Tag: character

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Why Jinder Mahal As Champion Is Fine

As most of you know by now, WWE pulled the trigger on Jinder Mahal and he is now WWE Champion. It’ll surely go down as one of the most shocking and unexpected victories in professional wrestling history. Sure it was met with harsh criticism, but others seem to think it was the right move. From a business standpoint, it was.

WWE is in the process of expanding its brand to India. Mahal winning the championship was the edge they needed to promote it and expand even more. It was a smart business decision, but don’t let that take away anything that Jinder has done to get to this point. He earned his match against Orton in the upcoming weeks to Backlash. His victory in the six-pack challenge and over AJ Styles showed that Mahal should be considered a true player.

Sunday night was just the coronation of his arrival to the spotlight, one that I’m perfectly fine with him having.

Mahal is considered a jobber by most of the WWE Universe. After being fired back in 2014, Mahal was brought back just to fill up the roster holes the brand split would create. The Mahal we saw in 2016 was different. Much different. He is built like a brick house. Maybe it’s the steroids, but nonetheless he changed his look. He also changed his character to a degree. No longer was he a founding member of 3MB. This Mahal was serious, ready to knock down anyone that stood in his way to success. It still didn’t change how he would be booked. By definition, Mahal was a jobber. That would all change at Wrestlemania 33.

Mahal was a finalist in the Andre the Giant battle royal, losing to Mojo Rawley with help from New England Patriots Tight End, Rob Gronkowski. Fast forward a little bit and we see him in the ring with a returning Finn Balor. The match was anything great, but what got people talking was the forearm shot by Mahal. It was viewed as stiff, unnecessary, and dangerous. Even though it got people talking bad about Mahal, it got them talking about Mahal nonetheless.

Jinder then shows up on Smackdown Live and does what every superstar plans to do, seize the opportunity before him. Thanks to The Singh Brothers (formally known as The Bollywood Boys), Mahal was able to pin Sami Zayn in the six-pack challenge and become the number one contender for Randy Orton and the WWE Championship. The rest, we say, is history. Mahal seized his opportunity and became the man of Smackdown Live.

The reason I love this so much is because Mahal has seized his moment, capitalized on every opportunity given before him, and took advantage where necessary. Smackdown Live is “The Land of Opportunity”, and Mahal is now the face of that moniker. Just three years ago Mahal was receiving his termination papers. Today, he holds the most coveted belt in all of professional wrestling.

If that isn’t perseverance, I don’t know what is.

People are going to hate the fact he is champ. They are going to say he hasn’t earned it, or that he doesn’t have enough credibility to be champion. The fact of the matter is, Mahal proved then wrong. He said he would become champ and everyone laughed at him. Now he’s the one holding the gold, laughing while people sit in unbelief.

Anything can happen in the WWE. It’s what makes it a great product. The unpredictability captivates audience or sours them, but either way it’s being talked about. I applaud WWE for making this happen. It was a shocking moment, and it was the right move to make.

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Whether You Like It or Not, Jinder Mahal Is Here to Stay

As we are all no doubt very aware, Jinder Mahal is the WWE Champion. He’s bested the likes of Sami Zayn and Randy Orton, and is now seated comfortably at the top of the mountain. It is still unclear just how long he’s going to stay there, but things have changed. He is not going back down to where he was. WWE is clearly all in on the Maharaja Express. Once this is all done and there’s a new WWE Champion, don’t expect Mahal to fade away. From the looks of things, he is going to be around for a while.

The Last Few Reigns Kinda Sucked

Think about it. The last three champions, for some crazy reason, have all been transitional champions. I can’t believe it. If you add the total amount of days that John Cena, Bray Wyatt, and Randy Orton held the title this year, it’s less than the length of AJ Styles’s reign. The championship went nowhere.

Cena won it off AJ so he could get his 16 title reigns and lose it to Bray Wyatt two weeks later. Two weeks. What is this, the 70’s? Next up is Bray Wyatt. His reign started out alright. He won in the Elimination Chamber and retained against Cena and Styles in a triple threat. Cool. Randy Orton burned his house down and killed Sister Abigail to death. It was an awesome moment, but that was when the feud jumped the shark.

The bad blood between Wyatt and Orton devolved into a dick measuring contest. They argued over who had the superior magic powers, with Bray claiming he was born again and Randy just kinda stabbing the ground with a stake. Then they put on a garbage match at Wrestlemania that was certifiably spooky.

Randy won and then fought Wyatt in an even spookier House of Horrors match that he lost. He then lost his in his first title defense.

They’ve Put Effort Into Turning Jinder Into a Champion

The very first thing that Jinder Mahal did on Smackdown was come out of a damn limousine like he was hot stuff. The Singh brothers weren’t even riding in the same car as him. They rolled out a carpet for him to step on. Then he had a Punjabi celebration that was actually really cool and colorful. Dancers and music were there in the stadium. It was quite nice.

They are clearly trying to present Mahal as a big deal, and he does seem like one now. This shows a surprising amount of effort. If they were just doing this for kicks and giggles, then they wouldn’t hire a whole crew of Indians to sing and dance. They wouldn’t hire a limousine. WWE is seemingly going the whole nine yards for Mr. Mahal.

Is Mahal going to retain at Money in the Bank? It’s hard to say. Randy Orton is now going after him, and where the hell is Rusev, seriously. Give that man his WWE Championship match. With a new Mr. Money in the Bank about to be crowned soon, we’re about to see some new faces in the main event scene.

Mahal, to his credit, has shown that he can hang with the best. He knows how to wrestle, even if he is a bit plain and uninspiring. The Singh Brothers add depth to his character by giving him unwarranted arrogance. He claims he’s the best, but he’s clearly not. Combine that with his attempts to make us feel racist, and now everyone hates him. It’s great.

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Could A Major Swerve Occur At Backlash?

Thanks to the most recent episode of Smackdown Live, my interest in Backlash has reached new highs. Jinder going over AJ (even though he had help) has made me a believer that he really stands a chance against Randy Orton in their WWE Championship match. The Usos dropped one awesome promo on Breezango, and I absolutely loved it despite my ill feelings toward them. Even Erick Rowan showing just what kind of character he can be on Talking Smack has me excited for his match as well.

While all of these matches are intriguing, it’s the women’s tag match that has me intrigued the most. The newest babyface of Smackdown, Charlotte, will team up with Naomi and Becky Lynch to take on The Welcoming Committee of Smackdown Live. It’s weird to see Charlotte as a face, but it’s a nice change on a show where change is welcome. Natalya and company have made it clear that they do not want Charlotte here, and she shouldn’t be allowed a chance at the Smackdown Live Women’s Championship just because of her past accomplishments on Raw. Technically these women have a point, but they shouldn’t be fighting for the belt either so their opinion is invalid.

Something about this doesn’t sit right with me. Charlotte seems like the person who should be a natural heel, for her entire career. This is why I see Charlotte turning on Becky and Naomi at Backlash.

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Kurt Angle Compares Neville to Rey Mysterio

During a Q&A session on his Facebook account, Kurt angle was asked which mid-card WWE Superstar he thinks can be a main eventer in WWE. Angle said that Neville could be a top star and compared him to former WWE Superstar Rey Mysterio.

“I really like Neville. He has the ability to cross over from the 205 division to the HWT division. He’s so talented as a wrestler, and his character is strong. He can speak very well, and his style will mesh well with the heavyweights. Almost like Rey Mysterio was able to mesh with the big boys. Neville is very talented.”

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WWE Officials Extremely High on Aleister Black

As seen at the WWE NXT Takeover: Orlando event, Aleister Black made his debut for the company and has been featured on weekly NXT television.

It’s being said that his stay in NXT will not be a long one. Company officials are extremely high on his character and ring work. Unless he suffers an injury of sorts, he will probably be on the roster in no time.