Jinder Mahal: I Think WWE Needs To Shit Or Get Off The Pot

[Jack-Hammer]

Since Jinder Mahal arrived in WWE, it seems as if they haven't had a single consistent idea as to what to do with him.

When he first arrived, it looked as though he was getting a slow but solid heel push. They pair him with The Great Khali with Khali acting as his bodyguard/tag team partner and then it just gets strange from there. They lose tag matches, with Mahal doing the job, then Khali winds up turning face and completely dominates Mahal in every match they have. The result is Mahal fading into relative obscurity within the WWE.

He's shown up on SD! fairly recently and has been little more than a glorified jobber. Over the last few weeks, it started to look as though WWE might be doing something with him, or at least that's how it seemed on the surface. He scored a clean win over Ted DiBiase, which isn't exactly a huge feat right now, but it was a win. Before this, Mahal had a couple of matches against Sheamus, he lost of course, and participated in an attack on Sheamus with Wade Barrett this past Friday. It was then announced that on the next episode of SD!, this Friday, that Sheamus would take on Mahal. I can't say I was thrilled, but it got me hoping that we'd see a solid match and Mahal's stock rising up a bit. Then, this past Monday on Raw, he gets pinned by Santino Marella in a brief 2 minute tag match. So whatever momentum Mahal had has completely evaporated and it renders his match with Sheamus completely meaningless. If Mahal jobbed to Santino on Monday, you just know he's going to job to Sheamus tomorrow night.

Mahal is someone that I think has potential. He has a unique look, he's athletic, a good sized guy, he's improved a lot in the ring and I do think the guy could deliver good promos if 95% of what he said wasn't in a foreign language. But if this is all WWE intends, then either future endeavor him or relegate him to SmackDown! or working dark matches. I'm not saying push him to the moon or shove him into a title scene right now, but it's tiring to see him waste television time each week getting his ass handed to him on a silver platter.

 

[drobs85]

I agree with just about everything you said. He definitely has a unique look, sells moves really well, and is actually pretty decent in the ring. I also like the way "Jinder" is spelled. But for some reason or another they keep jobbing the guy, I for sure thought when he "brainwashed" BOTCHLI that he was really going places sadly I was wrong.

 

[ABMorales787]

To me, he's freakin' horrible. I really don't get the point of him coming out saying all these obviously inaccurate (and uninteresting) things about Americans and then repeating them in Punjab. I don't even care for booing him. He's just there. A slab of meat for whatever face they wanna push.

I'm not surprised by the lack of direction for the clueless Khali replacement. WWE gets in that sometimes. They want something, but at the first sign of it not working, they fumble the wrestler until they repackage or simply release him. His gimmick was never good to begin with either. He was Khali's brother-in-law who was dumb enough to rile him up. Then he did... Well nothing. He cut's half a promo by saying things no one really cares about and the other half no one can understand. It's no wonder he's gotten nowhere fast.

 

[drobs85]

To me, he's freakin' horrible. I really don't get the point of him coming out saying all these obviously inaccurate (and uninteresting) things about Americans and then repeating them in Punjab. I don't even care for booing him. He's just there. A slab of meat for whatever face they wanna push.

I'm not surprised by the lack of direction for the clueless Khali replacement. WWE gets in that sometimes. They want something, but at the first sign of it not working, they fumble the wrestler until they repackage or simply release him. His gimmick was never good to begin with either. He was Khali's brother-in-law who was dumb enough to rile him up. Then he did... Well nothing. He cut's half a promo by saying things no one really cares about and the other half no one can understand. It's no wonder he's gotten nowhere fast.

Shouldn't be a wonder, he doesn't book his own matches and probably didn't have any input in his character. I think if he was actually taken seriously and not just on TV to grab the Indian market he'd be ok.

 

[Theo Mays]

I agree Jack-Hammer. I think Mahal could be a nice talent if the WWE could figure out what to do with him. Sure my friends and I have a running joke where we can't remember his name, but that doesn't take away from the fact that he has improved since debuting. He is solid on the mic and he certainly has a unique look. I actually mentioned Mahal in the dark horse thread for a World title contender for 2012. Jinder is still a young fella, so he still has time to develop. He is only in his mid 20s so he can continue to improve. In fact I think a move to Raw and a feud with someone like Zack Ryder over the US title would be nice. Sure it is an overplayed theory of having a foreigner holding the US championship, but I can't really recall the WWE running with that since they brought back the title. Let Mahal work the midcard for awhile and keep him away from a guy like Sheamus, who is clearly gonna beat him. If they let him have a nice run with the US title then it could do some good for him and lead to a higher spot on the card. He certainly has all the tools to be a player on the roster, it's just a matter of using them correctly and finding the right story.

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

I think speaking in Hindi actually helps him... he has that old school heel thing going for him when he does, and his promos in Hindi are much better than in English lol even though I don't understand much Hindi, I know that much... I think he can become a real player in the E, but it'll be tough as Indian gimmicks just don't have much success in wrestling, Middle Eastern are gold, but Indian never seems to get off the ground. They definitely need to step it up with him and help tweak his gimmick or they risk ruining a potential superstar heel who may never amount to the top spot, but could DEFINITELY be used to help give great feuds to the top faces.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

(sigh)

If only they didn't make him come out and speak Punjabi. I don't understand why in this day and age he has to play a minority heel. I mean there isn't a war that he can bring up can he? Volkoff, Sheik and Hassan were timed perfectly. And I loved the Muhammad Hassan character. He would come out and cut real good promos, get great heat and then Daivari would speak in Parsi to incite the crowd more.

I see good potential in Jinder. Again he could be Del Rio done right if they can handle him well. With his robe and look they could've easily given him a Kingly Indian character, God knows that people wouldn't know the fact India is a democratic country. It really wouldn't mind if they did too, but they could've made him much more grand is all I'm saying. I have seen him wrestle, he's bland but has been squashed so much that I have no idea if/what his finisher/signature are. And that is very bad if you wanna sell a character. And for Christ's sake, if it's the Camel Clutch I'll puke. Why is anyone who has slightly the darker shade of skin forced to used the Camel Clutch?!

Bottom line, he could be good ,but if he disappears tommorow, who will mis him.

 

[MasterHavik]

All I have to say......

Just another uncool guy in a speedo trying to say he is important. But he's not.

This is funny..I just realize all the cool heels wear speedos. Odd....

Edit: Why does every foreigner wrestler in the WWE in my experience( besides Sheamus, Sin Cara, Edge, and etc.) have to use their nationality to become big? Can't they do something else?

 

[justinsayne]

I don't know, maybe it's just me but I think WWE did shit... & out came Jinder Mahal. This guy is fucking horriable, the whole I'm foreign & hate America heel gimmick is just stupid & played out, nobody gives a shit anymore. I can't remember that last time that this guy did ANYTHING that kept my attention at all, he is just simply boring. Divas matches are more exciting than this guy for fuck sake. The only place I see this guy having on the roster, where he'd actually be useful is as a jobber on Superstars.

 

[JWGunslinger]

I remember when I saw Jinder backstage on Raw way back when they started him off talking to Khali and Sighn, I instantly looked up his stuff from FCW and thought I saw some potential. His in ring abilities were nothing to get excited about but I thought that his mic skills looked promising. I think the biggest problem is that they can't stick to one thing with the guy, they had him in a decently big push with the Khali angle but instead of doing what they should have they just had Jinder get squashed. His ring skills are improving and if they really care this much about having on Indian wrestler around for the Indian fans then quit swinging him around and give him a decent push, I actually found myself enjoying his little feud with Dibiase and if they kept it up I think it'd be worth watching.

I personally would like to see him take on a bit of an Iron Sheik role and go anti America, he's using the Camel Clutch now and idk if they're already thinking of doing that but it made me think it'd be a way to hopefully make him more interesting and get him some good heat. The only thing I think he needs to tone down is the going on super long rants in Punjabi, saying a thing or two in your native tongue can be a good way to build heat and please those who understand it but doing nearly a full promo with it just tunes people out. I could see Jinder becoming a successful heel but they need to give him a gimmick and an angle, keep it and go with it.

 

[richunclescrooge]

I don't know why they just stopped his feud with DiBiase, it had a great premise, they were both born into a lot of money but Mahal thought Ted was squandering it on the fans with his DiBiase posse stuff, simple but effective

 

[Martin Gabriel]

A lot of people give him flack, but I don't think it's justified. He's barely worked a match longer than five minutes since debuting on SmackDown!, so there really isn't much to judge him by. I agree with Jack-Hammer, he's been handled terribly. There's no reason he should have been fodder to Khali, who's awful.

 

[Defekt]

Personally, I hope they get "off the pot." The guy is nothing special, and I have no desire to watch him talk or wrestle. I don't think anything about Jinder Mahal is even remotely unique or special.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Meh. I just don't care about Jinder Mahal. He's got a nice build, and he's decent enough in the ring, but Mahal just looks like another generic anti-American heel. There's nothing exciting about him, and his promos bore me to death. Mahal could become a solid mid carder in the future, but I don't think he's going to rise to the level of a World Heavyweight Championship contender. Ever. I just don't see it at all.

The stuff with Khali could've gone somewhere, but Mahal and Khali never captured the tag titles, and this storyline never took off. Mahal could wind up on the future endeavored lists this year. Mahal's release wouldn't surprise me at all, and his absence would go unnoticed after a while.

 

[Azane]

They need to use him similar to how they used Great Khali, he's just a smaller, better Khali, he can draw a foreign audience, he has instant heat from his nationality, and his body type looks like a good fit for wrestling.

Jobbing him out is just killing him off, I see him going bye bye by Summer.

 

[XXJJ]

I agree with Jack-Hammer. I'm not saying he is a future main event wrestler. But he does have some potential to be a nice midcarder. He still can improve his in ring work. Orton said he was helping Jinder out. But his booking has been horrible. Its been very inconsistent.

No one expects him to go over Sheamus. But having Sheamus squash him like a bug every week isn't helping him out.

He just needs to be a rich foreign guy that looks down on people. Having him do complete promos in a different language is stupid. This isn't the 80's. People are just going to tune him out. Your not going to draw heat doing that anymore.

He had a little tv feud with Ted. They should of put more emphasis on Jinder and Ted coming from "rich families" but Jinder looks down at "working class" people and Ted doesn't.

 

[Derailed]

i agree with richunclescrooge with Dibaise his feud got me interested and would of liked it. They could of fought over something like the million dollar belt with Jinder saying he is not worthy of something like that because of how he acts and is to much in touch with commoners. I also know Ted's dad has the belt and not Ted.

 

[afromania]

This being the first thread I can remember being about Jinder Mahal tells me all I need to know about what people think of him. Not many people really give a shit about Jinder Mahal. And there's not much to really give a shit about. He's just boring in the ring and on the mic and really hasn't ever done anything interesting. Although his beatdown on Sheamus last Smackdown does have me a little intrigued. But lets face it he's gonna get schmacked this week and hopefully we never see him again. He's probably jumping on the future endeavored train outta here this year.

 

[Nada]

He does have a presence around him, when he talks, you listen. He is one of the better "heel foreigners that hate america" type of personality.

He is above and beyond more interesting than the likes of Miz who drone on and on with their promos. I know what Miz, ADR, Swagger, Ziggler and gang will say before they even say it, whereas Mahal has that crazy look in his eyes where you arent ever really sure about him

 

[Xumer]

I don't think much one way or the other, I just don't understand WHY creative pushes and then holds him back over and over again. Like the o.p. said, Shit or get off the pot.

 

[The_Sharpshooter]

Other than him being smashed on by Khali in his budding process, I really don't think you have anything to complain about. When was his debut, 6,7 months ago? What do you want, a title fued?

I enjoy Mahal, and I feel like the E is doing a good job of exposing him. Just last week, he inserted himself into a Sheamus/Barrett confrontation. Other than the Show/DBD/Henry trio, this is as big as it gets on SD. Yea, he gets squashed against Santino/Sheamus. But the most important fact of that is HE WAS WRESTLING ON RAW! You're not gonna have a guy show up with no track record and start beating former champions. Even McIntyre couldn't beat Marella, & he's a former IC & Tag champ himself. Who do you think the E has more stock in, Drew or Jinder? Thats a debate in itself.

Like another poster said, the only thing you know to expect from Jinder in the ring is the camel clutch, & thats only happening when he's gonna win or post brawl. His matches never exceed ten minutes, so do you really have much to judge with? I know one thing, he makes me pay attention when he's out there. During the holiday episode, he stole the show. 1st with his promo & unforgettable line "You people buy gifts you can't afford, for people you can't stand!", then when DiBiase came out tossing toys to the crowd, the disdain on Mahal's face was great. And let's not forget how he was the one to get all the other low carders to focus their attention on Hornswoggle. He's a natural heel.

WWE wants their characters to talk in their native language, whether its for heat(Rosa Mendes, Mahal) or cheap pops(Mysterio). It broadens the range of viewership & allows others to connect, or it makes dumb hicks get mad that they can't understand everything. But when he speaks English, I listen & enjoy. His ring ability needs sharpening, but so does your main eventers. You give this man some time, and he can be a mainstay in the mid card

 

[lazeric]

So here's my take: personally I like the guy. He does have a good look and if given the right push he would be a great mid card heel for a long time BUT he has 2 things working against him. 1st thing is while some of u might nt agree there is currently a lack of mid card faces for him 2 fued with. There's a lot of tweens in the mid card nw which makes it hard to stand out as a credibile heel. His 2nd hurdle is what I like to call the Muhammed Hussien effect. Becuz of his unique look many dumb americans will only see his skin color and automatically classify him as a terrioist and we all knw since the Hussien incident WWE has been really carefully with stayin away from anything even close to look like that.

 

[Ithil]

His gimmick is just god awful, that's a major part of the problem. The "evil foreigner" is one of the most outdated and clichéd gimmicks out there and at this point is a dead end.

 

[Arsenal]

The guy has a ton of charisma, a great look, and really good mic skills. Definitely a boatload of potential. Like another poster said, he grabs your attention when he's out there. So it's no surprise the WWE dropped the ball with sh!tty booking, jobbing him out left and right and making him look weak. The "evil foreigner" gimmick can work just fine, but no one takes a guy seriously when he loses *all the time*.

I don't understand how the WWE expects to build new stars these days when they refuse to consistently build up talented wrestlers. Spastic start-stop booking and jobbing people out doesn't build their credibility. But the WWE today thinks that's no problem, and then one day out of the blue throws a belt on them and then is surprised when it doesn't get them over.

 

[MikeyTheAwesome]

Mahal to me is one of those guys that I just don't really care about because he lacks anything that makes him stand out, other than being an "Anti-American". The only time he can talk is when he is speaking in a different language, and even that bores the hell out of me because the great majority of the crowd/viewers do not understand therefore not making the segment interesting. A reason why Muhammad Hassan worked so well was because he was actually billed as an Arab-American, and was able to work the crowd by speaking in a language they understood (English). In his first few months of being on TV, Hassan (along with Daivari) would get booed out of the building and sometimes would receive the most heat of the night. He resembled a modern day Iron Sheik, whereas Jinder Mahal comes nothing close to what Hassan accomplished in his first few months.

This may sound ignorant of me but sometimes I forget he (Mahal) is on the main roster. If he was released tomorrow, I doubt a lot of people would care nor would they remember him by the end of the year. And it's not all his fault, WWE has been so inconsistent in booking this guy