Sunday evening one of the biggest upsets in WWE history happened as WWE champion Randy Orton fell to Jinder Mahal in the main event of Backlash.
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Backstage rumors detail the decision may not have been made to put the title on Mahal until hours before the main event Sunday night, per Cageside Seats.
According to the report, conversations even involved having Orton start a program with Rusev as early as Sunday night. Since that obviously didn't happen, the report notes there's a backstage push for Rusev to win the Money in the Bank ladder match, June 18 from St. Louis, Missouri.
Since moving over to Smackdown Live, Mahal has undergone a career resurgence. Much like JBL's rise in the mid-2000s on the blue brand, Mahal has racked up win after win, been treated as a main event player, and was paired with the Singh brothers to further establish his credibility.
Mahal's 3MB days — even his time before that with The Great Khali — feels like forever ago, as Mahal has a different look, exudes far more confidence, and now looks the part of a main eventer on Smackdown Live.
Still, Mahal's victory is a shocker as coming into the night, he hadn't won a championship in the WWE of any kind before capturing the biggest title on the blue brand.
For Orton, this will be one of his most-forgettable reigns as Top Dog, that started with a surprise victory over Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 33 only to drop the belt to Mahal not long after.
There is no turning back on the Mahal era now, so it should be interesting to see where Smackdown Live goes from here.
