This week’s episode of Smackdown Live saw Shane McMahon replace Elias in the King of the Ring tournament. This came after Elias could not compete due to a legitimate injury. Shane ended up losing to Chad Gable in the main event of the episode.
We have a few backstage notes to pass your way about Shane facing Gable.
According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, the decision for Shane to face Gable was made by Vince McMahon. This came after another idea was strongly considered.
Johnson says that there was talk backstage about potentially doing a battle royal to determine Gable’s opponent for the episode. The winner of the battle royal (during the early part of Smackdown) would have faced Gable in the main event. This idea ended up getting turned down by Vince and he put Shane in the match instead.
The ending of Smackdown saw Gable winning and Kevin Owens getting fired by Shane after the match.
Would you have preferred a battle royal in the main event of Smackdown? Or, were you okay with Shane vs Gable? Let me know in the comment section below.
On a related note, here is what happened with Bray Wyatt after Smackdown went off the air.