5 WWE Superstars who lost their push immediately after losing a Championship

#4. Jinder Mahal - Became the WWE Champion in 2017

Jinder Mahal as the WWE Champion in 2017

Jinder Mahal had an unexpected rise to the top of WWE in 2017. He was released along with fellow-3MB member Drew McIntyre in 2014 and would only return two-and-a-half years later.

He slotted back into his old role of being an enhancement talent on RAW, but things changed the following year. Not only did Mahal get into the best shape of his career, but WWE also decided that they wanted to expand into the Indian market more.

To do this, they needed a top Indian star, and Jinder Mahal apparently fit the bill. Rather than taking the approach of building him over the course of a year or two, the company decided that he could go from enhancement talent to WWE title contender in just one week.

🇮🇳 ON THIS DAY: The Modern Day Maharaja made #India PROUD! 🇮🇳 @JinderMahal defeated @RandyOrton to become the NEW @WWE Champion at #WWEBacklash 2017! pic.twitter.com/iF2vn6MHlA

— WWE India (@WWEIndia) May 21, 2020

This resulted in a WWE title program with Randy Orton, who he shockingly defeated at Backlash 2017 to become the World Champion. Mahal would enjoy a surprisingly long run with the WWE title, holding it for half a year.

While Jinder Mahal had the look of a legitimate heel WWE Champion and even carried himself like one, the experiment simply didn't work. It certainly wasn't his fault, since WWE decided to thrust him into the spotlight before he was even ready.

Modern Day Maharaja Jinder Mahal becomes WWE United States champion at WrestleMania 34 beating Rusev, Randy Orton and Bobby Roode in a Fatal 4 Way Match. @JinderMahal @WWE @RandyOrton @RusevBUL#WrestleMania34 #JinderBuriedRusevDay #JinderMania #JinderMahal #NewOrleans pic.twitter.com/7OHqoroY8l

— ARPIT PANDEY 🇮🇳 (@iarpitpandey) April 9, 2018

Eventually, in November of 2017 in Manchester, AJ Styles defeated him to kickstart his year-long reign as the WWE Champion. Immediately after, Jinder Mahal would lose his push.

While it seemed like winning the United States title at WrestleMania 34 was going to be another stepping stone for him, he lost it to Jeff Hardy in just eight days and his push was subsequently over for good. He had bad luck between 2019 to 2021 as he suffered back-to-back injuries that kept him out for almost all of two years.