Who should get Jindered?

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

So Jinder Mahal is far from the first lower card guy we've seen WWE skyrocket to a main event spot. Now, the spot probably won't be permanent but whatever, that's not the point of this thread.

The point of this thread is to ask: who would you like to see get the Jinder Mahal treatment?

Pick a lower card guy currently in the WWE and make a case as to why they should be elevated. I'm talking about a guy on the Curtis Axel, Golden Truth level. Pitch an angle for how to do it. How would you take them from filler matches on Main Event to the real main event, fighting for a World Title? It doesn't have to be an overnight thing, it could be a long term plan.

My random choice is going to be Tyler Breeze, who is doing exactly nothing on SmackDown right now. To reinvigorate Tyler Breeze I'd add to his character an old gimmick I saw Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin do in World Class. Give Tyler Breeze a female valet, and then give his valet a female assistant. The valet is heel, but the valet's assistant would be babyface, and would be kind of be an "abused" employee.

So Breeze would have these two women at ringside getting involved in his matches and helping him win. Anytime the match didn't go as planned, the heels would blame the assistant. It's a simple gimmick that would add some dimension to his character and give him an actual story to be involved in.

With his new managers, Breeze could steadily climb the ranks on SmackDown to the US Title. Breeze would of course be in a romantic relationship with the heel valet, but it would eventually be revealed that he is secretly having an affair with the assistant! This could even lead to a match between the two women, with Breeze as the guest referee. Breeze could utimately side with the asisstant, turning babyface. The scorned heel valet could align with a new client, setting up Breeze's next feud for the US Title.

So there you go, my idea to push Tyler Breeze from obscurity to a spot that means something. Now let's see what you guys come up with for other lowcarders in the WWE...

 

[Randy Orton's Head Blood]

Either, Sin Cara or Kalisto. When Rey Mysterio was in the main event with people like Cena, Undertaker & Batista and such, it was great to watch someone with a different "style" taking on the bigger guys.

Obviously, both Kalisto & Cara have been kinda thrown to the bottom of the card, but if we could use Sin Cara (he's the bigger one), first by putting him into a United States Championship match, where he wins & holds the title for a few months. Eventually, he gets up to the top of the card & becomes Number 1 contender to the WWE Championship.

 

[roipdh123]

Bo Dallas.

The guy is on Raw as of now and I would have loved to have him in a program with hopefully soon to be the new IC champ - The Miz!!
Basically Bo becomes the No.1 contender for the IC Title in a battle royal.
Then they will have a match on Raw where after the bell rings, Bo takes the mic and says, don't forget everyone - BoLieve in..Miz, and then he lays down for the 3 count.
He becomes Miz's protogue (Hi there Alex Riley), and it runs for months, with him helping Miz. After it you will have a slow build face turn for Bo, and at the Royal Rumble he turns on him, and then defeats him at WrestleMania 34 in a Ladder Match to become the IC Champ.

 

[enviousdominous]

I like it when the WWE adds to the character of an individual who gets an unlikely promotion to main card status. Jinder now has a Chris Masters physique and the support of The Bollywood Boys, which seems to make him a slightly bigger threat to Randy than he was without all that.

I've always wanted to see how R-Truth would fare if they amplified his gimmick. Like, instead of making the same old rap they would actually give him a new (more champion worthy) rap and let him change it up depending on who he was facing or the circumstances of the match.

When R-Truth got the unlikely spot where he faced Cena at Capitol Combat, they just put him out there as a hallucinating moron. I wish that they would have been able to take him seriously, if only for that one night and let him be a slightly more important part of the business.

 

[mont3818]

My pick is, seemingly, rather obvious: Cesaro. He works just as hard as Jinder Mahal, does he not? I mean, physique wise he does seem to. Plus his match quality is known the be excellent and the crowd wants to love him, wants him to get the push! People say his mic skills suck but he does seem to have a certain charisma that the crowd responds to, or at least they're smarter now and recognize quality when they see it. There wouldn't be a whole lot of work to get him that spot. Just give him stuff where we can take him seriously in that spot and don't deflate his momentum on a comedy act with Sheamus.

But yeah, if Jinder, why not Cesaro?? That's my most obvious choice. Any one else and I'd be digging.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

I second Tyler Breeze, and not because we share a hometown or anything like that, no.

I don't think the reaction he received in NXT was purely due to the brand's well known Midas touch. The Breeze is gorgeous chants were infectious, but never caught on in the main roster due to his lack in promo time.

The guy can go, as seen in NXT, but you can't go when you're a hot cop comedy jobber.

Personal bias aside, I nominate Jinder's 3MB compatriot, that's right Heath Slater.

Not into a world title picture, gosh no. He could have easily rounded out Smackdown's midcard when it was suffering last fall. Why wasn't Heath, a very over babyface, not used to get Dolph Ziggler over as a heel? Who did Heath piss off?

Dolph just beat on Crews and Kalisto to thunderous applause. The crowd would have cared about Ziggler beating up Heath and Rhyno, because they were actually over.

Heath Slater was so over during his drive to get signed. The cheers were massive when he and Rhyno captured the tag titles. Then they disappeared.

I blame the Zack Ryder effect. Slater was never meant to get as over as he did. He got almost too over that he had to be taken back down to jobber status, and has barely been on SDL since dropping the tag titles.

What could have been? Dolph's heel turn could have worked out better in the early going. SDL could have had more depth in the midcard singles department.

 

[mooseman]

My pick would be Zack Ryder with a jealous best friend Mojo Rawley earns a title shot at the Royal Rumble. Seated front row for the big event is Mojo's boy Rob Gronkowski and being seen for the 1st time since his injury Zack Ryder. Mojo has all the momentum Ryder jumps the guardrail and lays out Mojo out with as stiff a chair shot as they can allow today. Gronk gets pissed and jumps in to defend Mojo and bam Ryder lays him out too. SDLive Ryder shows a darker side to himself and at Mania we get Mojo/Gronk vs Ryder and a partner. Start a Ryder heel push. Tons of media coverage!!!

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Jason Jordan or Big Cass. It looked like Cass was getting that rocket last year and people were eating it up. I see Jordan as a guy with endless potential. A mini push like that could be a good test for him.

Maybe give the opportunity to Darren Young. It could give WWE some good free press or possibly turn in to a Berkley like riot.

 

[roipdh123]

Just got popped with another option.
They could slowbuild a guy into a heel mid carder and start have him get a good heat - for excample, Breeze, Slater, Bo, Jason Jordan, Curt Hawkins etc..
If they see they get a good reaction, have them get "eliminated" threw the middle rope in the Rumble next year. Then have Sami Zayn "WIN" the rumble, only for the heel to eliminate him from behind to a gigantic heel reaction.

 

[The Perfect Max]

I'm not so sure how I would do it, but I would really like to see Curtis Axel get another serious go. I really wish WWE would have continued on the path they were going on with him when he first debuted the character along with Paul Heyman, but as with Cesaro, it seems unless you are Brock Lesnar or you can fend for yourself like CM Punk, it isn't going to work for whatever reason. Criticise timing or booking or whatever, it was all contributory to the end disaster for Curtis Axel.

I think the first thing WWE would have to do is reintroduce the character from 2013 and distance him as far away as possible from the Social Outcast esque stuff that they've done. He will clearly never have the charisma to really talk for himself in a character that isn't funny (i.e. Axelmania) like his father, so if they could also find a manager of some sort, or just really teach him the way of a promo, that would seriously help. Something. I really feel a big downfall for him was the talking side of things, because he certainly has the intensity and in-ring capabilities.

And honestly, the simplest way to kick things off would be to let him get some televised wins under his belt. It really doesn't matter who against. Then after a few wins, let him get on the mic or whatever and just give the audience something to eat up. Make it clear that Curtis Axel is back doing what he does best. Start the slow build from there. It's amazing when things are done at the right pace how much fans forget. It can happen here too.

Arguably Curtis Axel is no more than an Intercontinental Champion. And that is perfectly fine. His father wasn't anything more in WWE and didn't need to be to cement his legacy. Of course, with two world titles now, anything is possible. But I'd like to see something with Curtis Axel.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Konnor from Ascension tag team. Ditch Viktor and create a brand new masked devil out of Konnor. He can start attacking and interfering in matches to get attention. With a new attire and a molten/type mask with scary entrance music he could wipe away the stench of his career.

 

[Charismatic Enigma]

Konnor from Ascension tag team. Ditch Viktor and create a brand new masked devil out of Konnor. He can start attacking and interfering in matches to get attention. With a new attire and a molten/type mask with scary entrance music he could wipe away the stench of his career.

I was gonna say the same thing. This guy was in developmental for SO LONG. He played a human rat, The Ascension went through like 50 versions in NXT before finally landing on one that worked, only to get called up and have everything that worked about them changed. He deserves better.

I could go with a few scenarios of how to get him there:

1.) This is the obvious (and overused) one, have Viktor start losing their matches, Konner gets pissed, attacks him, goes into business for himself, and we're off to the races.

2.) They earn a shot at the tag titles, they're unsuccessful, and we see a backstage segment where one of them says to the other, "in NXT we were the most dominant team down there, but up here it's just been a string of bad luck. I think we should go it alone for a while, and one day when the timing is right the Ascension will rise again" they shake hands and we give em each a solo run (Viktor joins 205 live).

3.) A total shocker...have Konnor win the Royal Rumble. This has NEVER been done, so I think it would get over huge. Every year, give me a list of the 30 guys, I can tell you the only 5 that actually have a chance. Every year for the last 3 decades. Here's how you change that perception forever, Konnor comes in at some random late number like 25-30, presumably just to be a filler body, when it's down to the final 4-5 guys, he takes a powder. It's down to a couple of obvious ones like Cena and Reigns, Reigns dumps Cena. Crowd thinks he's won, they're booing as usual, Konnor runs back in and tosses him, it would be a mixture of confusion and joy. A scenario like this is way more feasible thanks to now having two world titles.

3A.) Basically the same type of thing, but with Money In The Bank.

4.) An Attitude Era style worked shoot. He gets "released" during the annual spring cleaning. Cuts a "shoot interview" somewhere where he blasts Vince and HHH, talks about how he busted his ass for over a decade for nothing, he's been booked like a chump, etc. Run down the wellness policy whatever. It will of course go massively viral overnight. The next day it gets "pulled" because of WWE copyright or some bullshit. He deletes all social media. 30 days later it's been announced he's been rehired. He comes back with monster push, but barely ever talks. Like Ryback 2012 style, only this time you don't pull the rug out when he starts getting hot. There would be so much buzz around what actually happened backstage, the fans would be totally hooked.

 

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

4.) An Attitude Era style worked shoot. He gets "released" during the annual spring cleaning. Cuts a "shoot interview" somewhere where he blasts Vince and HHH, talks about how he busted his ass for over a decade for nothing, he's been booked like a chump, etc. Run down the wellness policy whatever. It will of course go massively viral overnight. The next day it gets "pulled" because of WWE copyright or some bullshit. He deletes all social media. 30 days later it's been announced he's been rehired. He comes back with monster push, but barely ever talks. Like Ryback 2012 style, only this time you don't pull the rug out when he starts getting hot. There would be so much buzz around what actually happened backstage, the fans would be totally hooked.

I really like this idea. I'm not sure Konnor is the guy to do it with, but the basic premise is pretty solid. The WWE needs to start thinking outside the box like this if they want to create a buzz in the modern wrestling climate.

 

[ShinChan]

I like OP's idea and choice as well. Tyler Breeze is talented enough to be a midcard champion. Even more than the current No. 1 contender, Jinder Mahal.

However, I would like it to be Cesaro as I just love him. He's very good in the ring. I have accepted that Vince won't push him in main event scene at any cost. Because he's boring to Vince. Dumb. But still, I would like a midcard title reign for Cesaro. He's doing fine work with Sheamus as for now.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Kalisto

He's the most talented lower card wrestler in WWE.

No he shouldn't be in the World Title scene, but rather in the cruiserweight division having feuds with Neville, Gallagher, and Aries.

 

[S.J. Maximus]

I Bolieve in Bo Dallas. I will fight to the grave to prove that it is WWE, not Bo Dallas, who is to blame for his current predicament. He was like 12-Bo when they randomly made him lose to R-Truth!!!

The way to do it isn't hard at all - back when he was undefeated everyone on this forum was comparing him to Kurt Angle in early 2000, a character like that who can get under people's skin with a promo and then work in the ring can climb the mountain fast. If they simply let him win matches against legitimate competition and gave him 5 minutes to speak you'd be surprised how high he could fly - he may even Bolieve his way into World Champion status like his brother did.

 

[therockiswwf]

3.) A total shocker...have Konnor win the Royal Rumble. This has NEVER been done, so I think it would get over huge. Every year, give me a list of the 30 guys, I can tell you the only 5 that actually have a chance. Every year for the last 3 decades. Here's how you change that perception forever, Konnor comes in at some random late number like 25-30, presumably just to be a filler body, when it's down to the final 4-5 guys, he takes a powder. It's down to a couple of obvious ones like Cena and Reigns, Reigns dumps Cena. Crowd thinks he's won, they're booing as usual, Konnor runs back in and tosses him, it would be a mixture of confusion and joy. A scenario like this is way more feasible thanks to now having two world titles.

No. The problem with this is they would then have to do a 2 month build with a guy that zero people care about going into the biggest show of the year. Shock value provides only a short-term benefit. It would not get Konnor over. No one would want to see him vs whoever the champion is. You tie up the champion in a meaningless match that could be better spent doing something else. Wrestlemania draws casual fans in. Konnor would not do well with them.

4.) An Attitude Era style worked shoot. He gets "released" during the annual spring cleaning. Cuts a "shoot interview" somewhere where he blasts Vince and HHH, talks about how he busted his ass for over a decade for nothing, he's been booked like a chump, etc. Run down the wellness policy whatever. It will of course go massively viral overnight. The next day it gets "pulled" because of WWE copyright or some bullshit. He deletes all social media. 30 days later it's been announced he's been rehired. He comes back with monster push, but barely ever talks. Like Ryback 2012 style, only this time you don't pull the rug out when he starts getting hot. There would be so much buzz around what actually happened backstage, the fans would be totally hooked.

Oh great an internet angle. One that depends on something going massively viral because no one has ever been released and complained before. I'm sure if that has happened though, it always becomes viral. I guess that would explain why Ryback is the biggest name in the entire world right now. CM Punk's worked shoot worked because he explained it on TV and it was simple. No insider knowledge needed to understand it. My contract is running out and the company doesn't give me opportunities like they do for Cena. Nothing about the writers keeping him down or he doesn't want to do a job.

The biggest problem is this is designed to appeal to a minority of the audience (IWC). This would not appeal to casual fans and they would not care. IWC would know it is a work and would not care as well. Vince Russo did this a lot. He would book a shoot angle hoping people would think it is real. However, this would confuse everyone who aren't in the know. It wouldn't fool people who are in the know. Making it appeal to neither side.

I Bolieve in Bo Dallas. I will fight to the grave to prove that it is WWE, not Bo Dallas, who is to blame for his current predicament. He was like 12-Bo when they randomly made him lose to R-Truth!!!

The way to do it isn't hard at all - back when he was undefeated everyone on this forum was comparing him to Kurt Angle in early 2000, a character like that who can get under people's skin with a promo and then work in the ring can climb the mountain fast. If they simply let him win matches against legitimate competition and gave him 5 minutes to speak you'd be surprised how high he could fly - he may even Bolieve his way into World Champion status like his brother did.

That worked because Kurt Angle is an Olympic gold medalist. Vince told him that they could do comedy with him and still have people buy that he is dangerous due to the medal. Which was true. Kurt was a machine in the ring. Bo isn't. Comedy usually does not draw well (translation problems).

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

Reactions to a couple of names:

1) Tyler Breeze looks like a 14 year old girl. He makes young Shawn Michaels look like Bruiser Brody. He should be nowhere near a world title match.

2) Konnor is a stiff. I've seen nothing from him that would give me any inclination to push him. The best thing about him was his entrance in NXT.

Nobody on the current roster deserves to be "Jindered". Not even Jinder .

 

[Charismatic Enigma]

No. The problem with this is they would then have to do a 2 month build with a guy that zero people care about going into the biggest show of the year. Shock value provides only a short-term benefit. It would not get Konnor over. No one would want to see him vs whoever the champion is. You tie up the champion in a meaningless match that could be better spent doing something else. Wrestlemania draws casual fans in. Konnor would not do well with them.

You mean exactly like what they're doing with Jinder now? What this thread is in response to. No one succeeds if you don't provide them the platform to do it. Not to mention, it's not like winning the Rumble actually gives you a main event at WrestleMania, it gives you a match for one of the world titles, we've seen that defended in the opening match more than once. It's all about the angle. If the person he was facing was despised ala Reigns, it almost doesn't matter who the opponent is, the crowd would be behind them. Especially if they started to build him with a sit down interview with JR, show a package of him from FCW, to NXT, to now. Really play up his journey, talk about the failed gimmicks, the suspension, etc. The problem with modern WWE is everything gets hot shotted. Use those months to have a solid build, I guarantee you it can be done. If people don't care, it's because they did a bad job at making them care.

Oh great an internet angle. One that depends on something going massively viral because no one has ever been released and complained before. I'm sure if that has happened though, it always becomes viral. I guess that would explain why Ryback is the biggest name in the entire world right now. CM Punk's worked shoot worked because he explained it on TV and it was simple. No insider knowledge needed to understand it. My contract is running out and the company doesn't give me opportunities like they do for Cena. Nothing about the writers keeping him down or he doesn't want to do a job.

The biggest problem is this is designed to appeal to a minority of the audience (IWC). This would not appeal to casual fans and they would not care. IWC would know it is a work and would not care as well. Vince Russo did this a lot. He would book a shoot angle hoping people would think it is real. However, this would confuse everyone who aren't in the know. It wouldn't fool people who are in the know. Making it appeal to neither side.

Gotta disagree here as well. Did you think the "pipe bomb" was done without the approval of WWE? Of course not, but even the smarkiest of fans enjoyed it for what it was. It's a way to generate buzz around someone. Have him work a few indie dates, cut the promo there, and have "a fan" post it on youtube. I think you're really underestimating the IWC and the influence it has on booking. You think all 75,000 people at WrestleMania chanting "delete" watched TNA every week? Why do you think they hire all these indie darlings? How does the crowd know who NXT people are when they get called up? If they're watching the Network, then they're internet fans, and thus part of the IWC. Wrestling podcasts each week collectively are pulling in as big of ratings as Raw is. The point I'm trying to make is, the audience is there to get the angle over, again it just falls on the shoulders of creative to be, well, creative.

 

[therockiswwf]

You mean exactly like what they're doing with Jinder now? What this thread is in response to. No one succeeds if you don't provide them the platform to do it. Not to mention, it's not like winning the Rumble actually gives you a main event at WrestleMania, it gives you a match for one of the world titles, we've seen that defended in the opening match more than once. It's all about the angle. If the person he was facing was despised ala Reigns, it almost doesn't matter who the opponent is, the crowd would be behind them. Especially if they started to build him with a sit down interview with JR, show a package of him from FCW, to NXT, to now. Really play up his journey, talk about the failed gimmicks, the suspension, etc. The problem with modern WWE is everything gets hot shotted. Use those months to have a solid build, I guarantee you it can be done. If people don't care, it's because they did a bad job at making them care.

Russo tried this a lot as well. Jeff Jarrett did a promo about his character being shit and complaining about backstage stuff. He quickly went back to the character cause bitching normal guy Jeff Jarrett wasn't interesting. Tried it with Goldust as well. Same result. Giant stars aren't built overnight otherwise they would do this all the time.

It might pop them if Reigns is beat. Great. One pop. Accomplishes nothing.

Jinder didn't win the Rumble. He won a title shot for a low level PPV. You are also ignoring that a lot of people don't care about Jinder and that this is a bad idea.

Gotta disagree here as well. Did you think the "pipe bomb" was done without the approval of WWE? Of course not, but even the smarkiest of fans enjoyed it for what it was. It's a way to generate buzz around someone. Have him work a few indie dates, cut the promo there, and have "a fan" post it on youtube. I think you're really underestimating the IWC and the influence it has on booking. You think all 75,000 people at WrestleMania chanting "delete" watched TNA every week? Why do you think they hire all these indie darlings? How does the crowd know who NXT people are when they get called up? If they're watching the Network, then they're internet fans, and thus part of the IWC. Wrestling podcasts each week collectively are pulling in as big of ratings as Raw is. The point I'm trying to make is, the audience is there to get the angle over, again it just falls on the shoulders of creative to be, well, creative.

Yes I know that WWE approved the pipebomb promo. Hence my use of worked shoot. Punk was upper-level guy who had an easy to understand issue. He also did it on TV. Having a low-level guy do it on an indy show would not create any interest. You are severely overestimating the IWC and forgetting that WWE is a global corporation.

A lot of people were chanting delete but not each one of them. I also assume a lot of people just joined in cause everyone else was doing it. Raw after Mania crowds have a lot of hardcore fans. So that is why NXT guys get a pop. When Balor debuted, a lot of people did not do him arm pose. Reason being they were unfamiliar with it. Top NXT guy with a regular crowd. Didn't go well.

They hire indie darlings because they are usually the best people on the independents. Makes sense.

I need proof for the podcast numbers. Sounds like you pulled that one out of your ass.

 

[Spencesc11]

I would give the re-packaged push as a group with Fandango & Ziggler benefiting with the re-formation of the 4 Horseman on Smackdown. Just when it looks like Bray Wyatt will win his PPV match with Orton you have Corbin, Ziggler, & Fandango (New Name - Curtis Cage) come out and take out Wyatt. Flair's music hits as the crowd looks shocked. Ric Flair gets on the mic and says it's time for the reformation of the greatest faction of all time the 4 Horseman!!!
* Fandango has the look and along with Ziggler has always been under-utilized. Have these 2 form a cheating tag team and you have pure gold.

Why this works for all of them....

Orton is the perfect choice to be the "Main Guy" for now
Corbin gets a great 2nd tier role which is huge with guys like Owens & Zayn joining the Smackdown roster
Ziggler & Curtis Cage can become an elevated tag team on the Blue Brand that needs more depth in that area for sure.

Do this and keep Mahal's group as a relevant heel faction to.

Then on Smackdown I would also consider this (Face turn of Kevin Owens)
* Have him and Sami Zayn makeup and along with AJ Styles be the 3 dominant faces of the Smackdown brand!!!

Brand new storylines that the fans I'm sure would be very engaged in.

 

[Wildcat66]

Why no one has mentioned Fandango yet is surprising to me. He has a good look, can be decent in the ring, charismatic on the mic; honestly, had he not gotten injured before his I.C title match, he'd be in a much better position right about now.

So, how do you bring Fandango back from the dead?

1. Have Breeze start losing matches for them, Fandango gets annoyed, attacks, goes into business for himself.

2. Make Fandango the second coming of Shawn Michaels or Rick Rude. Completely ditch the dancing gimmick and have him be a womanizer who loves to play the field. (He'd be known as 'The Heartbreaker' Johnny Curtis)

3. Turn Fandango and have him live the gimmick of being a dancer. Give him a backstory as to why he became a dancer and run with it.

And 4. The most unlikely route, Have him come out and shockingly defeat champion clean in front of everyone; thus starting a new feud and beginning a new push for Fandango.