5 Reasons why Jinder Mahal is your new number 1 contender for the WWE Championship

#2 With any other opponent, the crowd would turn anti-Orton

The audience would rather cheer an underdog wrestler, than an old timer

SmackDown has a very interesting problem. While Randy Orton holds the biggest prize in the entire company, he isn't the most beloved superstar in the blue brand. The night after Wrestlemania 33, when he made his triumphant entrance after defeating Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton was showered with boos. If he were taking on the two men who looked like the likeliest contenders to win the 6-Pack Challenge, Luke Harper and Sami Zayn, the crowd would turn on him and root for the underdog.

Enter Jinder Mahal, a man who was never an internet favourite and will possibly never be one. This makes him the perfect candidate to take on Randy Orton and still keep him babyface.