What just happened?
I shared the same reaction to Jinder Mahal winning that the fans did on WWE Smackdown. How could the guy who just last week had liquid thrown on him from an NFL player who likes to call himself “Gronk”, become the number one contender for the prestigious WWE Championship?
How could the arguably least talented member of 3MB be fighting Randy Orton on a WWE pay-per-view in Chicago in a title match? It was certainly a shock and in that sense, this angle did its job successfully.
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Look I get some of the logic behind this move. Jinder and the newly named Singh Brothers can help to potentially expand the WWE’s profits in the growing market of India. It terms of the financial bottom line, it can make a lot of sense.
However, I do like a little logic in my WWE storylines and this one makes very little sense from a wrestling standpoint. With that in mind, I list the five reasons why Jinder Mahal becoming the number one contender was a mistake:
#5 It passes up many more logical options
I want to start off by saying that Jinder being in the title chase is a mistake. The match he was in had better options throughout. Erick Rowan and Luke Harper had built-in stories with Orton and should have been given a clear chance to show their main event talent.
Dolph Ziggler has shown he is a solid heel and could provide a solid match with Randy Orton. Mojo Rawley and Sami Zayn are mid-card faces but winning this match would have been just the push that both stars needed to get to the next level.
All provided interesting match-ups that would have served the Smackdown brand better, in the long-term future, than a low card heel that rarely wins.
It also was surprising that people who are higher up on the card: Kevin Owens, Baron Corbin, AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura were not involved. They would have been great opponents for Orton. Yes, they could be used at a later pay-per-view but from a logic standpoint it seems stupid they wouldn’t care about the WWE Championship.
#4 It rewards his reckless style
Jinder has been getting a lot of attention for his “transformed” physique from the last time he was in the WWE. Besides his body type, he has adopted a stiff ring style. Any good pro-wrestler must be able to protect his/her opponents. An unsafe worker is not one the company needs going forward.
Jinder has worked quite stiff and it led to Finn Balor getting a concussion. To reward that with a title match sets up a poor example that work rate and safety is not as important. That is a dangerous idea that shouldn’t be supported and rewarded.
#3 It sets up a meaningless title match at Backlash
I know that I might be jumping the gun saying this but Jinder is not beating Randy Orton for the title at Backlash. He doesn’t have enough fan support or heat to win the title, so it provides the crowd with a foregone conclusion: Jinder is wasting our time before Orton moves onto more meaningful feuds.
And to do that match in Chicago? What a brutal option. They will not support Mahal and that puts him on the wrong foot going forward after Backlash. It is a big mistake and even Jinder deserves better than that crowd.
#2 It ignores Bray Wyatt
Poor Bray Wyatt. After years of wasting his talented character, he finally got a WWE title reign. However, in just a month, he had his house burnt down and lost his title to arsonist Randy Orton. But hey, he at least had some cool bug effects at ‘Mania!
Since Jinder Mahal has become the number one contender and the WWE announced he will face Orton at Backlash for the title, it destroys Bray’s credibility yet again. It looks like the “House of Horrors” match is not for the title and this makes Bray look like an idiot that cannot even get his mandatory rematch.
The decision to have Jinder jump the gun before Payback hurts Bray’s storyline and unique character for the future.
#1 He loses too much to be credible
Do you know how long since Jinder Mahal has had a victory on a major WWE show like Raw, Smackdown or pay-per-view?
If your answer was September 12, 2016, when he beat Jack Swagger on Raw, then you likely cheated and looked the answer up. Mahal also beat Heath Slater on his re-debut on August 1, 2016, on Raw as well.
That is literally it. He has won two singles matches in eight months on the roster since the brand split and his most recent return. That is a crazy stat and doesn’t scream credible challenger to me or most of the WWE fanbase.
The WWE surely lacks credible heels. If Jinder had built his way up like The Miz or Braun Strowman have over the recent months, it would have been met with a better reaction from fans. But to have a guy lose hundreds of matches over his career in the WWE and simply get a title shot with his first singles victory in seven months?
That is not a way for fans to buy into the process of creating your new heel.
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