Randy Orton and Jinder Mahal Step Inside the Punjabi Prison on SmackDown

Tonight's Battleground go-home show of WWE SmackDown Live began with the current WWE Champion Jinder Mahal making his entrance as the Punjabi Prison structure lowered over the ring at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham.

As the commentary team described in detail what made the return of this "barbaric structure" so significant, and not merely symbollic, Jinder and his cohorts, the Singh Brothers gave the crowd a taste of what The Viper Randy Orton will face over the weekend at Battleground.

As the former Bollywood Boys went over the specifics of the structure and the match stipulations, Mahal underlined his point that the most important rule is "There are no rules" and "No escape" in the rare and exotic no-disqualifications.

Randy Orton then made his entrance and scaled the outer wall of the Punjabi Prison, accepting Mahal's threats, and countering with his own, reminding the Modern Day Maharaja that as the 50th WWE Champion he has "the weight of India on his shoulders" and "of 1.3 billion souls on his back" asking what he plans to do when "all those souls consider him a disgrace."

Up Next: What is a Punjabi Prison Match?

Having scaled to the top of the outer wall, Orton declared this would be his view when he emerges the new (and once again) WWE Champion at Battleground, and that inside the ring, from within the walls of the Prison would be Jinder's view as the loser this Sunday. But considering how Randy's underwhelming last championship reign was what led to Mahal's taking the title, don't expect it to simply revert back in the blow-off of this long-running feud.

The participants' motivations in this feud go deeper than run-of-the-mill U-S-A versus foreign heel cliches. Mahal and the Singh brothers brutalized Orton's legendary family members from ringside at Money in the Bank.

As for the Punjabi Prison itself, The exotic gimmick match was made famous by several of the most physically imposing superstars to come "From Parts Unknown." The very first use of a Punjabi Prison Match took place was at the 2006 Great American Bash, where Big Show took on The Undertaker.

More: WWE Reviving Historic Match for Upcoming PPV

But it is perhaps most well known for the following year's showdown between Batista and Jinder Mahal's friend and mentor, The Great Khali at the No MercyPPV. Khali actually hails from Punjab, and was the first ever Indian Superstar to hold the World Heavyweight Champion in WWE history.

As the likely main event for the upcoming Battleground PPV, this will mark the first Punjabi Prison Match in 10 years, and only the third time we will have seen this elaborate ring set-up in WWE history.