Jinder Is No Longer Hindered

Welp, I can’t say that I saw THAT coming!

SmackDown Live this week advertised a Six-Pack Challenge to determine the next #1 Contender for the WWE Championship. The list of superstars competing was a bit confusing to start off with as Erik Rowan, Jinder Mahal and Mojo Rawley joined possible legitimate contenders Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler and Luke Harper.

Reading through the list it seemed that there was one common thread…it won’t be Jinder. At least Rawley won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal and would have something recent on his resume to lay claim to a title shot. Mahal’s biggest recent accomplishments include giving Finn Balor a concussion and throwing the most confusing glass of water at the shoulder of Rob Gronkowski.

The match itself was pretty good. The six men realized that there were six men in the match and kept the pace quick throughout. A lot of back and forth, a lot of false finishes, a lot of excitement.

Then…then it happened. Mahal took advantage of the situation and got the 1-2-3 and became the new #1 Contender.

… … …

Jinder Mahal has a title shot! Well OK, I’m sure that it will be on a SmackDown in the next week or two.

NOPE! Backlash! Jinder Mahal is headlining a pay-per-view!

Yeah…I don’t get it either.

Reports are coming out now that the reason Mahal is getting this shot is because of WWE trying to create more of a presence in India. The thought is that seeing a guy like Jinder Mahal in the top spot will help generate more buzz in India, leading to more t-shirt sales and all of that fun stuff. Business-wise, I get it, obviously. Weekly wrestling show-wise, not so much.

But, that’s where we are now. Let’s stop from the justifiable grunts and groans for a second though. The Jinder Mahal that we know right now is not going to be the man that steps into the ring with Randy Orton in Chicago. Change has already been seen for Mahal.

First off, aiding Mahal in his improbably win were the debuting Bollywood Boyz, who are now apparently being referred to as The Singh Brothers. The duo in matching attire that made it seem like they were going to be subservient to Mahal in some way.

Along with that came Mahal’s in-ring promo right after the match. I can honestly say that I had never seen Mahal that intense – I liked it! More so than that, the live crowd hated it! That’s a formula for a solid heel.

With those two aspects alone, change for Mahal is inevitable. The question is what does that change mean? Turning a man who was pinned by a midget in a bull costume three years ago into a legit contender for the top prize on the show is a tall task to say the least.

Can it be done, absolutely.

Is it likely to happen, probably not.

Will it happen, well that’s why we watch every week!