I am very happy with the fact that Jinder Mahal won the WWE Championship at WWE Backlash this past Sunday! It shows that WWE may be all about trying to create new stars after all. He looks great and he comes off as a legit heel, not some heel that you want to cheer because he tries to be cool. The question is: How long does WWE plan to keep the championship on him? What can’t happen here is that WWE can’t panic because of the viewership not being where they want to it be because you have to actually build your audience, not try to seize the audience. The “SmackDown Live!” Brand has a golden opportunity here to show why they are different from Raw’s repetitive 3-hour marathon formula of wrestling (chock full of promos you don’t care about and zombie feuds many folks are tired of seeing). They can be the show that allows true talent to flourish (land of opportunity, right?), but they have to make sure that it does not all become undone by making Jinder Mahal some transitional champion.
It can be argued that WWE did this in order to keep their brand growing in India which they consider a major market due to its heavy population as well as its wrestling fandom. Think of Jinder Mahal as a much cooler version of The Great Khali! He can take the championship to India, and people will be hyped to see a champion who has his roots there! If anyone really thought it was a good idea to have Randy Orton retain, please give me a reason why! The guy is status quo as champion, plus he is too busy fighting marks on the internet about how many dives they do in front 150 people. I wonder what would happen if WWE released Orton tomorrow? Would he give the indies a shot, or would he simply go home because he feels that taking indie bookings are beneath him? But, I digress. Back to Jinder…
You know how I said that he should have a long reign as champion? Well it isn’t just because they have a fresh talent at the top as champion, but it’s also because I am quite tired of the frequent title changes that have been going on in WWE, especially when it comes to the WWE Title. It’s only May, and the championship has changed hands 4 times already! Not only do wins and loses not matter, but it’s apparent that championships don’t matter either! I say let the guy have it through 2017! Use that time to build up a strong face not named John Cena to take it from him! In fact, if you want to make it that Mahal is a huge deal, have him go over on John Cena too! What better way to show everyone that he is no fluke than by beating any old guards that WWE currently had on the SmackDown Live roster? How about trying to build a legit star out of this guy? There is really nothing to lose here by going this route, it isn’t like people are as interested as they once were. When you are at the bottom, where else is there to go but up?
Before I close this column out, I just want to tell all of you complaining about Jinder Mahal’s backne to simply stop it! With all of the things that are wrong in WWE today, there are much bigger and more important things to complain about! You will complain about Jinder’s physique and alleged steroid use, but don’t let anyone call your boy Kevin Owens fat! Step off and let him do his dance! I am happy for this guys because I feared that he was only going to be brought back to be glorified enhancement talent for all the people the Internet Wrestling Community wanted on top, and I am VERY happy to be wrong! You wanted fresh talent pushed right? Well now, here you have it! Let the Maharaja Era begin!
As always you can give me your thoughts by hitting me up on Twitter @whosantcox. You can also follow me on Instagram for my dank memes and gym selfies under the name of Ultragoldenant. I will catch you next time with hard hitting column soon!
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