What started off as a mockery – But he’s a jobber! – quickly turned into a thunderbolt from the blue when he captured the WWE Championship from Randy Orton – I can’t believe he actually won?! – and has developed into a steadily growing stream of support for Jinder Mahal – I hope he retains at Money in the Bank!
The Money In the Bank Ladder match may have stolen the show but here in India, Jinder Mahal stole the headlines after retaining his WWE Championship against Randy Orton.
Of course, the Bollywood Boyz endured a fairly customary beating after distracting the Viper, but take nothing away from the efforts of Jinder Mahal, who took a beseeching step towards legitimacy as the WWE Champion.
No longer is he the flash in the pan chancer that many made him out to be initially.
And although he is a heel, his forthright interviews on Talking Smack are slowly endearing him to the multitude of fans who deeply desired the WWE to give fresh faces a run with the Title belts.
After his historic victory, however, (let’s face it, every victory is historic for a man who was once a glorified jobber), Jinder Mahal’s life is about to get as pockmarked as his back. As you’ve heard countless times before, it’s much easier to climb the mountain than to stay on top.
How though, you ask? By facing these men, of course. Here then, are 5 possible opponents for Jinder Mahal after Money in the Bank.
#1 Finn Balor
Finn Balor is the Demon King, the first ever WWE Universal Champion and he’s also totally not involved in any feud worth mentioning at the moment. Now, who says John Cena should be the only one brand-hopping?
SmackDown Live deserves a little bit of latitude too, Vince. What say you let Finn Balor cross over into the land of opportunity and plug him straight into the WWE Championship picture?
He would ominously call upon the Demon King as an equaliser for the aid that the Bollywood Boys offer Jinder and, of course, the fans would be chuffed to bits to see him on the Blue brand.
Plus, he’s a bonafide Superstar who deserves to be in some Title picture and not just rotting away on Raw. I know it’s a little bit of a stretch, but Raw has much more talent that they can handle justifiably.
As they say, sharing is caring.
#2 Sami Zayn
The Underdog from the Underground once again proved that Kevin Owens brings out the best in him.
He had a pretty strong showing in the Money in the Bank Ladder match, impaling his former best friend and current Face of America through a painful looking arrangement of ladders, but was inevitably left wanting at the end again.
Sami Zayn packed his bags and made the hike to the Blue Brand from Raw precisely for opportunities to shine, and while he did receive that at MITB, one does sense the simmering frustration underneath at not being able to catch a big break yet.
But coming off a solid performance, a WWE Championship opportunity against Jinder Mahal would serve as exactly that. Being a beloved babyface, he could put over Mahal as a nefarious heel, while also making good on the notion that SmackDown Live is indeed the land of opportunity.
What’s there not to like about it?
#3 John Cena
The Face that Runs the Place is due back where he belongs shortly, after wrapping up his extra-curricular Hollywood activities, and would be eager to reclaim the spot that was conceded in his absence.
Of course, he is advertised as a free agent, meaning that he’s probably unhindered in making appearances in both brands. As such, it probably wouldn’t be a wise idea to have him defeat Jinder Mahal and win the WWE Championship because that would leave Smackdown Live without a Premier Title when he decides to honeymoon on Raw.
However, after taking out the 13-time World Champion Randy Orton, just imagine how impressive checking off John Cena’s name would look on Jinder Mahal’s resume. If he’s even half serious about going down in history as one of the greatest WWE Champions, Jinder Mahal has to cross swords with him at some point.
And why not sooner rather than later?
#4 AJ Styles
This man is the undisputed face of SmackDown Live today. He also happens to be one of the best pro-wrestlers in the world. He’s solid on the microphone and my oh my, does the audience adore him.
There is very little downside to having AJ Styles step into the WWE Title picture again if any. He puts on fantastic matches with anyone standing opposite him in the ring and he’s so damn over with the fans that it automatically relegates his opponents into full-fledged heel-dom.
Well, except if you’re Shinsuke Nakamura, of course.
But for someone like Jinder Mahal, playing the foreign devil character, AJ Styles’ is the perfect antithesis of a challenger. If you want to get Jinder Mahal over as a top level heel, then AJ’s your guy to do it against.
#5 Shinsuke Nakamura
Shinsuke Nakamura was booked to look like an absolute Superstar despite not winning the Money in the Bank briefcase at the pay-per-view and much like his run in NXT, it’s obvious that the WWE is grooming him for a Title run at some point.
The biggest advantage with shunting Nakamura into the WWE Championship picture is that you don’t need to wait for the opportune moment to pull the trigger. He was ready yesterday, and I mean that quite literally.
He was already a megastar in Japan and his stock has only risen thus far in the USA.
Speaking of which, it would be a nice touch to have a Japanese Superstar challenge an Indian one (well, Canadian technically) for the WWE Championship. Not only would Jinder become the most hated man in the WWE (which is what they probably want) but it would also truly lend perspective to how global a brand WWE is today.
Even as Kenny Omega inches closer to taking Okada’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship, so does Nakamura to gold in the WWE main roster.
How convenient. Whatever else you say about Vince McMahon though, he’s certainly a man with a plan.
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