Five Least Popular Booking Decisions of All Time

#4 Jinder Mahal becomes WWE Champion

Jinder Mahal pins Randy Orton at Backlash 2017

An experiment went hideously wrong. After Randy Orton defeated Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 33 to reclaim the WWE Championship, he seemed set to enjoy a long reign.

However, his run lasted just a few short weeks as he was stunningly dethroned in his first title defence by career opening card act, Jinder Mahal.

Mahal had surprised many when he won a number one contenders match on Smackdown to earn the opportunity and everyone predicted a routine by the numbers win for the champion.

It was not to be. Mahal won and reigned for six months, during which time he devalued the title once held by Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold. Mahal did not connect with the audience on any level, did not have the cardiovascular conditioning to work a match longer than five minutes and did not have a wide array of moves he could perform exciting main event matches with.

His feud with Shinsuke Nakumara irreparably damaged the Japanese legend and ratings dropped markedly during his title run.

After Mahal dropped the belt, he won the United States title at WrestleMania 34, then disappeared from television. Mahal has now returned to his natural level as an opening match wrestler but the title he held will take much longer to rebuild.