New Column: Cool it with Mahal the Backlash
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Agree with the above post, as while the guys make good points above. The feeling to me is that really WWE actually could have done this a lot better. They should have done with Jinder what they did with Mark Henry’s run on Smackdown in 2011. Build Jinder up all summer with feuds against some of the guys like Sami Zayn, Dolph and others so Jinder could get some wins under his belt and show people why he was getting this push.
Then have him possible win it in his home country when they tour there. You know like 20 years ago when they had Davy Boy win the European title in Germany against Owen.
Hell show it in a India special on WWE network, that’s what’s it there for take advantage of it like they did for the UK Championship tournament.
That way Jinder becomes a national hero to his people to an extent maybe like Bret did to Canada (in theory this is). That way people on all sides can see him progress in a organic way. That doesn’t insult audiences intelligence, doesn’t patronize Jinder or the Indian wrestling crowd like I feel this win at Backlash has.
I still remember the joy I felt of Mark winning against ironically Randy at Nights of Champions in 2011. After 15 years of injuries, bad gimmicks, basic wrestling or just blandness altogether from Mark (I still remember how green he was in 96 and wearing that gaudy outfit against Lawyer at Mind Games 96).
His Hall of Pain run was so refreshing in 2011, he looked strong. Mark worked his arse off and when he won he had earned it. That’s how you build a jobber to being a champion.
Jinders push reeks of Vince in his old age and ignorance in both him and Stephanie suddenly realising that yes India actually is a country that has over a billion. That has a wrestling scene and it isn’t closed like Japan is.
It’s this complacency is why WWE’s product is a mess outside of NXT.
If WWE had realised these simple facts and had planned this project with the proper investment, time and backing of Jinder. They could have tapped a market this big far sooner.
This is why Vince isn’t a billionaire and just a millionaire as Punk put it once.
It’s reactionary, lazy and Vince again showing how out of touch he is with the wrestling business.
Jinder I think will tire people quickly unless WWE are able to book him in a way that is at least not boring to watch once people get over the shock that he is wwe champion.
I just hope that this doesn’t end up leading to Jinders career going nowhere afterwards or he ends up like Dolph and just meander around afterwards not being mid card, but not upper card. But this is WWE and Vince we are talking about so I expect to be disappointed down the line.
Has nothing to do with India or Bulgaria, or even Jinder really. Just would be interested to know why they gave up on Rusev the way they have.
Oh I’d say it does. They see more business in Jinder than Rusev. Now as for why they stopped pushing Rusev, it’s a combination of an injury keeping him out and WWE having the collective brain power of a flock of spider monkeys.
I wonder what would have happened if Jinder had won the Andre Battle Royal or (probably the better idea) if the announcers just played up the idea that he should have won if not for Gronk–have JBL keep calling him the “real Andre the Giant Battle Royal winner” or something. This would give him some momentum, perhaps even give him a reason why he gets to be in the #1 contender’s match in the first place.
Once Jinder became the contender, he was booked pretty well–he wasn’t presented as a mega threat but as a guy who could use the numbers game and confound Orton. If possible, I would keep the belt on Jinder until SummerSlam–there could be a good use of suspense in him evading whoever has the MITB briefcase, and you could even do a “dual” championship match in which A.J. or whoever annihilates him to win the championship at SummerSlam, but is then immediately the victim of a cash-in (but one that leads to a good match).
I only hope we get the beloved staple of JBL matches in which Jinder wins things like a fatal 4-way in which he gets the shit beaten out of him all match but crawls over and pins a dude at the end, or a cage match in which he finds some way to escape the cage that’s totally chickenshit.
I agree…I always enjoyed the cowardly villain always escaping with a cheap win much like JBL, Honky Tonk Man, and Kurt Angle in his first title run. Just makes it that much better when they finally do get their comeuppance.
I’m curious as to why they soured on Rusev and annointed Mahal as the new evil foreigner.
I think India having 1.3 billion people to Bulgaria’s 7 million might have something to do with it.
USB there really any seen correlation with the title win and subscribers? I’d be interested to see an actual spike in membership. If it works, well played
‘is’
This is a good idea wrapped up in an average performer and horrible booking. If they had built off the tag team with Rusev, had him win the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, maybe had him in some kind of enhancement feud with Zayn or anyone in the midcard tbh then this isn’t so awful. The guy literally jobbed to Balor in under 4 minutes on Raw and won the #1 contendership 8 days later.
Also totally agreed on how average he is. It feels like I’m defending this move when I say that I am pleasantly surprised that he hasn’t fallen flat on his face yet( in the ring or on the mic but his shelf life is decreasing rapidly). This whole angle feels like a great idea for a summer midcard title run with the big bad american swooping in and beating him at Summerslam to end his evil foreign reign with the U.S. title. That really should have been the test run before a more well planned India expansion strategy.
Also I can’t wait for that Gargano v Ciampa piece because I don’t think I have been this excited and this impressed with a turn/angle in a very long time. I spent a couple hours just texting friends about it after the show and we all agreed that this is essentially the first truly original landmark feud of NXT because both guys got to peak overness while in NXT and none of this buzz is created from any burrowed indie cred reputation. We also all agreed this is gonna be the El Generico v Kevin Steen feud all over again except with WWE production values and video packages.
Well it is the Owens vs. Zayn feud. It’s the same ending from R-Evolution back in 2014.
Yeah, my point being is that Owens v Zayn wouldn’t have worked or happened if NXT’s audience wasn’t already “in” on the shared history between those two guys from their indie days. Everybody “knew” that Owens v Zayn feud was trump card for NXT the moment they signed Owens. That’s not to say NXT mishandled the rivalry when they in fact raised to the next level.
With Ciampa and Gargano there is zero shared history before they got to NXT. They were both well respected midcard indie workers from the Midwest with zero personal affiliation to each other. To come in and WWE basically say “here your gonna have to try out as a tag team in the Dusty Classic, to being split up and getting over as jobbers to the stars in NXT, to reforming the team and going on that spectacular run this last 15 months, to them actually becoming really great friends and groomsmen in each other’s weddings( plus the glorious bombs and the CWC stuff it was clear they have great chemistry in and out of the ring) and for it all to end playing out perfectly in Chicago. It is just impressive that NXT did this organically without forcing it to soon or missing the boat on it. The fact that we aren’t getting DIY as a midsummer tag division addition feels nuts because there is money in that. Bravo NXT.