WWE SummerSlam: WWE Championship - Jinder Mahal (c) VS Shinsuke Nakamura

[LODemolition]

It's feel more like a thrown together match just like the ziggler vs ambrose title match from last year's summerslam.

That's exactly what I was thinking. I would've been perfectly ok with them continuing the Shinsuke/Corbin feud at SSlam. I would've given Cena the title shot, because at least there's a story there. Cena confronted Mahal the week before and of course he's the all-American. There's no story with Nakamura and Mahal so it's tough to get involved in. I personally would keep the title on Mahal also, I think he's been fine as champion so far and would let him hold onto it until at least the next ppv. With Shinsuke as challeger, the only way out is a DQ or count out as you can't let him take a clean loss to Mahal. To me this match just creates more problems than solutions.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

That's exactly what I was thinking. I would've been perfectly ok with them continuing the Shinsuke/Corbin feud at SSlam. I would've given Cena the title shot, because at least there's a story there.

There's still some time until SummerSlam, which means they have some time to establish a story with Mahal and Nakamura. Also,IF what many of us are expecting/thinking/hoping goes down, then there'll be a story to come out of it. If Nakamura wins the title and Baron Corbin cashes in his MITB briefcase, or Corbin pulls a Rollins in which he uses his MITB briefcase to insert himself into the match at the opportune time, thereby making it a triple threat match to capture the title instead of Nakamura, he'll have screwed Nakamura out of the championship just like he's been trying to screw over Nakamura a handful of times during the past couple of months. He's jumped Nakamura from behind several times, the most prominent of which was at Money in the Bank where he hoped to take Nakamura out of the match entirely and very nearly did so, so the story we'd wind up with is someone "chosen" by the "WWE Machine" screwing over a talent that many fans have embraced because he's an outsider who doesn't fit the "formula" of a WWE Superstar. It worked exceedingly well with Daniel Bryan and while I can't say there'll be that level of interest this time around, I've little doubt it'll be successful all the same.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

C'mon guys... Really? Mahal, Nakamura and then Corbin? Corbin? These are the world champions? They can't draw a dime, not yet at least. While Bray and Balor are sitting there? Rollins and Ambrose wasted on the midcard. Even The Miz's momentum was shattered. So that we can get Mahal, Nakamura and Corbin?

That's absurd. Just have Mahal keep the damn belt and have Nak chase it. Corbin should stay away from the WWE title for 2017, definately stay away from it during WM season. Build him up more.

PS: Corbin lost at the WM pre-show, Jinder lost at the WM pre-show and Nak wasn't even there. Things are moving way too fast over to SD and I don't what they're even doing.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I was thinking of starting a whole new topic on this, but I will post it here, since it is relevant.

What is it today, that wrestling fans only consider someone a star these days if they win the WWE or Universal belt? Yet, if someone never wins it, then they are a failure and amounted to nothing.

You don't have to be a champion to be a star.

"Million-Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, "Ravishing" Rick Rude, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Mr Perfect, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.

Do you know what all these names have in common? They are all HoFers, they are considered some of the most popular and loved Legends of all time, most would not question their standing in wrestling, and yet, none of them won the WWE World Heavyweight Title.

Would they have been greater with it? Maybe. Would their legacies have been vastly enhanced with a title run? Possibly. But the point is, no-one considers any of those names failures if they never win the belt.

Back then, the WWE Title meant something. Only a few held it, and it was shifted around them. Sometimes, someone new would emerge (like Randy "Macho Man" Savage, who went from IC Champion to WWE Champion). But it meant something, because only a few had it.

It was the same in the Attitude Era. The belt shifted between Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Mankind and the Undertaker. People like the Big Show had a run. So when someone like Chris Jericho broke through, it was a big deal because he had "broken the glass ceiling".

But today, there is no glass ceiling. Most guys have had a WWE Title run, even guys who wouldn't have ever been champions in those past eras. I mean, Rey Mysterio would never had been considered champion, and only got it, I feel, as a way to honor Eddie Guerrero. Jinder has it now, and I see that as a way for WWE to tap the Indian market, not because he is a "champion".

Fans want people like Daniel Bryan, Nakamura, Cesaro, and Dolph Ziggler to get a run, or it hurts their legacy. Why? Take someone like Cesaro. I don't see him as ever being a WWE Champion, yet he is doing great in the tag-team ranks with Sheamus, and has had the top two MOTY IMO where he and Sheamus fought the Hardy Boys (the cage match and the 30-Minute match). Cesaro can go his whole career without ever being WWE or Universal Champion, and still be considered a success and be beloved. Some people don't need a belt to be over.

We have Jinder as champ, and Nakamura and Corbin in the wings. None are ready for the task, and I question whether they are "championship material". If you just put the belt on whomever the fans think, then it stops meaning something when the occassional newcomer finally breaks through, wins it, and becomes a great. For every A.J. Styles or C.M. Punk whose legacies got enhanced with the belt, you then have people like JBL, Mark Henry and Great Khali who have also been WWE Champion, and yet, the last three I mentioned aren't in the same universe in Legend status as the people I mentioned who never won it.

The WWE belt needs to be "earned", not handed around to people so that their relevance doesn't diminish.

 

[OYDK]

C'mon guys... Really? Mahal, Nakamura and then Corbin? Corbin? These are the world champions? They can't draw a dime, not yet at least. While Bray and Balor are sitting there? Rollins and Ambrose wasted on the midcard. Even The Miz's momentum was shattered. So that we can get Mahal, Nakamura and Corbin?

That's absurd. Just have Mahal keep the damn belt and have Nak chase it. Corbin should stay away from the WWE title for 2017, definately stay away from it during WM season. Build him up more.

PS: Corbin lost at the WM pre-show, Jinder lost at the WM pre-show and Nak wasn't even there. Things are moving way too fast over to SD and I don't what they're even doing.

Other than Cena and Brock, nobody draws. Absolutely nobody. Very, very few people go to a wrestling event just to see AJ Styles, or The Miz, or Seth Rollins, or Roman Reigns. The brand itself has become the draw. The belt is on Jinder because WWE thinks he can grow the Indian market. I wouldn't be surprised if Nak was getting pushed for the same reason as pertains to Japan.

The belt hasn't meant that much for a long time. Half the time, the WWE or Universal champion doesn't even main event Raw or Smackdown unless they're being held by guys like Cena and Brock. It's a prop that's either used to get a golden boy over who couldn't get over on his own or it's put on whoever can benefit WWE's bottom line the most at any given time.

Very rarely does it go to the most deserving.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

With the possibility of Corbin cashing in out of the picture, Nakamura has to be a shoe-in to win this. I just can't see WWE passing on the opportunity and missing out on the massive pop and the crowd's reaction, when Shinsuke Nakamura wins the WWE Championship in front of a New York crowd.

As far as Jinder Mahal goes, I just don't see anything special in the guy. He's basically a bland, generic, and one-dimensional anti-American heel. He had a lot of help from Lana a few years ago, but Rusev made the nasty and condescending foreigner gimmick work. Jinder is currently in the middle of a forgettable reign as champion, so I don't a reason to keep the title on him.

 

[ShinChan]

So, here's our World Champion. Randy Orton couldn't have a good match with him. John Cena couldn't. Shinsuke Nakamura couldn't. A generic wrestler who has nothing average about him is the World Champion and just defeated Shinsuke Nakamura who's sort of NJPW's own Randy Orton while Tanahashi is John Cena. Plus, Shinsuke couldn't be pinned with AA but it all takes one finisher from Jinder to pin him in another forgettable match. Ridiculous.

 

[JoeMallard]

So, here's our World Champion. Randy Orton couldn't have a good match with him. John Cena couldn't. Shinsuke Nakamura couldn't. A generic wrestler who has nothing average about him is the World Champion and just defeated Shinsuke Nakamura who's sort of NJPW's own Randy Orton while Tanahashi is John Cena. Plus, Shinsuke couldn't be pinned with AA but it all takes one finisher from Jinder to pin him in another forgettable match. Ridiculous.

A shitty looking finisher at that. The guy's the equivalent of Hornswoggle with the Cruiserweight championship.