Jinder Mahal is on his way to the top, but a plethora of WWE fans are still scratching their heads and voicing their disagreement with the decision. I’m here to tell you though, it’s for the best.
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See, Jinder won a number one contender spot over the likes of Mojo Rawley, Luke Harper, Erik Rowan, Sami Zayn, and former two-time World Champion Dolph Ziggler on Smackdown Live this week, shocking the WWE Universe and the IWC collectively. Mahal has been billed as a jobber at best and even left the WWE momentarily for a few years, but upon his return, he had a new hardened look and a new attitude. This was definitely not the Jinder of old.
Wrestling is one of the true art forms that allows a certain self-expression and gives performers the chance to be creatures of reinvention. I mean, look at Husky Harris now Bray Wyatt. Give them a chance and you’ll see what they’re capable of in their new skin. Originally signed to Raw when he came back, beating former 3MB “bandmate” Heath Slater, Mahal was put right back into his jobber status, but there was something there we hadn’t seen before. He possessed this aggression and physique that could be billed as intimidating if done right. Mahal was able to land a striking blow to Finn Balor which decommissioned the former Universal Champion for a week right as he himself returned to the trademark brand after almost a year.
So why is WWE no longer going to hinder Jinder? The answer is pretty blunt: they have no choice here.
I know that’s possibly too blunt, but let me be clear on a few things. Mainly they need new stars. It’s pointless to say that Smackdown doesn’t have the star power that Raw has because it’s obvious. While the Big Blue Brand has WWE Champion Randy Orton, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, and John Cena, you don’t want to paint yourself into a corner with those three like Smackdown did over a decade ago with Brock Lesnar, Big Show, and Kurt Angle and not provide the space needed for talent to evolve. It wasn’t until Lesnar left that you saw the rise of both Eddie Guerrero and JBL that helped push the Smackdown main event scene, which in turn, led to John Cena at the top of the scene.
Also, consider the landscape Smackdown has and its lack of heels. Jinder has the look and the moves to be a top player, even if they decide to go with a “foreigner” heel gimmick. It’s 2017, can we please, please drop those? He doesn’t need the heat when he’s already pretty hot as is. The biggest problem right now is that Randy Orton is attempting to be billed as a face, however, this is the second time he’s taken a World Championship from a beloved heel and made Orton an instant heel by default. Having Jinder take on Orton will keep the crowd pro-Orton, unless Mahal gets super popular, super quickly (which isn’t impossible).
WWE has been trying to break into the Indian market for over a decade now. They had Great Khali as their ambassador of sorts and big draw when they went over there, but Khali wasn’t exactly the most well spoken and talented individual. Mahal has that flagship look that Vince McMahon obsesses over. Even though Mahal is actually Canadian by birth, he’s the closest thing to an Indian solo star on their entire roster. Should he get pushed and get that big break, there’s no reason the floodgates in India would open up even more and make them an obscene amount of money.
I’m sure there are fans who wanted a Sami Zayn victory and yeah, his time will come, but comparing Zayn’s and Mahal’s win/loss record is all too similar. True, Mahal hasn’t won a singles match since September of LAST year, but the fact that Zayn continues to lose to Kevin Owens it feels like the Underdog From The Underground is just that, the underdog that will never get his proper shot. Think about this, Zayn hasn’t held a singles title since the NXT Championship three years ago. However, Zayn already has an established following, that is something Mahal is extremely lacking but is on his way to finding.
Mahal’s victory over Zayn and company disrupted the casual and sometimes lazy booking of WWE matches. Adding in somebody like Mahal stirs things up and gives credibility to their character. It’s almost as if the WWE creative team is actually doing their job and bringing on the creativity to somebody who was a run of the mill jobber a year ago. Smackdown has been heralded as this glorious land of opportunity, so why can’t a guy like Mahal get his chance? Look at how Twitter reacted. It got him trending, albeit because of confusion on why, but it got people talking and invested. That’s the whole point from a marketing standpoint. While Braun was murdering/burying the Raw roster, Mahal literally overcame the odds and had the WWE Universe’s attention.
Of course, there’s always the possibility he puts his contendership on the line at some point and loses which seems all too similar to their AJ/Orton/Luke Harper drama last month. Is it too much to hope they don’t go down that route and help make Mahal the best star he’s capable of being? Not everybody needs to be WWE Champion, but in a world where James Ellsworth has had his chances, we should give Mahal more than a quick dismissal.
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