PITTSBURGH — For Randy Orton to retain his United States Title at WrestleMania, he will need to outlast both Bobby Roode and Jinder Mahal in what is sure to be a hard-hitting Triple Threat Match, but The Viper teamed with The Glorious One tonight to take on Mahal & Rusev, who took the place of the injured Sunil Singh.

Despite a few disagreements in the early goings, Orton & Roode did their best to work in tandem against their common enemy. Mahal exploited the uneasy alliance when he tossed Roode into Orton, who looked poised to hit an RKO on The Bulgarian Brute. However, with WrestleMania looming, The Apex Predator had no patience for the accidental contact, and after a bit of a shoving match, Orton connected with an RKO that laid out The Glorious One. This distraction proved costly, as Rusev caught The Viper flush with a kick to the jaw and secured the major pinfall over the United States Champion.

After being approached by Mahal in the backstage area after the match, Rusev declared that his victory over Orton granted him entry into the United States Title Match at WrestleMania, a notion SmackDown LIVE General Manager Daniel Bryan agreed with, officially making it a Fatal 4-Way for the United States Championship at WrestleMania 34 later in the evening.