WWE SmackDown's Unpredictability Has Become Brand's Biggest Asset

WWE SmackDown isn't just the land of opportunity; it's an alternative universe where jobbers, underdogs and dark horses ride triumphantly into the sunset.

Nothing speaks to that more than Jinder Mahal winning the WWE Championship at Backlash on Sunday. The Maharaja's victory over future Hall of Famer Randy Orton would have been unfathomable just months ago.

Mahal occupied a low rung for years before his sudden and startling rise to championship status.

His last match before his release in 2014 saw him lose to a 4'5" luchador in a bull costume. El Torito beat Mahal in less than two minutes. That was indicative of Mahal's place on the WWE hierarchy.

He was a bottom-feeder in a bottom-feeding stable.

On Sunday, the man who couldn't take down the diminutive El Torito three years ago completed his Cinderella run in front of a stunned Chicago crowd. After winning a No. 1 Contender's match on SmackDown, knocking off Sami Zayn and pinning AJ Styles in a short span, Mahal found himself in the PPV's main event. At the close of the bout, he floored Orton with a full nelson slam to earn a three-count that was hard to process.

UPROXX posted a gallery of reaction gifs that summed up how unexpected the result was on Sunday:

Not everyone will agree with crowning Mahal. He's a career midcarder who hasn't proved himself to be marquee-worthy. WWE appears to be banking on his potential, his physique and how he will impact the market in India.

There's no debate, though, that Mahal's win was something no one would have seen coming when he quietly moved to SmackDown during the Superstar Shake-up in April.

It's a means to spark discussion. It's a move that will inspire intense emotions, good and bad.

SmackDown went wholeheartedly in the most unexpected of directions with Mahal's rise. This bold, offbeat approach to booking has become a habit of sorts. This was just the latest curveball the blue brand has thrown at us.

The rest of the Backlash card was proof of how hard it is to pin down what SmackDown has in store for the audience.

For one, Breezango was in the hunt for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. Tyler Breeze and Fandango were non-factors weeks ago. In the past few weeks, their fashion-police shtick suddenly went from YouTube fare to part of the title picture. 

A pair of little-used Superstars got a surprise shot at The Usos' belts, resulting in a bout in which Breeze dressed up as a janitor and tried to distract the champs by mopping the canvas. That's not exactly cookie-cutter action.

Another Backlash bout went in an unexpected direction as well, though minus any mid-match costume changes.

Sami Zayn looked ready to be Baron Corbin's sacrificial lamb, the babyface playing the rising star's stepping stone. Wrestling Observer Newsletter founder Dave Meltzer noted with regard to Zayn vs. Corbin: "I think we all know this is designed for Corbin, who they have big plans for."

Nope. SmackDown avoided the result many predicted.

Zayn toppled The Lone Wolf.

Credit: WWE.com

Not all of the stories have clicked. Not all of the results have been winners. The blue brand, though, clearly isn't afraid to try something out of left field.

It has abandoned the lessons of Pro Wrestling Booking 101 and made its big moments harder to see coming. 

The long shot has a real chance on SmackDown. Superstars have chances at transforming themselves. No fighters are stuck in their stations.

This is the show in which perennial loser Heath Slater won the inaugural SmackDown Tag Team Championship, in which James Ellsworth went from an enhancement talent role to fighting for the WWE Championship against the best wrestler in the world.

It would be fitting for the show to open with a shot of former Boston Celtic Kevin Garnett screaming "Anything is possible!"

Bill Neville of The New Age Insiders podcast is among those who like things that way:

"

When wrestling' unpredictable, it's at its best! #WWEBacklash pic.twitter.com/Mgh8sosnHc

— Bill Neville (@BillNevilleNAI) May 22, 2017"

From Slater to Ellsworth, Breezango to Mahal, SmackDown has created buzz by way of assigning key roles to the underused and previously unsuccessful. There is an electricity born from the brand's plan of attack.

It breeds debate, drops jaws and, at times, makes for astonishing TV. 

More surprises are sure to come. Could Erick Rowan emerge from the roster's cellar as an unhinged title contender who draws power from his bag of masks? Could the floundering crooner Aiden English eventually start battling for the United States Championship? Could the brand look to reinvent The Ascension or clear the path for Lana to take down Charlotte Flair?

As we saw at Backlash and on SmackDown following last July's draft, the answer is "quite possibly."

It's unnerving to see a medium depart from the status quo. Mahal as champion is a baffling reality that may result in a failure for the ages or a surprise smash hit.

But WWE fans would be best served by trying to embrace SmackDown's strategy and enjoying the wild ride that it is.