SmackDown Live is known as the land of opportunity. And for Jinder Mahal, it has been exactly that.
Aside from a brief run in NXT where he was booked strongly, even facing Seth Rollins in the finals of the inaugural NXT championship tournament, Mahal has been a bonafide jobber. He was put in 3MB with Heath Slater and Drew McIntyre before leaving the company.
Then, he returned following the brand split as WWE needed some more warm bodies on the roster. But nobody would have expected him to suddenly ascend to relevance after moving to SmackDown Live.
If you mentioned the name "Jinder Mahal” in the same sentence as “WWE championship” any time prior to last month, you would have been called insane. Yet here we are, just a few days away from Backlash where Mahal will challenge the 13-time champion Randy Orton for the title.
But WWE should not stop at just giving Mahal a title shot; he should actually come out of this match victorious, and there are numerous reasons why.
#5 SmackDown Live needs new top stars
AJ Styles said it best. “SmackDown makes ‘em, Raw takes ‘em.” This is of course in reference to the fact that SmackDown built up several stars since the brand split, making Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, and The Miz more relevant than they have been in quite some time, save for Ambrose’s world title win that came shortly before the split.
Yet all three of them ended up getting moved to Raw, leaving SmackDown with a void on their roster. Sure, they got some help in their tag team and women’s divisions by adding The New Day and Charlotte, but that isn’t where they needed the most help. They need some top male stars, whether they’re face or heel.
This likely helps explain why Mahal is getting his push in the first place; they can’t simply keep recycling the same faces in the main-event scene. They built up Mahal and threw him in there, but now, they have to do their part to keep him there.
Mahal has what it takes to be one of SmackDown’s top heels, and a WWE championship win would be the quickest and most effective way to accomplish that.
#4 It opens up new feud possibilities
One of the biggest benefits of having a first-time world champion is the possible new feuds at the top of the card. Never before have we seen Jinder Mahal as the top champion on a show, so any feud he engages in while in that position will have a fresh feel to it.
Just imagine Mahal versus someone like Sami Zayn or AJ Styles. With Mahal as an actually credible heel, that feud would be new and engaging.
Sure, you could make the argument that Randy Orton hasn’t feuded with many of SmackDown’s top stars either. AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Shinsuke Nakamura have all yet to be involved in prolonged feuds with the Viper. But we’ve seen Orton at the top of the card so many times that even new feuds may feel lacklustre with him as the champ.
Mahal is a completely fresh face. Not only would we be wondering the kind of matches he can bring to the table in these new feuds, but also how he will perform overall as WWE champion. And that will draw plenty of interest.
Simply put, newer is better. Especially when it comes to avoiding another stale Orton title run.
#3 Randy Orton is stale
Randy Orton has done a lot for WWE. He and John Cena have been the two anchors since the early 2000s and have each had plenty of memorable moments in the company, to say the least. They’re also both surefire Hall of Famers, likely to be inducted as soon as they call it quits.
But Orton is stale at this point. He’s caught a lot of flack in the past for coasting rather than putting his all into everything he does, and rightfully so. Nothing about his in-ring or promo work stands out anymore.
Yes, his feud with Bray Wyatt was a breath of fresh air as it allowed Orton to fully embrace his acting talents since everything was so cinematic. But overall, the feud felt like it fell short. And that has been the summary of much of Orton’s career.
Nothing about him screams “You have to see this”. And for a show’s top champion, that isn’t good. Orton just doesn’t bring anything new or exciting to the table anymore. That doesn’t mean he should retire, it just means he probably shouldn’t be considered the main draw on SmackDown Live, or any other show for that matter.
Give the title to someone else, in this case, Jinder Mahal, and let him take the ball and run with it. Let’s see what someone new can do.
#2 Jinder Mahal and the Singh brothers could be Seth Rollins and J&J all over again
Packaging the Singh brothers, formerly known as the Bollywood Boyz, with Jinder Mahal is one of the more creative things WWE has done. No one would have expected these two cruiserweights to be involved in a relevant storyline on one of WWE’s main shows, at least not so early.
But putting these two with the Maharaja has added a whole new dimension to his character. Now he has some lackeys; guys to help him cheat to win. Sound familiar? Because this is basically Seth Rollins and J&J security all over again.
Rollins’ initial world title run that featured the addition of J&J made him one of the most hated heels WWE has had in a long time. He was slimy, annoying, and fans wanted to see him get punched in the face as much as possible.
With Mahal having these two beside him, it would be a waste not to give him a world title run just as Rollins had. This stable has a lot of potential and they deserve to be one of the cornerstones of SmackDown Live, at least for a little while.
Mahal is already embracing the anti-American gimmick and it’s garnering him a lot of heat. If you couple that with the Rollins gimmick of being an arrogant cheater, we could have one of the best heels in modern WWE.
#1 Prove SmackDown Live is truly the land of opportunity
Since the brand split, Shane McMahon has promoted SmackDown Live as the land of opportunity and it’s pretty hard to argue with him.
Just take a look at some of the stars who were rebuilt because of the draft. Even though it was a short-lived reign, Bray Wyatt finally captured a world title. The Miz became more relevant than he’s ever been aside from his WWE title run in 2010. Even Mojo Rawley became a relevant singles competitor.
Take a look at the card for this Sunday’s Backlash; not only does Jinder Mahal have a world title match, the Fashion Police made up of Tyler Breeze and Fandango have a tag team title match. SmackDown is routinely moving superstars into the spotlight who you would never expect to see.
That’s an amazing thing. It makes SmackDown Live almost must-see TV because you never know what could happen or who could ascend to relevance. If Mahal wins the WWE championship this Sunday, that would be the pinnacle of that and would completely reinforce that concept.
That would do wonders for the show’s overall quality, which is the most important thing to us as wrestling fans.
