INQUISITR.COM / Sports

WWE News: Two New Stars Debut On ‘SmackDown’ As Strangest Superstar Becomes No. 1 Contender For Randy Orton

By Danny Cox
Published on: 13:30 PST, Apr 18, 2017

After last week’s Superstar Shake-Up, a lot of new names moved around in the company and ended up on SmackDown Live which means there needed to be a new number one contender. Tonight, there was a Six-Pack Challenge to determine who would be next in line for Randy Orton’s WWE Championship with a few obvious choices included. Well, some new superstars debuted during that match and help the strangest name take the biggest win of his career.

Even though Randy Orton is set to take on Bray Wyatt in a “House of Horrors” match at Payback for the title, it is expected that he will hold onto his championship. That being said, Wyatt is now on Raw and Orton needs his next feud on SmackDown to become known and it did this evening.

As recapped by the official website of WWE, a Six-Pack Match took place between Sami Zayn, Jinder Mahal, Dolph Ziggler, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, and Mojo Rawley. While a few names seemed as obvious choices to win the contender spot, it was the most unlikely of the six who emerged victorious.

Yes, it was Jinder Mahal who ended up winning the match and leaving fans in attendance at SmackDown Live in complete shock. Everyone was expecting Luke Harper or even Sami Zayn to jump up into the number one contender spot after the match. There was even the possibility of Dolph Ziggler being back in the main event scene, but that didn’t happen.

There was a lot of confusion during the match as all six superstars came close to becoming the number one contender, but it was Jinder Mahal who came out on top. He didn’t do it on his own, though, as there was a bit of an assist from a couple of brand new superstars.

Near the end of the match, Sami Zayn lined up Jinder Mahal for a Heluva Kick and it seemed as if he would go on to challenge Orton next. That is when the Singh Brothers, also known as the Bollywood Boys, interfered in the match and grabbed his ankle from the outside.

Due to the distraction, Jinder Mahal was able to nail Sami Zayn and cover him for the pin and the number one contender spot. After the match was over, Renee Young interviewed Mahal to a chorus of boos which he asked if the crowd was doing that because he wasn’t American.

Jinder Mahal went on to say that Americans don’t accept diversity in their country but they will have to accept it when he becomes the next champion. At that point, the champ came down to the ring to a huge ovation as the fans soon broke out in a gigantic “RKO” chant.

Once the “House of Horrors” match at Payback is over, “The Viper” is hoping to still have the title in his possession and the next challenger will indeed be Jinder Mahal. Not only is he the number one contender, but it does seem as if he has his own stable as well.

The Bollywood Boyz took part in the Cruiserweight Classic last summer and debuted in NXT in September. They have also appeared on a couple of episodes of 205 Live, but they have now moved up to the main roster and are associated with the number one contender on SmackDown Live.

After Jinder Mahal nailed Finn Balor with a forearm shot that gave him a concussion on Monday Night Raw, he was moved to SmackDown Live the very next evening. The next week, Mojo Rawley defeated Mahal in what made it seem like his jobber status simply moved from Team Red to Team Blue. Now, he’s the No. 1 contender to Randy Orton’s Championship and has a stable with the Bollywood Boyz.

[Featured Image by WWE]

Share this article: WWE News: Two New Stars Debut On ‘SmackDown’ As Strangest Superstar Becomes No. 1 Contender For Randy Orton
sami zayn luke harper Erick Rowan jinder mahal Dolph Ziggler Randy Orton
More from Inquisitr