This past Friday, Drew McIntyre shockingly defeated Cody Rhodes for the WWE Undisputed Championship in a Three Stages Of Hell Match on “WWE SmackDown” after Jacob Fatu interfered and ambushed both competitors. Despite striking McIntyre first, Fatu unleashed a brutal attack on Rhodes, which caused the “Scottish Warrior” to escape the Steel Cage and win the title. Before returning, Fatu had been out of action for nearly three months after undergoing dental surgery, but according to Dave Meltzer in a new episode of the “Wrestling Observer Radio,” he was supposed to be involved in the feud between McIntyre and Rhodes if he was healthy.

“Originally they were going to do a three-way program with these guys but that’s when Jacob was on the out list … I mean, I guess Drew was still going to be wrestling Cody at the end at Survivor Series they just moved it up and Drew was probably losing that match anyway. It didn’t materially change anything, but they were going to do a three-way program already and they’d even started that.”

Going forward, it seems like Fatu will enter a feud with Rhodes, who presumably was involved with “The Samoan Werewolf” being attacked backstage in October, but it remains unknown whether both men will still be challenging for McIntyre’s WWE Undisputed Championship. Additionally, Meltzer believes that WWE will proceed with its initial plan they had for all three performers before Fatu was sidelined.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Wrestling Observer Radio” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.