WWE News: Original Planning For Jinder Mahal At WWE Backlash
Jun 1, 2017 at 2:34 PM
Jinder Mahal rose to the occasion at this year’s Backlash. He was moved from his jobber role and became the new WWE champion. In the process, he defeated the legend, 13-time world champion, Randy Orton.
The good times are rolling for him with a Punjabi celebration on this past week’s Smackdown Live.
Furthermore, the ratings for the blue brand have also reached upwards which is good news for the WWE management. The show was headlined by Jinder’s celebration. Despite all the heats on the reigning champion, the show overtook the drowning ratings from last few weeks.
Now, originally Jinder Mahal was not supposed to arrive on the main event scene, abruptly. WWE creative has the initial plans ready for the championship picture prior to Wrestlemania. It did not feature the name of Mahal. In fact, he was part of Monday Night Raw at that time.
At the biggest event of them all, he did have a brief altercation with the NBA veteran Rob Gronkowski. It happened in the Andre The Giant Battle Royal Match where he and Mojo Rawley were the last two men standing inside the ring. Gronk was present at the ringside to cheer for his friends. He was the reason for distracting Mahal and letting his friend win.
The indication of the same was also given when Jinder Mahal had his first matchup on Smackdown Live against Mojo. Gronk was present at that night and had a second altercation with Mahal providing yet another win for his friend. However, afterwards, Mojo was pulled off from the main show for some unknown reason.
On the other hand, Baron Corbin was the one pitted for the WWE championship opportunity against Randy Orton. But, the changes to the plan were made on an abrupt basis, as WWE wanted to attract more viewers before their upcoming tour in India. Most likely, it is going to happen near the Summerslam PPV.