Jinder Mahal Divides WWE Universe

Jinder Mahal is the current WWE champion. He may not be the WWE champion a month from now. He may not even be the WWE champion a week from now. But, at the time of this writing (assuming it gets posted by Tuesday night), Jinder Mahal is WWE champion.

This is great, good, bad, or ugly, depending on who you asking in the world of wrestling. Luckily, I’ve rounded up all of the hot takes and provided my own rational opinion.

“Jinder is going to kill the business” 

Oh, you mean the business that has seen viewership drop to 2.1 million viewers since WrestleMania? Jinder is unlikely to lead the next boom area, but he’s also not going to kill the business. That’s because he’s unlikely to be champion long enough to kill the business.

Viewership has slowly declined due to the absence of John Cena and, in large part, to former WWE champion, Randy Orton. His feud and matches with Bray Wyatt did more to kill the business than Jinder will have the chance to do.

Viewership may continue to decline, but that’s not all on Jinder. He’s been asked to captain a currently sinking ship. I’m willing to bet that the title change will at least pop a rating this week. And while going from 2.1 million views to 2.3 million wouldn’t be anything to write home about, at least it buys him a week before they go even lower.

“It’s something different”

And this ties into why it won’t kill the business. WWE is no longer driven by PPV. In the Network Era, they can afford to take chances like this. Hell, they took chances like this in the PPV Era, so why is anyone surprised that they’re doing this now?

WWE should always look to try something different in this era. Until people actually make good on their #cancelWWENetwork threats, there’s no reason not to. Let’s be honest, no one is canceling their subscription over whoever the WWE champion is. If you didn’t cancel after House of Horrors, you’re not canceling because of Jinder. There is so much great classic content that you don’t even have to watch the current product to still get your money’s worth. Plus, you have NXT, 205 Live, the upcoming UK show, the upcoming Women’s Tournament, and the eventual live wrestling program every night of the week. Yeah, no one is canceling their subscription.

Doing something different is neither good nor bad. It’s simply a state that WWE is fortunate enough to be in.

“Jinder had no momentum.”

This is true. Unfortunately, this is also life in WWE today. They’re not thinking about a month from now, they’re simply booking week-to-week. They tried to give Jinder some momentum once they decided they were running with him as the #1 contender, but this is the same guy that lost to Finn Balor in less than three minutes on April 10. Having some momentum would have made this a bigger deal. Instead, they probably didn’t decide whether or not he was winning the belt until an hour before he went to the ring.

“He doesn’t deserve it.”

What does this even mean? Wrestlers win belts because, in this case, an out of touch old man decides that they think a certain person would look better with a gold WWE logo around their waist. Do you only “deserve” a world title if you worked on the independent scene for 10 years? Jinder put in years on the independent circuit, worked a bit in FCW, and then spent years as a job guy and comedy guy in WWE, making other talents look better. He got released, spent another two years on the independent scene, got into great shape, and worked his way back to WWE. He enhanced himself upon return and has made the most of it.

Just because he didn’t wrestle for the more well-known independent companies doesn’t mean he didn’t put his time in over the years to get where he’s at. And if you don’t think he deserves it, feel free to chant, “you didn’t earn it” without any hint of irony on Tuesday.

“He’s not very good and no one cares about him.”

The best wrestler is rarely the world champion. Otherwise, AJ Styles would be in the middle of a year and a half run with no end in sight.

Think about this, even though Jinder vs. Orton was an average match at best, it was still better than either Orton vs. Bray match. And yet, everyone gets upset that Bray isn’t better utilized and that he’s never been given a real chance. People romanticize the idea that Bray is good based on….I have no clue what. Maybe potential, but Jinder is only a year older and has had far less opportunities to prove that he can do something in this role.

As for no one caring, that’s not his fault. That’s the fault of WWE for deciding a month ago that he was going to be the #1 contender and sticking him with the generic “evil foreigner” gimmick. Still, people are reacting. Maybe they are reacting ironically, but at least there is some reaction from the crowd.

“He doesn’t elevate the title.”

Again, this is due to WWE giving him no momentum. It’s also due to the belt having very little prestige. Jinder is the fifth man to wear the title in 2017. When the title changes hands every month, no one has a chance to elevate it. Even those who have a long run, like Kevin Owens had with the Universal title, aren’t able to elevate the belt because the booking rarely allows for it.

Jinder shouldn’t have to elevate the title. The title should elevate him. But it’s lost so much luster over the years that it’s really nothing more than a prop. And that’s why Jinder is champion in the first place.

Let’s be friends on twitter. I’m @jeremylambert88