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#1 SmackDown cannot afford to go into WrestleMania with Jinder Mahal as champion
Say what you will about Brock Lesnar, but part-timer or not, he's elevated the Universal Championship. Coming off of Kevin Owens' mediocre 2016 reign, Brock has made the championship and the feuds over it feel like a big deal. Jinder Mahal's feuds, on the other hand, have all been forgettable at best, awful at worst. To seemingly prove how little faith WWE had in him, most of his matches haven't even been in the main event spot on the card, except for Battleground, and we all know how that went.
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With a Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns main event that few people seem genuinely excited about and a series of underwhelming matches seemingly developing elsewhere, sending Jinder Mahal into WrestleMania 34 as WWE Champion could well be the kiss of death for next year's Show of Shows. Why should SmackDown choose to do such a thing with a potential mega clash between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura in the cards? Or if not that, some other anticipated matchup? AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton, for example. And if John Cena must break Ric Flair's record at WrestleMania next year, few would mind another barn burner with AJ Styles.
Did you know a top WWE Superstar just wrestled outside the company? More details HERE
Point being, the potentialities for excellent WrestleMania matches with AJ Styles as champion are numerous. If Jinder Mahal takes Styles' place in New Orleans, a disastrous match is guaranteed. Why do something other than your best at your biggest show?
WWE has experimented with Jinder Mahal for too long. It's time to pull the plug permanently. He doesn't deserve a second reign and definitely doesn't deserve to be in a world title match at the biggest show of the year. Perhaps that's harsh on the guy, as outside the ring he's been nothing but a good ambassador for the company, but results speak for themselves.
