Now What? Jinder Mahal.

[ChristopherKeepsItReal]

Okay then, we saw Jinder Mahal join Smackdown as a 'bad' influence or an advocate even, for The Great Khali. We saw him with a decent winning streak, and after two matches it looks like the duo are over. Now we see Khali has beaten Mahal in a match, so it looks like he's flat out dead of momentum. Personally I don't think he's impressive, and is just good for his language but he's in no way near Sheik Daivari's skills. Now I cannot think of a way to get him back on track, possibly without hiring himself a 'new mammoth'. Now Brodus Clay was said on Superstars to be 'done' with bodyguarding, so let him be. So maybe WWE need to introduce an FCW giant or powerhouse at least. Big E Langston, Eli Cottonwood and Erick Rowan are the only ones on the roster I can see taking on the role. But Big E is a lame name and feels too strongly associated with Zack Ryder, Cottonwood has been sidelined of some sort and we didn't see much of him in NXT 2. But perhaps he has improved like Titus O Neill, and has more to offer? As Rowan, he's too new. What do you guys think should happen next?

 

[Good Golly It's Ollie]

I did actually see potential in this guy during his first few squash wins but the whole Khali storyline is difficult to care about, unless Ranjin gets more involved. Ranjin I can relate to. I'm clutching at straws for these but I'm determined to find good/usefulness in everybody.

Mahal's pros:
- Decent in the ring
- Threatening demeanour, a kind of "aura"
- Cool finisher (Full Nelson Slam), just needs a name

Cons:
- Looks a bit like an Indian del Rio?
- A bit limited, at the moment, in terms of what his character has done
- No one cares enough about Khali to feel particularly bothered about Mahal's specific brand of douchebaggery
- Khali causes some X-Pac heat, and I fear this may have rubbed off on Mahal by association

I'd say let him continue to pick up wins in the mid-card if they want him to get over/noticed. You could push him higher but do people care enough at this early point?

 

[frostbite2819]

i honestly dont watch smackdown enough to have formed a solid opinion on the guy but i know he certainly has a good, unique look that vince could capitalize on.
hell, bring him to raw and let's see what he can do against some top faces.
and give him a different gimmick. anything but using his heritage to try to get over, thats getting old and bores me. pretty much cheap lazy booking.

 

[Okay Fabian]

I really think they dropped the ball with Mahal. The marriage / blackmail storyline was far too convoluted. They really should have had Mahal simply pay Khali to be his bodyguard. Money talks. I know I'll get flack for this, but I think Mahal would have been a great interim challenger for the World Heavyweight Championship when Orton held it. With Khali 100% in Mahal's corner (and not in this hesitant agreement) he would have been a perceived threat for the title. I'm not saying he should have won it, but he would have been a believable challenger. They have really killed any mystique Mahal had by jobbing him out to Khali.

If you follow storyline logic, Mahal should just divorce Khali's sister as he threatened to do if Khali didn't join him. He could attach himself to one or more of WWE's divas. Or he could stay married to Khali's sister, but spite her and Khali by introducing what he calls his "Harem" (It would be a Bollywood heel version of The Godfather's Ho Train). I know they've mentioned that Mahal ran a movie studio in India. He could "recruit talent". That would at least keep some focus on him instead of letting him slide into obscurity.

 

[martymcfly]

This is a tough one, and I think the main problem was that this whole story was booked poorly. First, being married to khali's sister and threatening divorce does not really make anyone interested unless you actually start bringing in more drama or at least the sister as a character or something. There was no way this could develop if the only thing we had was announcers occasionally reminding us.

Second, it's a mistake to put khali into...well, any sort of storyline, really. He does not have the language skills or the acting prowess to pull off an actual story.

Third, I think someone on the smackdown writing team just really screwed up. Seriously...we have two indian wrestlers, so they automatically must be put together? Yeah...because India is such a small, unpopulated country that two random wrestlers must automatically have a connection (read: sarcasm). What they could have done is made them rivals, or as okay fabian stated above me, just a guy who hired khali to be some muscle for him. The route they went was just ridiculous.

Finally, I don't know if this happened because mahal was brought to the roster too early, but outside of a few early squashes, he never really shined in a ring. He should have come in dominating and then tried to shame khali into joining him.

I guess all of this is irrelevant though, since what happened happened, and there's no taking it back now. Probably a good thing to do would be for him to enter the midcard scene, make no reference to his stupid backstory with khali, and go on a dominating streak. I'm not sure if much else at this point will salvage him.

 

[TheViper723]

Like someone said earlier in the thread...they dropped the ball on Mahal. Personally I think Mahal is a square in the ring and outside the ring. He looks too stiff. He is not as charismatic as Del Rio and he is not as over as Muhammad Hassan and Daviri were. They should repackage him or ship him to Raw and have him join Miz, Nash, and Truth. I don't think anyone cares about the whole divorce angle with Khali. Khali in hindi means...Empty and this storyline is as empty as Khali's WWE career. I just hope they don't make Mahal into another Test...so much potential but still so useless. Mahal was trained in Calgary so you know he has good wrestling ability but its the mic skills and the charisma he lacks which could hold him back. I feel that they should have him feud with Daniel Bryan, who is as boring as Scott Standford on a microphone. Daniel Bryan was labelled as the next big star and all this hype and now with Gail Kim gone...its like Daniel Bryan is not too far behind. Have Mahal feud with some lackluster guys and build severe heat, and then have him compete for Orton's Championship (when he goes over on Henry offcourse, which is sooner than most of us may think...considering Henry is what....50 years old?) Mahal has a good future if they use him right or he is going to be another Muhammad Hassan minus the charisma and fan "depreciation".

 

[ChristopherKeepsItReal]

@ Yeah Marty, this sister thing is pretty useless when there is no 'sister' and nobody in FCW even looks 'Indian'. I'll be honest, I only knew about this storyline AFTER I posted this thread, just showing how lacklustre and forgettable this storyline actually is/was. I highly doubt we'll be seeing any sort of a follow up. I do not understand why they do this country assumption segregation thing now though. Sheamus debuted on his own accord not Finlay's, Wade Barrett debuted as a rookie to Chris Jericho not Regal's. They should just forget about this, another "Katie Vickesque" moment.

@ Viper723. Mahal has no build up, no reason and no point in this 'conspiracy' angle with Awesome Truth or Nash and shipping him to RAW is just begging to bury him even more. Two words. Drew McIntyre. Now a feud with Daniel Bryan, I guess it'll be random series of matches, no? But nonetheless, if they're good that's good. And why does Gail Kim get mentioned, lols. He's Mr. MITB and claims to cash in at the grandest stage of them all, be patient man. Sheamus O Shaunessy was on a huge losing streak, and now he's one of the most over guys in the WWE at this stage.

@Okay Fabian. WWE have worn out the bodyguard concept with recent flops Brodus Clay and Jackson Andrews. And the money thing is too Del Rio'esque for me, I like Del Rio and all, but the last thing we need is another him. Although he likes talking too much, so I find it doubtful he'll get a legitimate MANAGER. So yeah, maybe the bodyguard thing should taken it's course, just this once. And yeah, real doubt on that World Championship statement, he's a bit too green, first 6 months and that. It's alright for some, but Mahal is just not that over.

@Ollie. I love that finishing move of Mahal's, the Full Nelson Slam is one of the more well known moves that are underused and it definitely needs a name. I would suggest him using his FCW Finishers, but John Cena and Black Cena use them too.

 

[XXJJ]

Yeah the entire angle is stupid. They had their match tonight. I hope they are finally done with it.

 

[brandonxthomas]

I like Mahal but he is too Del Rio. Seems like lazy writing to me.

I think a mid card fued with DiBiase over who could buy or sell each other along with a few lines "in a past life I was a King and you were a rat" or something, would get him along for now.

I like him though, and Khali should be in a wheelchair.

 

[SD619]

Khali in Hindi means...Empty and this storyline is as empty as Khali's WWE career

In Hindi, empty is 'khaali' . Khali's name is based on the Hindu goddess 'Kali'.


The main problem with Mahal was that he was given a downright dumb story to work with. I don't see how anyone could get over if given such a story to work with. Also his association with Khali didn't do him any good. He got the initial heat, but then no one cared.

I think that the best way to go ahead is to drop this storyline and make Mahal into a legitimate mid-carder. I think a feud over the IC title would be good for him. This may be a bit of a stretch, but I think that a Mahal-Christian feud would be very good for his career.

About his mic skills, he is good on the mic. I don't see the need for him to cut whole promos in Punjabi though. He is quite fluent in English and should stick to it in most cases.

 

[TheViper723]

I agree with you on the Mahal's punjabi being unnecessary however having him wrestle for the IC title is a pure waste. Mahal is too "big" to be considered a legit IC contender. And having him feud with Christian means one would have to go for a face turn and right now neither are capable of turning face especially with the lack of heels on Smackdown. Sheamus is a good possible feud or even Dibiase. But giving Mahal the IC title or even a run for our money....bad idea and an even more big burial of character. Either way...if Mahal doesn't get good storylines in the next 3 months...come January when its AXING time in the WWE....look for Mahal to join TNA.

 

[SD619]

Mahal is too "big" to be considered a legit IC contender.

Razor Ramon(and Kane, Test, Diesel) were IC champions and all bigger than Jinder Mahal. I don't see how someone can be too big to be considered IC champion.

And having him feud with Christian means one would have to go for a face turn and right now neither are capable of turning face especially with the lack of heels on Smackdown.

I wouldn't mind seeing Christian turn face again. And as for the heels, we have Cody Rhodes, Mark Henry, Barrett. Also, they could turn Ezekiel Jackson/Big Show/Kane heel. I don't think that SmackDown has a lack of heels.

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

. Mahal is too "big" to be considered a legit IC contender.

Wade Barrett and Zeke would probably argue with that. And those are just two guys who won it this year.


So, they effectively stopped someone who is greener than hell's push & wasn't good at anything and all of the sudden he is 'wasted'? Are people really that antsy?

I don't think the angle was too farfetched (it is the most realistic angle despite with Punk's fans think). I just think Mahal was the wrong guy. He didn't command attention. And when Khali is the working part of a tag team, something is seriously wrong. They didn't even trust the guy to be put in non-squash situations.

So, yeah I expect him to disappear back to FCW. He sucks, but it is too early to say his coffin has been nailed shut.

 

[Isaac Kaye]

He's nothing like Alberto Del Rio! Somebody give me ONE similarity between Del Rio and Mahal apart from the fact they are vaguely the same height??

From what I can remember Mahal won about 4-5 squashes on SD when he first debuted and it looks like they were building him towards something, or at least taking time to showcase his talents. Why an earth they threw him into a pointless storyline with Khali, which not only killed his momentum but took him out of the ring so everyone forgot about him as a singles competitor, I will never know.

We haven't seen enough of him in the ring to make a solid judgement in my opinion. He looks the part and I've been pretty impressed by his intensity so far. But they completely dropped the ball with him on Friday no goodness know what they have planned for him. A slow build I should imagine, starting with him beating Trent Baretta for the umpteenth time. But seriously, the quicker he is out of this farcical storyline the better.

 

[Danny84]

Basically like everyone said he is the indian version of del rio with the money ect have him go to some of the no body gives a shit wrestlers and pay them to work for him like otunga and mccilcuty or whatever his name is and brodus clay ect you all get what i mean takee out the big superstars on smackdown and the raw supershow and then they can all make a name for there selfs then after a while mahul can go after the title when he has been made relevent

 

[IT Factor]

I have been underwhelmed with Jinder Mahal. He's a big guy and seems to have all the tools to make it. But so far, he's failed to impress. I actually liked Muhammed Hassan better than Mahal and he pulled the whole foreign gimmick off way better and was great at garnering heat. He was hated by the biggest portion of the WWE Universe and did a great job as a new heel. I wouldn't be too surprized if Mahal was future endeavored.