After defeating Randy Orton at WWE Backlash, PWP Nation’s Eron Ramadanov explains why Jinder Mahal being the new WWE Champion proves that wins and loses don’t matter in WWE.
Let’s jump into a time machine, shall we?
The time is WrestleMania 33, approaching two months ago. The match is the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, where we witnessed Jinder Mahal get absolutely destroyed by New England Patriots star’ Rob Gronkowski, which in result allowed Mojo Rawley to win the match and receive the “prestigious” trophy. To be perfectly clear, Jinder Mahal was used as a jobber for a football player. Fast forward to May 21st, 2017, Jinder Mahal is the WWE Champion. How did we get here?
Sure, some might call it a Cinderella story for the ages. Others are excited that WWE is pushing an unsuspecting talent. As for me, I believe this move makes a strong case proving that in 2017 WWE, wins and losses are irrelevant and don’t matter. Since debuting in WWE, Jinder Mahal has only won 17% of his matches and has over 350 losses. Mahal has only been victorious in two pay-per-view matches since arriving in WWE, one of which was this past Sunday at WWE Backlash.
Now, the people reading this far into this article might think that I have something against Jinder Mahal or that I dislike the guy. That’s not true. I have nothing against Jinder Mahal, the person, and I’m sure he’s thrilled to be able to come back to WWE and get the spot he’s currently in. I’m sure if you asked Jinder before returning to WWE if he believed he’d be WWE Champion, I doubt he’d say yes. In fact, none of us would.
But to be blunt and completely transparent, Jinder Mahal is a jobber and will be long after this title “reign” is over.
I have said from the very beginning of this entire ordeal that I’m not against Jinder Mahal or pushing him, but however, I am against the way he’s been booked and the way he won the title. In 2017, where WWE and professional wrestling lacks legitimacy and mainstream attention, Mahal is no help to that cause. He’s the exact problem with WWE and proves that wins and losses don’t matter. In fact, it proves that nothing matters.
If someone like Jinder Mahal can be WWE Champion after a few fluke, underhanded wins, then what’s the point of building anyone up as a dominate number one contender? If Mahal can capture what’s suppose to be wrestling’s most honorable and prestigious prize, should it really be THAT easy? Now, I’m not opposed to characters like JBL, who used underhanded tactics to become champion, or Seth Rollins being propped up by the Authority, but the difference between Rollins, JBL and characters like them versus Jinder Mahal is a certain level of credibility and legitimacy.
In the case of Rollins, before becoming the Authority’s golden boy, he was a key member of one of the most dominate and popular groups in wrestling history. Going into his singles run as the “chickensh*t” heel champion, Rollins already had the fans respect as an in-ring performer and at one point was presented as a legitimate in-ring competitor that could take any other WWE superstar to their limits. As for JBL, even he had a decent amount of legitimacy being a part of a tag team with Ron Simmons and winning Tag Team gold on multiple occasions and, not to mention being a part of the hottest time in WWE history. I’ve been presented with that argument from my fellow PWP Nation colleagues who love this “Mahal Madness.” My response has been that Jinder Mahal has never had any type of legitimacy, nor has he even been presented as a legitimate threat to anyone, until a few weeks ago.
In 2017, where fans need to be able suspend their disbelief even more than in years past, this Jinder Mahal storyline just doesn’t work for me. I don’t buy it. How am I suppose to believe that someone who’s been losing in 2 minute matches for years is somehow now the WWE Champion and the “top guy” on SmackDown LIVE?
Not only is Mahal’s legitimacy an issue, but his talent level is suspect as well. When coming up with this idea for this piece, I honestly tried to find one redeeming quality about Jinder Mahal as a performer and came up with nothing. His in-ring work is below average and has proven to be slightly reckless (*cough cough… Finn Balor*). His promo ability is sub-par and he isn’t able to hold or catch my attention and his look, although impressive, raises some eyebrows and isn’t quite appealing nowadays, especially with high definition cameras if you know what I mean (*wink wink*).
From WWE’s perspective, I get it. One of WWE’s biggest goals moving forward is to break into China and expand their popularity in India as well. WWE does fantastic social media numbers in India and feel like they need to capitalize on that momentum with a superstar that can connect to them, especially with the absence from the Great Khali the last few years. But is rushing Mahal into WWE Champion the answer? I’m not so sure. Another key element to this entire storyline that has me up in arms is the fact that there are at least a half-dozen other guys on the SmackDown LIVE roster who are much better performers than Jinder Mahal, yet they have been surpassed.
In the grand scheme of things, does this really matter? No. Everything will be okay, the title will move along and so will life in and out of WWE. But things like this is exactly what’s devaluing WWE and their World Titles. Personally, one of the things that hooked me into professional wrestling was the prestige of World Championships and the competitors who fought for them. This move, in my opinion, does absolutely nothing for the WWE Championship or it’s future. I’ve always felt like this business was about the best going up against the best and world class athletes fighting for the opportunity to be WWE Champion.
Could this idea grow on me? Maybe. Is it possible that Mahal will become a better worker, promo and champion? Sure, anything is possible… Donald Trump is our President. But is it likely? No. Chances are Mahal is World Champion for a few months and as SmackDown LIVE ratings continue to decline fighting the back-end of the NBA Playoffs, Vince McMahon will do what he does best…. move on to another new toy, which will result in Mahal being shuffled back into the mid-card or even worse, becoming a jobber once again.
So in closing, I can rest easy knowing that hopefully this’ll all be over relatively soon and we can have guys like AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura and other world-class talented performers fighting for WWE’s grandest prize.
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