This past episode of Smackdown Live was yet another great edition with a plethora of A-star matches in it. One of the matches among them was a rematch between Randy Orton and Eric Rowan in a No Disqualification match. It turned out to be a hellacious battle with these two taking each other to their limits using weapons.
Orton did manage to emerge as the winner via an RKO out of nowhere but then Jinder Mahal came down running into the ring to deliver a vicious assault. He was accompanied by the Bollywood Boyz aka the Singh Brothers and ran away with Randy’s title.
The segment earned massive boos from the crowd but it is just the beginning for Mahal on the Smackdown brand. He will get a major push in the coming months, as reported earlier. There’s no surety whether he could pick up the WWE title or not but he’ll manage to cement himself as a mid-card superstar.
Jinder Mahal was spotted later at WWE backstage where he rode in a Limousine to leave the building with the championship belt in hand. Now, there’s a specific reason why the creative arranged such a segment.
According to the rumour mill, there were a lot of controversies with the WWE championship match at Payback. Orton previously won this match at Wrestlemania. So, it’s the turn for Bray Wyatt to win this one to earn a big win in his career. He needs to win this final one match against the Viper.
But, in that case, Wyatt would capture the WWE championship and take it away to Monday Night Raw. He was shifted to Monday Night Raw during the Superstar Shakeup process. Now, there’s no way that WWE intends to keep both the Universal and WWE titles on the red brand.
Hence, they wanted to make an Orton vs. Wyatt match sans the championship. This would ensure a much-needed win for the Eater of the World at Payback especially considering it would be contested as a House of Horrors match i.e. a stipulation that clearly favours him.
Jinder running away with the title would allow the WWE to address the situation as a storyline. The title could not be defended since it would not be present on the Payback show. The self-proclaimed Maharaja is not scheduled for a match on that night, either.