On the 21st of May 2017, Jinder ‘Yuvraj’ Mahal shocked the world and ascended to the top of the industry. The modern day Maharaja became the 50th WWE Champion in history and the WWE world has been obsessed with this new face that is carrying the weight of 1.3 billion people on his shoulders.
The world is obsessed with him, but there was always going to be one group not happy with the new champion… smarks.
The smart marks of wrestling have always been the fans that know more than the rest and refuse to accept the general consensus. They don’t accept what the WWE gives them, they decide what they want, when they want it. It’s just funny to me how fans always cry for new faces to be pushed but when they’re presented with a new one, they reject him.
Here are 5 reasons why smarks will never accept Jinder Mahal as WWE Champion.
#5 In-ring work not comparable with the best
You may have the physique, the backing and the promo skills, but if you don’t deliver in the ring, smarks will never accept you. John Cena was the most pushed WWE persona in modern history, but even smarks couldn’t deny their respect for him as he delivered on the big stage time after time.
For Jinder Mahal to gain any type of recognition from the hardcore fan base, he needs to start producing matches of a higher quality.
With stellar performances comes adulation and respect, until then, Jinder Mahal will always be viewed by the smarks as a man in the position he’s in, not by his own merit, but by the powers behind him.
#4 He’s Vince’s creation
Whenever fans think they’re being forced to watch something, they begin to reject it. They don’t want a Vince McMahon creation, they want a wrestling creation. They don’t take too kind to having wrestlers shoved down their throats, they would rather have an unsung hero as a champion that isn't being pushed by the company.
Perhaps it’s just a psychological condition, but WWE fans love to support the wrestlers who are not at the focal point of the card.
Ever since Jinder developed a few veins down his arms, Vince McMahon has seemingly fallen in love with him, gifting him main event wins over AJ Styles, Sami Zayn and Randy Orton. In the past, wrestlers like Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Edge, RVD and CM Punk have got mass support from the crowds because they weren’t the chosen ones.
It was only when their mass following couldn’t be denied that the WWE were forced to recognise them as main eventers.
#3 Not an Indy favourite
Wrestlers who ‘pay their dues’ on Indy circuits seems to be accepted by smarks quicker than those who haven’t. It’s almost as if you’re not a true wrestler if you haven’t wrestled in bingo halls in front of 50 people. Funnily enough, Jinder Mahal has wrestled on the independent circuits but out of desperation, not by choice.
After being released by the company in 2014, Jinder refused to give up on his wrestling dream, so he went around the country working for any and every promotion.
But because he didn’t start out in the Indys and didn’t choose to pay his dues there first, many hardcore fans will forever just see him as a ‘WWE guy’. A guy in the business for the money and supposedly not for the wrestling. Weird, yeah?
#2 They want AJ Styles in that position
For every superstar that gets pushed into the main event scene, there are 10 other superstars the smarks want in that position instead. It’s never enough for the hardcore fans, they always want somebody else there. As of today, AJ Styles is the man on Tuesday nights.
He’s the reason the brand sells tickets and the reason SmackDown has become a legit contender to Raw’s prime position as WWE’s No. 1 brand. The fans don’t want to see Randy Orton or Jinder Mahal as WWE Champion, they want to see AJ Styles on top of the throne.
When one superstar becomes more popular than the rest of the other main eventers combined, it creates a dangerous precedent for the show. In such a situation, a superstar who is worthy of being called WWE Champion will fall short in expectations due to unfair comparisons with AJ Styles.
#1 He was a jobber last year
Let’s not kid ourselves here – Jinder Mahal was a full-time jobber in his last WWE run, now he’s the WWE Champion. ‘Hinder Jinder’ has been fully in action over the past six years. In fact, let’s also not forget that Mahal even lost at this year’s Wrestlemania, to Mojo Rawley, of all people.
From being released from the company to holding the most prestigious title in all of sports entertainment; a fairy-tale doesn’t get more surreal than this. In his whole WWE career, Jinder Mahal has only won 17.47% of his matches.
He was considered a talent that was there just to make up the numbers, now he’s the main event. How does that even make sense?
