Mahal Wins the Strap, Nakamura’s Debut – Five Takeaways from Sunday’s WWE Backlash

1. Swerving His Way to the Belt

Since the moment that usual low to mid-card talent Jinder Mahal won the Smackdown ‘6-pack challenge’ to win the shot to challenge for the title against Randy Orton at Backlash, not many felt the company would actually follow through and give him the belt.

I guess we were all wrong.

The powers in charge at WWE did pull the title switch, one that clearly indicates that Orton’s win for the belt at WrestleMania over Bray Wyatt was nothing more than a stopgap to eventually go in a totally different direction, giving it to Mahal.

It was no secret that the company wants to have a huge impact in India, and having a champion from there shows how serious the WWE is about being bigger internationally.

The win was received with shock and almost laughter by the crowd in Chicago. We’ll see how long this reign lasts and if it falls flat like when The Great Khali was the World Heavyweight Champion.

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