Jinder Mahal pinning Randy Orton for the WWE Championship is something I’m sure none of us could have envisioned in our wildest dreams. However, if Backlash proved anything, it’s that nothing outlandish can be ruled out in the WWE. I saw many calls putting the WWE Championship on Jinder Mahal, a former member of 3MB, one of the biggest troll jobs in WWE history, simply because of Jinder, up until last month, was a jobber. I also saw many claims that the only reason why Jinder was inserted into main event status was because Jinder was able to bulk up and have his physique look a lot like Batista. Unlike some of the angst that many may feel about this move, I am all for it if you ask me.
WWE cannot create new main eventers if they do not experiment or try new things out. I think that a lot of wrestling fans have the compulsive desire to complain when they see the same faces in the WWE title picture, but when there’s someone new that they don’t like, there seems to be an issue. I do not have that mindset. I believe that Jinder defeating Orton was the right move in terms of what WWE is trying to accomplish. Whatever Jinder has done behind the scenes has clearly panned out for him, because he is now rewarded withholding WWE’s most prestigious title. All that being said, Jinder winning exposed what I consider to be WWE’s biggest oversight from the brand extension last year. Allow me to explain.
Last year, we had only five people hold the WWE Championship. Those names were Roman Reigns, Triple H, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles. This year, already, ALREADY, we have already had five people hold the WWE Championship (AJ Styles, John Cena, Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, Jinder Mahal). For the sake of perspective, the WWE Championship has changed hands on every PPV this year that the title has been defended on. Now while we have to put circumstance into perspective behind each WWE Championship victory, I can’t help but feel as though WWE is reverting back into devaluing the WWE Championship, and that was an issue with the brand extension before. Dean Ambrose was the holder of the WWE Championship at the time of the brand extension, and he defeated his former Shield brethren, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, at Battleground to have the WWE Championship stay on Smackdown. This, in turn, forced RAW to create a new world title for their brand, with the moniker of Universal Championship.
As I’ve already mentioned, there has already been five holders of the WWE Championship this year (soon to be six with Baron Corbin likely to win it towards the end of the year). Since the very first Universal Championship match at Summerslam last year, there has only been a total of four (Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Goldberg, Brock Lesnar). Again, as I said before, there are reasons for the frequent title changes this year for the WWE Championship. John Cena won the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble to finally get hid redemption from AJ Styles getting the better of him three times, and he also tied Ric Flair for his 16th world title. Bray Wyatt won the WWE Championship at the Elimination Chamber to give him the biggest win of his career and facilitate his feud with the Royal Rumble winner, Randy Orton. Orton won the WWE Championship to complete his betrayal of the Wyatt Family at WrestleMania, and Jinder Mahal won because, well, we’re going to have to see.
The Universal Championship is being booked like how the WWE Championship was being booked before the brand split. The person that would hold the title would often hold it for extended periods of time, with names such as Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins coming to mind. Now, the WWE Championship is seemingly changing hands every other month. Jinder Mahal winning the title is likely to appeal to India’s base, which is one of WWE’s largest constituencies in terms of fan support. How Jinder fares in the States remains to be seen because he has not been in the mainstream of WWE television up until the last couple of weeks. Some see Jinder Mahal as WWE Champion as a joke, but I see it as an opportunity to look at new people in the main event fare. Think about it. Was Randy Orton as WWE Champion fulfilling at all? Orton’s work with the Wyatt Family was splendid, but the minute he split, he reverted back to the same mundane Orton people has loathed for so long. With formulaic matches, stock promos and uninteresting storyline development, I’m sure many didn’t want Orton to have an extended reign.
Look at the Universal Championship picture. Kevin Owens carried the RAW brand from September all the way until February, where he lost the Universal Championship to a returning Goldberg. Then, Brock Lesnar got his redemption at Goldberg at WrestleMania, and as he holds the title, he is likely to have an extended period with the title, due to his part-time status and lack of television time. What this tells me is that not only is RAW still the premiere brand, but Smackdown is clearly still second fiddle despite holding the supposedly more prestigious WWE Championship. Look at both titles objectively, the Universal Title is just the WWE Championship colored in with red crayon. I never believed the brand extension was necessary because I believed there were ways for WWE to make use of the talent that they have without having to make new tag titles, women’s titles and even a new world title to accommodate all of them. I would prefer all of the talents on the roster chasing one set of titles based on their placing on the card, but aside from that, again, the WWE Championship has become devalued.
I only see Jinder Mahal’s title reign as being a trial run. I don’t expect him to have an extended reign, and I don’t expect him to hold it going into the summer. I’m thinking that Randy Orton will get the title back and then put over Baron Corbin sometime in the fall, because right now, as things stand, none of the other Smackdown superstars are being suited to win the title at this moment in time. However, don’t you think it’s crazy that Jinder Mahal of all superstars has won the WWE Championship before some of the darlings that people expected would eventually get the rub, such as Sami Zayn or Cesaro? I’m personally of the belief that Jinder didn’t allow himself being irrelevant on the WWE roster to deter him from gaining an opportunity. I honestly believe that behind the scenes he put in work, invested in himself, and WWE eventually saw that and wanted to give him an opportunity to show his worth. Yes, Vince McMahon has a proven fetish for men with big muscles and veins that protrude from their body, but I think Jinder should be given a chance.
What I also want, however, is to have the WWE title to be given a chance to be the prestigious title we know it is and we know it could be. Imagine all of the superstars from RAW AND Smackdown chasing after the WWE Championship? This isn’t to insinuate that I’m not a fan of the Universal Championship, because I think it could hold some value for WWE, but we’ve seen this cycle happen before. WWE starts off with the WWE Championship, they bring in a new World Championship for the superstars to go after, they unify the championship, but then they decide it’s too much, and they unify the titles back, and the brands become as one once again. I can’t help but feel as though that’s the direction we may be headed in if this continues. As far as Jinder goes, just like brussel sprouts, let’s not knock it until we try it. As for the WWE Championship, it should be held in high regard, without an instinctive need to change it frequently for the sake of experimentation. Like I said, Jinder winning was the right move for WWE’s purposes, but he probably should have gotten more build before actually winning it. There would have bene no issue with him being protected in the main event with a DQ, CO or fluke finish, and having him get the rub eventually.
Jinder Mahal is WWE Champion. Let’s all remember where we were when it happened. Do you think Jinder winning was the right move? Is the WWE Championship being devalued? Let me know, and let’s have a discussion. Until next time.
