long reign. The original plans for him were to drop the belt to Rusev, who was slated to win the Money in the Bank, but those plans were dropped, with Rusev being moved into the role of WWE Championship challenger at Money in the Bank instead.
However, things took a drastic turn on Tuesday when Rusev's planned return was shelved with no explanation on TV as to why. Internally, the reason centred around SmackDown's lead writer, Ryan Ward, still wanting Rusev to win Money in the Bank and extending the Mahal and Orton feud.
Therefore, the WWE did not put Rusev on TV to set up a match with Orton, until they had decided on where they were going. By Friday, the WWE had gone from finding a way to extend the Orton and Jinder program, to actually putting the WWE Championship on Jinder Mahal. Things then took another twist on Sunday morning, when the WWE decided that they were going to keep the strap on Orton and proceed with Rusev and Orton, and even asked Rusev to travel to Chicago.
Then things changed again, just two hours before showtime, when the WWE decided that Jinder would be WWE Champion after all.
What's next?
Orton vs Mahal will go down in about an hour at WWE Backlash in Chicago. It would be interesting to see how WWE books Jinder Mahal going forward.
Author's Take
For those who think WWE is well laid out, with the company knowing exactly where they are going for the three to four months, think again. Nothing dispels that more than Randy Orton, who was pencilled in for a long term title run last August, losing the belt to Jinder Mahal, who was released in 2014 as a member of 3MB, and was non-existent on the indie scene while away from WWE.
One would have to assume that the original plan for Rusev to win the Money in the Bank is now back in play.
