Former WWE star Jinder Mahal shared details about his unexpected world title victory

In a surprising turn of events at WWE Backlash 2017, Jinder Mahal shocked the world by defeating Randy Orton to win the WWE Championship. Mahal held onto the title for nearly six months before losing it to AJ Styles in November of the same year. Recently, Mahal opened up about the moment he found out he would become champion and explained why WWE chose him to challenge Randy Orton right after WrestleMania 33.Mahal recently shared that both he and Orton initially believed their match would be a one-time encounter, as Rusev was originally set to be the first challenger for the WWE Championship. On "Talk Is Jericho," Jinder Mahal opens up about the surprising moment he learned he was set to become champion and why WWE chose him to face Randy Orton. Jinder Mahal Said - "Rusev was going to work Randy. Rusev got hurt, and I think they needed someone to work Randy. Randy was champ at that time. and I think the original plan from my understanding, from what I've heard and Randy told me at that time he thinks it's just going to be a one-off because once Rusev comes back, he's going to work Rusev for the title. Something changed cause I got a message that day, the day of that the odds, I guess the betting favorites, somehow I was a massive underdog before, but now some smart money had come in or something ... I found out later that afternoon that I was going to be winning the championship." (Via Wrestling Inc/Talk Is Jericho)Rusev's injury caused a shift in plans, which ended up benefiting Jinder Mahal. Similarly, Jericho shared that he found out he was going to become the Undisputed WWE Champion on the same day he defeated both "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock in one night at Vengeance 2001.