All Hail The Maharaja: Jinder Mahal Is The *NEW* WWE Champion

[Jack-Hammer]

I honestly never thought I'd ever say or type these words: Jinder Mahal just won the WWE Championship in his match against Randy Orton. Some will rake WWE over the coals for putting the title on Jinder Mahal, no matter how long or brief his title run is, while some will applaud as the SmackDown Live brand continues to have a more "anything can happen" feel to it. Mahal didn't win 100% clean, but the fact that he won period was the surprise; I think most people felt Mahal would put out a solid effort, ultimately lose and then...well I dunno really. Some probably thought his 15 minutes were up and he'd be moving back towards the undercard, some probably thought he'd be established as a solid mid-card guy.

I'm not really sure how I feel about it. Jinder hasn't blown me away over the past month but I haven't disliked what I've seen either. I don't see Jinder as a long reigning champion, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him drop the title at MITB via someone cashing in the MITB briefcase thereby making sort of a threeway title feud between himself, Jinder and Orton.

 

[GOOZEKING]

I'm happy that WWE is pushing a new guy but honestly ever since the night he become number one contender, wwe creative and jinder hasn't done anything at all to impress me and show me he is wwe championship material. I honestly found the match boring and was falling asleep until the RKO. We are now either getting Rusev vs jinder or a triple threat at money in the bank. I really hope that that jinder drops it there because I really really want my Orton vs Styles match for the wwe title at summerslam.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

The - anything can happen - elements of Smackdown just got amplified to a 100. Here's hoping he's not just a quick transitional champion.

 

[stingray11214]

When does WWE have a tour to India? We all know that one BILLION people will go nuts for the Maharaja. Once the India tour is done, Mahal will lose the strap.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

When does WWE have a tour to India? We all know that one BILLION people will go nuts for the Maharaja. Once the India tour is done, Mahal will lose the strap.

It's in September, so I really don't know what is going on. Best bet I can make is that they're building up the ground for Mahal now. Around that time he will probably be facing Cena.

 

[ISkye]

Figured he'd win ever since that No.1 Contenders match and I'm glad he did. Worked a decade and a half to get there, and he seized the opportunity. I enjoyed the bout, but I will admit seeing RKO actually not phone in the entire thing was a big part. Randy is top tier when he decides to step it up even just a little outside of his comfort zone. This match did remind me that I wanted to see Dunne vs Orton a while back. The weekend really confirmed that I still very well would love to see that confrontation and match even just as a one off.

Jinder paid his dues more than most realize, and is a good wrestler and overall package. Really deserved, and although the placement of the championship on him was a bit of a convenience thing I won't let it discredit the significance of it in his storied career. Legit underdog and it is great to see him do something big in a big match, with a big opponent. Good stuff, glad he is getting this at where he is now. Don't see where he'll be at in the next 5 years, but this is something that probably should of happened to favor the majority.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Absolutely love that Smackdown is going a new direction. People complain a lot on how they won't push talent, but here we are, 2017, and Jinder Mahal is our new WWE Champion. I'm sure there will be those few elites here that are going to shit all over it because something something Jinder isn't a main eventer cuz he hasn't been in the main event etc. Stupid. This is different. And bold. I think the casual viewer will dig this the most. Can't wait to see what happens now.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I'm sure there will be those few elites here that are going to shit all over it because something something Jinder isn't a main eventer cuz he hasn't been in the main event etc. Stupid. This is different.

Sweet Straw man there, buddy. Thought you were better than that.

I'm disappointed because Mahal stinks. He's had matches with three of the best workers in the country within the past month and none of them could carry him to anything above average. He's a fairly decent public speaker but his promos are total cookie cutter foreign heel horseshit. Not even a hint of originality.

I'm not opposed to hot-shotting someone to the top. For instance, I was totally for Sheamus getting the title from Cena after being on Raw for about a month or so despite being an unknown entity. The difference here being that the book is already written on Mahal. Juicing doesn't make you a better worker.

I get why they're doing it. I just don't give a shit. Enhancing business in India does fuck all for my viewing pleasure.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Sweet Straw man there, buddy. Thought you were better than that.

Not exactly a Straw Man when I'm not distorting the truth. I can show you posts here already labeling Jinder as one of the worst WWE Champs of all time, hours after he won the belt, furthering my point. Even a Review from a Global Mod stating it ruined the whole show. Talk about exaggeration.

I don't care what preconceived notion you've had of me either, really.

I'm disappointed because Mahal stinks. He's had matches with three of the best workers in the country within the past month and none of them could carry him to anything above average. He's a fairly decent public speaker but his promos are total cookie cutter foreign heel horseshit. Not even a hint of originality.

There are many former World champions this could be said about, so it's really not as big a deal as fans in the know claim. We gush over B Movie acting here. Perception of skill or originality doesn't matter as much as we think, either. People watching objectively does, and Mahal has a good chance at making people from India, population over a billion, tune in to Smackdown. More than fucking Orton does.

I'm not opposed to hot-shotting someone to the top. For instance, I was totally for Sheamus getting the title from Cena after being on Raw for about a month or so despite being an unknown entity. The difference here being that the book is already written on Mahal. Juicing doesn't make you a better worker.

Representing a country of over 1.3 Billion people does though. Bankability is all that really matters.

I get why they're doing it. I just don't give a shit. Enhancing business in India does fuck all for my viewing pleasure.

They don't care. You're one person, and Indian fans on social media are expressing interested in this new development. Fans like us are going to be watching regardless, whether or not you give a shit about one guy. Your viewing pleasure means little as long as you're still viewing. And you will be.


There's a small chance ratings could be down on Smackdown due to this. Maybe the show will stink, and will stink until the belt is off Jinder. But it wasn't like Orton was setting fire to Smackdown. They're taking a chance, so I'm staying positive.

 

[ShinChan]

When does WWE have a tour to India? We all know that one BILLION people will go nuts for the Maharaja. Once the India tour is done, Mahal will lose the strap.

Aha. What makes you think that one BILLION people will go nuts for Jinder Mahal of all people? It's a wrong assumption. People will go nuts over Roman Reigns in India. And that's a fact because it has happened. Not because I'm saying it. I've talked to bunch of people and surprisingly, none of them is interested in Jinder Mahal. None. That doesn't mean that no one in India is interested. But it certainly signifies something.

Absolutely love that Smackdown is going a new direction. People complain a lot on how they won't push talent, but here we are, 2017, and Jinder Mahal is our new WWE Champion. I'm sure there will be those few elites here that are going to shit all over it because something something Jinder isn't a main eventer cuz he hasn't been in the main event etc. Stupid. This is different. And bold. I think the casual viewer will dig this the most. Can't wait to see what happens now.

The bolded part is integral here. How WWE doesn’t push TALENT. Tell me where you see Jinder talented? In the ring or on the mic? It's certainly different but different isn't always right.

It isn't stupid. It's totally inconsistent to being a jobber for one week and becoming the No. 1 contender for the ultimate Championship next week and then winning the title in a month. That's inconsistency. It could be done gradually by first making him a credible midcard wrestler. But straight jobber to World Champion?

Also I've read people saying that he paid his dues. Really? By being a jobber? Should I be ready for Curt Hawkins to win the title? Or Aiden English? In which matter, has Jinder Mahal has impressed to get this big push? No matter.

 

[Eyebrows]

I said I could see them doing it, as did others, and we were shot down.

His promo delivery is pretty drab which is what matters most in a character like this getting over BUT I tuned in to watch Backlash last night largely due to the curiosity factor of seeing if he would win it and I suppose that's not a bad thing at all for the WWE. If this gets to the point when people are tuning in to see when he loses it and how he pmanages to retain when he comes up against other opposition then it can be similar to JBL's title run. I used to tune in to see if he would lose it and that's a pretty good thing from a heel.

JBL delivered on the mic and as a personality but he had been showing how good he could be as a character when he was with the APA. I'm not sure yet whether Jinder has that ability.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Buhahahahahahahahahahahaha, WWE must have really want that t-shirt sales boost in India. Sometimes they remind me on Hasbro with Transformers animated movie. You know, the moment when they killed almost all old characters so they could make and sell new toys.

Except for guys that for some reason really love 3MB job squad, dont see how anyone can be happy for this. Smackdown right now has great roster of wrestlers like Orton, KO, AJ, Nakamura. And they decided to give their main title to "roid rage" Indian with no charisma or any other good qualities regarding wrestling except that he is "roid raged" in terms of look and has Indian heritage to boost sales there.

 

[enviousdominous]

Smackdown is going nuts with their "What if this guy was champion?" scenarios.

It's my understanding that the WWE had been wanting Rusev to come back and beat Randy for the belt, but they kept changing their minds on that. Either way, kudos to Randy for -- yet again -- being the guy who bites the bullet when the WWE wants to experiment with putting the belt on a random person.

I dig this though, I like the idea of a snarling heel champion. They need to give him some moves that accentuate his mean streak.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

How funny would it be for this to be a set up for Cena to come back and break the record? How funny would this be if he came back and lost to Jinder ?

Anyway, I'm not sure what to think of this. Orton may have a break coming up. I don't expect Jinder to hold the belt too long. I can't see him walking in to SS as the champion but who knows? Maybe they have a multi-man championship match planned.

We probably should have seen this coming. Jinder got the biggest push of anyone at Mania. There were plenty of guys who could have confronted Gronk but they gave the spot to Jinder. Jinder got to put Rusev on the shelf. Jinder got the lackeys which immediately ups his ability to win. Those guys are not 3mb. They are not in a comedic role. They instantly made Jinder dangerous.

I still wish he would hold the clutch before doing to the slam. Weaken his opponent and create more drama before slamming him down. We will see where this goes. SD has made the best out of a lot of things.

 

[Navi]

I'm willing to wait and see how this goes before totally not thinking it was a good idea. I do think he will walk into SS as champ and can see a program coming up with Rusev when he decides to show up. That should be quite good. Lana can take on the Singh brothers outside the ring and take them out of the equation, while Rusev dispatches Jinder.

I applaud SD for at least taking a chance by putting the belt on someone new. Don't quite get how Mahal keeps going on about carrying the weight of 1.3 billion people though, there aren't nearly that many here in Canada, the country he was born in. Maybe that's why the Indian population isn't really behind him yet, as Kapu has stated.

 

[Khalifa]

Bit mixed on how to feel about this. I'll start with the good.

The good: Well there was no point in building up Jinder if he wasn't going to win the title, especially with him having the tiny boys next to him in the match. Not sure Randys title reign was given a fair go at the start (fair enough), so probably best to get the title off him and let him get hot again, or just turn him heel. It's something new and different. It gives us a new main eventer.

The bad: Well is this type of different really that good? Jobber to main eventer. I personally don't mind it but I won't be surprised if it fails. Randy Orton didn't even defend his title once I'm pretty sure. So that makes the champion only defend the title once combined in the last 3 reigns. I think I got that right, Bray in a triple threat match against Cena and Styles. Maybe Cena did it but I can't remember. So not only is the WWE title being bounced around, it's also not getting defended. Not always a bad thing because you need it every now and then, but it can be a negative

All in all I'm probably more for it than against it, only because I'm pretty intrigued at what happens, but it could be as bad as it sounds.

 

[multiverseman.com]

I really don't see how someone can come in here with a straight face and try and convince me that putting the title on Jinder was a good idea. Besides being executed poorly, the guy is just terrible. And some of the lame, ridiculous excuses that people have trotted out as rationale have been cringeworthy. Only in wrestling, will you see fans justify a creative decision solely through the angle of company revenue. It's dumbfounding. You're not making ANY of that money.

Throwing the world title on a token Indian guy just for the sake of pleasing a bunch of hypothetical people who might like him just because of his race is both pandering and ludicrous, but if you were going to go that route....just find an Indian guy worth a damn and push HIM. Like Ariya or Shawn Diavari. Not a glorified jobber that didn't have a story who got shot to the top.

 

[GOOZEKING]

I can see it now Jinder Mahal vs John Cena for the wwe title at summerslam. Boy what a pissbreak of a match. Meanwhile we will get Aj vs Owens vs Jericho for USA title at summerslam and nakamura will face rusev on the pre show.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I always found it funny how those that onl love work rate type wrestlers will get upset when somebody isn't on the same level as their favorite win the wwe title.

What those fans need to realise is that wwe isn't your small indy wrestling company that cater to the IWC fans, they cater to the casual fans and want to create moments that fans will talk about the following day, Just look at the reaction that win from jinder got, it wasn't a normal, let's piss all over this type of reaction that smart crowd are normally doing, it was a genuine reaction that will be only match by when miz won the wwe championship or brock won against taker at mania. They we're truly surprise and that's what made the win great.

Some of you might want to shit all over it before even giving jinder a chance to run with the ball, but I thought that this was a great moment in wrestl7ng and want to see we're this is going

Jinder might not be a great workrate wrestler like aj styles or a super charismatic wrestler like nakamura because le's face it, if it wasn't for his charisma, nakamura wouldn't be the superstar he is, but after all the crap he want through during is first run and even since he came back, he really deserve getting this shot. The guy as work real hard to up his came up both in the ring and on the mic and it shows because he a way better character now that he was when he came back

So before shitting on this, let's give him to prove himself, he might fail he might not but at less they try something new instead of always pushing the same guy

 

[XXJJ]

I like how they are using Orton and Cena. They still get big wins and are dominate figures, but they are being used as transitional champions to put over new champions... Both don't really need long title reigns anymore.

I'm open minded. We will see how Jinder does. It's a good spot for Vince to experiment a little because it's kind of a dull period till we get closer to Summerslam.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Only in wrestling, will you see fans justify a creative decision solely through the angle of company revenue. It's dumbfounding. You're not making ANY of that money.

That's were you're wrong , kiddo

I can see this thread is devolving into typical IWC bullshit. "Wah wah wah push new people.....but not that one !"


Good for Mahal. Lifelong fan who busted his ass to get here. Reign will be short, painless, and something different. Everyone get your panties untwisted.

 

[Xemmy]

I've seen a few people call it a joke.

I love it. I don't see it as a joke. It's fair to argue they didn't spend enough time building Mahal as a credible threat, and the Bollywood Boys were kind of used to supplement his lack of credibility. But I'm glad it happened. It's fresh. He looks the part. He's got great draw potential as a hated heel and for India.

But he has to kick it into gear now. He needs to work his ass off, practice his mic work in his spare time, let Randy, AJ, and Owens take him under the learning tree at every opportunity, and do everything he can to hold on to his position. Not just for his sake, but for the sake of Smackdown. There is a need for a top heel and Jinder can be that. But he has to bring his game up now in the biggest way possible. And I hope he does. That "I'm a foreigner and you all hate me so I hate you" shtick can only go on for so long before it gets stale. He's not The Iron Shieky baby, and it's not the 1980s. He has got to develop his character, and he's got to polish himself in every area. And I hope he does it.

 

[Dragon Chief]

I'm not Indian but I am Canadian with a South Asian background and I for one am glad Jinder Mahal won the title. Jinder Mahal is a great representative for not only the Indian wrestling fans but Asian wrestling fans in general. I like to see more multiculturalism in WWE and more diverse champions other than your typical American wrestler and we rarely see any diversity in champions in the WWE.

Jinder Mahal has an impressive physique and ever since he got into peak physical condition, I thought he was capable of being a main-event superstar. Jinder Mahal has all the tools to be a top level superstar, the look, the ruthless aggression, solid in ring and mic skills.

I personally watch wrestling for the big fights with the alpha wrestlers and Mahal definitely fits the mold of an alpha wrestler, hopefully his push is successful and he establishes himself as one of the greats.

 

[Phenomenal]

Its amazing how steroids can change your life, Jinder does certainly have the old school heel feel to him. I'm sure Vinnie Mac got bored of seeing wrestlers who look like jobbers or mid-carders at best being world champs.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

I'm surprised that Juicer Mahal won but I'm curious to see if this is just a short run to make the Indian fan base happy or if they actually believe in him until maybe like Summer Slam or something. Will Orton get it right back at the next PPV (MITB I think)?