#4 Garnering genuine heel heat
It is the oldest trick in the book. The foreign heel bashes the country that he’s wrestling in (most often, the United States), and is showered with boos in the process. In 2017, when the WWE Universe cheers for the bad guys and boos the good guys, WWE seems to have found a gold mine in Jinder Mahal.
By catapulting Jinder Mahal to the top of the food chain, WWE has created a genuine heel because of Jinder’s non-organic ascent.
Through the Backlash card, there was most heat for the Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton WWE Championship match. This is a significant departure from the Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton matches, to which the crowds were not reacting (across many months).
In Mahal, WWE has found a character that can be genuinely despised and therefore, his matches have an invested audience, eager to see him lose and drop the title to a more deserving opponent.
