Jinder Mahal may not be the best WWE Champion of all time, and in all honesty, he doesn’t even make the top 30 – but there’s potential there for a successful heel champion. Sure, it doesn’t seem like it right now on the face of it, but nobody has given him an established chance to succeed at the highest level.
It’s only been a few weeks, and the material Jinder has been given hasn’t exactly set the world on fire, so at this point, The Maharaja needs to take matters into his own hands. We aren’t 100% confident in what that means, but with a huge match coming up this Sunday, there’s no room for error.
After all, Money in the Bank is rapidly turning into one of WWE’s most important pay per views.
With his opponent being Randy Orton, a lot of people are already downplaying the quality of what will likely be the main event in St Louis. Sure, he doesn’t have an excellent track record over the last few years, but the show is in his hometown, so you just know that The Viper is going to try and pull a big performance out of the bag.
With that being said, here are five things Jinder Mahal needs to show us at MITB 2017.
#1 Independence
The Singh Brothers have done a good job as Jinder’s sidekicks over the last few weeks, but we need to see Mahal regain some credibility at Money in the Bank. There’s already a great deal of pressure on his shoulders given how unbelievable he is as a world champion, so why not try and fix that against Randy?
If he does end up retaining, have Mahal do it squeaky clean by catching Orton off guard with a mistake he made. This would not only make the champ look smart and force Orton to re-evaluate his performances in the ring, but it would also prove that The Singh Brothers don’t need to hold his hand every step of the way. It’s a win-win situation.
Also read: John Cena pencilled in to face Jinder Mahal at WWE Summerslam 2017
#2 Main event mentality
The Backlash main event was okay for what it was, but it never really felt like Jinder got into that next gear in terms of the main event style. From the second he walks down that ramp when his entrance music plays, Mahal needs to carry himself like more than just a champion; he needs to look like a god among men.
Mahal is being fed stereotype after stereotype when it comes to foreign heels, which is a shame because the guy has a lot of potential, and WWE need to allow him to showcase that. Jinder and Randy should heavily rehearse the match beforehand because we want things to feel incredibly crisp as opposed to clunky and dull.
#3 Variety/ new finisher?
Jinder Mahal’s finisher is not good enough to warrant finishing a match. It’s just not. In hindsight, a powerbomb variation would be much more impactful considering his physique and height. Come to think of it; his entire move set is quite ordinary when you line it up with the other main eventers on Raw and SmackDown Live. Because of this, we’d like to see a bit of variety in the squared circle from Jinder, while still maintaining his gritty persona.
A few more cheeky underhanded tactics wouldn’t go a miss, in addition to a brand new finisher. You could even have him make a gimmick out of focusing on one body part in particular, like his opponent’s eye or knee or something like that. If he takes out enough people or puts them on the shelf because of it, the legend will begin to grow.
#4 Storytelling
The story here is that Jinder Mahal won the WWE Championship from Randy Orton, and The Viper wants it back. To us, that isn’t enough to warrant a main event story – and neither is Randy saying that his grandfather would be furious at him for losing to “someone like Mahal”. Seriously, who thought that was a good line to use in 2017?
If you build some real animosity between the two and add a sense of realism (perhaps touch on the whole ‘Indian market’ argument), then you could be onto a real winner. Let’s face it, the story is the most important part of most matches as opposed to the wrestling itself – and if you don’t believe us then go back and watch Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock at WrestleMania 18. Magical.
#5 Passion
Every single time Jinder looks interested in something when it comes to his in-ring work, it feels forced. We want him to take that chip on his shoulder and really push the limits, brutalising Randy at any given opportunity. We want Mahal to scream in the face of his adversary, letting him know that he’s not going to let him off easy.
If you make him feel more genuine and dominant as opposed to weak, then it’ll make whoever beats him for the title an instant star (if they aren’t already). This kind of opportunity doesn’t come around every day, so they need to strike while the iron is hot.
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