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Jinder Mahal As WWE Champion: Leave The Memories Alone

November 14, 2017 | Posted by Justin Watry

Jinder Mahal WWE Title WWE Live Event WWE Smackdown

“I have been reading your stuff on 411mania and nodq.com for the longest time now and I have never felt inclined to email in. The general consensus of you not being most popular is harsh at times but also can be well-founded too. But I still read your stuff because I do enjoy your articles and find your perspective interesting most of the time.

That said, your article about your friend Megan and trip to Wrestlemnaia was the greatest thing you have ever wrote. Forget about the predictions you brag about getting right. This is your crowning piece. Maybe it is because I can relate as going to Wrestlemania is my ultimate dream and it will be happening next year. But I genuinely loved your article.

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Backstory

A few days ago, I gave my thoughts on why Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega is one big MEH, the current WWE Raw and Smackdown Live brands, as well as the Survivor Series 2017 card (on another website). Link is posted on my Twitter account. Today is all about the big moment from last Tuesday when AJ Styles defeated Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship. Let’s dive in, shall we?

Jinder Mahal As WWE Champion: Leave The Memories Alone

April Words: The Calm Before The Storm – No backtracking from yours truly. Seven months ago, I wrote one massive column (on another website) called Defending Jinder Mahal. Then I did the same a week later here. Basically, it was all summed up in comparisons to JBL and just asking for fans to give the dude a chance. Why not? What was the real harm? Business was going to be profitable regardless, and WWE was not going to lose much if things went south for a couple of months in the summer…and hey, if the results were positive? Even better!

Summer 2017: Throw In The Towel – I gave the guy an honest to goodness shot at proving he was more than the wrestler who just lost to Finn Balor in three minutes on RAW a week earlier. I gave him weeks and then months to prove the doubters (myself included) wrong. That carried over until Summerslam, which is when I decided it was time to pull the plug. On that night, I picked Shinsuke Nakamura to win the WWE Title. Jinder beating Randy Orton repeatedly was one thing but the new big international star who had been undefeated on the blue brand? Come on!

Mahal retained, and life moved on. Business overall was still fine for the company; it will be anyways. For the actual Smackdown LIVE entity though, eh. Live event attendance was down, the television product was suffering greatly, and fans did not seem too invested in the supposed top heel as others were clearly outshining him. I figured that would all be fixed at Heck on a Deck. Nakamura would get his rematch, and there would be no shenanigans to stop Jinder from winning again.

Wrong Again: The Beat Goes On – Oops. Not only did Mahal retain to more groans and the stale ‘main event’ promos keep on, it now looked like no end was in sight. We had crossed from the spring season experiment to the summer trial run to a full blown fall lull. Even if you don’t like the word “experiment” when describing Jinder Mahal becoming WWE Champion out of the blue, this was getting out of hand in a hurry. JBL, he was not. The long awaited homecoming India tour was set for December. He was already announced to be battling Raw Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series, and nothing was going to change.

At least another month of him as champ was in store, maybe more if the John Cena/WrestleMania 34 WWE Title bout rumors were to be trusted.

An Audible: The Phenomenal One – The face that runs the place. The champ that runs the camp. The phenomenal one, AJ Styles. After being initially poised for a move to Raw in April, the blue brand still belonged to him. United States Title or main event role, everybody knew his moment to be WWE Champion was just a matter of time. Originally, his showdown with Mahal was reportedly going to happen at Clash Of Champions in December (after the India tour). Honestly, I am not sure fans could wait any longer. Screw the six months plans for making it to India with the belt. Screw the already advertised Lesnar battle. Screw it. Sometimes it is best to simply fix a mistake than to make it worse. Nothing wrong with course correcting if you believe that is the right decision.

They Don’t Want None: New WWE Champion – When AJ Styles vs. Jinder Mahal was first announced for Smackdown LIVE last week, it was confusing. Styles was already set to wrestle Rusev, so it was clearly a change in plans but why? The previous low TV number? The UK audience needing a big main event? Simply a way to hook in viewers? Or was it maybe just them finally coming to their senses on the Mahal/WWE Title reign not working out? Regardless, I loved the presentation of the title bout. From the opening promos to the hype throughout the show all the way to the actual bell to bell action – such fun! Capped off by a great moment. With one swift, order was restored in the WWE Universe.

Now What: Jinder’s Future Is? – Let me just say: I do not think Jinder Mahal gets the WWE Championship back in a week or two. Or even a month. A Styles/Lesnar bout clearly is the better option come Survivor Series, and there is no way the plans change AGAIN within the next seven days. Plus, Triple H has just teased a match against Mahal for the December India tour, and that is more than enough for the market to eat up and salivate over. A HHH showdown could arguably be even bigger than holding the belt. A case could certainly be made one way or another. Then there is Clash Of Champions foe the blue brand to end 2017, and well, no. Not even worth it at that point. For what? The rumored Cena/WM program? I am unsure that is even in the books, truthfully. Seems like fans just assuming it is based off nothing. Kinda like how people KNEW Cena/Mahal was taking place at WWE Summerslam in August. Yeah.

Like Big Show in 1999, Jack Swagger in 2010, Bray Wyatt in 2017, The Great Khali in 2007 and other surprise champs, the short-term future is obvious. A couple more main event spots in the months to follow and then a slow crawl back to the middle of the pack. Maybe he works his way back up to the title scene? Perhaps a move to Raw in early 2018 will be more accepting? Only time will tell. The dude is only 31 years old and clearly has *some” talent there to be utilized. Maybe not WWE Champion level but no way reason to blindly bash the guy relentlessly. He is absolutely a part of the roster going forward. Just where and how is left to be determined…

Now What: Styles Clashes With? – If you have been reading my columns for the past six months, you will know what I am about to say. AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura is my WrestleMania 34 main event for Smackdown LIVE. I have repeated that over and over since April and am glad to see the pieces are now in place. No reason to waste time explaining why each guy should be at the top of the card. The showdown was teased in the summer and is again being hinted at overseas. WWE is well aware of the fan interest and know all about the buzz this would generate, alluding to their history many times. Whether that means Nakamura wins the 2018 Royal Rumble match or not, Styles looks to be holding the title until WM34, and there is only opponent for him.

Now ain’t that a kick in the head?

Podcast Co-Host

Time is drawing near. By the end of 2017, I want to a) pick a podcast co-host and b) debut my show. Just general WWE/NXT talk and various topics, nothing special. Invitations to be involved are still more than welcome via Twitter or email. Soon…

NRW: The Match

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