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What’s the story?
Smackdown World Champion Jinder Mahal has revealed a close-up via Snapchat of some shiny new side plates for the WWE Championship, and they're a big upgrade on the rather generic old ones.
In case you didn’t know…
Mahal signed for the WWE in 2010 beginning a short-lived storyline with his on-screen brother-in-law, The Great Khali. Mahal then failed to set the world alight leading to him finding a home in the 3MB with Heath Slater and Drew McIntyre as enhancement talent, before his eventual release in 2014.
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W2016 as a 'free agent' during the initial stages of the brand split and received a huge push where he swiftly defeated Randy Orton for the WWE Championship, becoming the 50th wrestler to hold the prestigious title, and more importantly, the first wrestler of Indian heritage to hold the title.
The heart of the matter
Earlier today, Twitter page TheWrestlingCov posted a Snapchat picture that appears to have come from the Smackdown champion himself. The Snapchat post shows that Jinder Mahal has received a new set of bling for his WWE Championship in the form of new upgraded side plates.
As you can see the new design is significantly better than the older incredibly boring design that Mahal had on his title belt side plates beforehand. You can see the old side plates below for comparison. I'm sure you'll agree that the new plates with the Indian-style building logo are a vast improvement on the champ just having his name as a side plate.
The above photo may be the first close up of Jinder's new side plates that we've seen, but the eagle-eyed amongst you may have spotted the new side plates already, as they were on the WWE championship when Jinder Mahal attacked Shinsuke Nakamura from behind on the October 3rd edition of Smackdown Live!
What’s next?
Mahal has been embroiled in a long-running feud with Nakamura on Smackdown Live! and is due to defend the WWE Championship against the King of Strong Style at the upcoming Hell in a Cell Pay-Per-View.
However, does the arrival of these new side plates perhaps suggest that the WWE is clearly invested in extending Mahal's title reign and that once again Nakamura might come up short against the Modern Day Maharaja at Hell in a Cell?
Author’s take
I'm really digging the new side plates as they're a clear improvement. That being said I can't help but wonder if the WWE would invest in replacing the rather bland and generic side plates that Mahal had on the title belt with new ones or if they were planning on finally putting the belt on Shinsuke Nakamura. I'm not so sure they would.
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