In the Day One episode of Raw to kickstart 2024 right, WWE trolled the fans with Jinder Mahal. He was rightfully introduced as a former WWE Heavyweight Champion, and he is. In the tradition of John Bradshaw Layfield, Mahal ditched a midcard gimmick, won the title, and flocked himself with allies.
However, the difference between JBL and Jinder is while both won main event titles on Smackdown, JBL never returned to lower midcard status.
In terms of champions, Jinder Mahal is often regarded as one of the worst. He ranks down there alongside giant-turned-kiss cam comedy act The Great Khali, the forgettable Kurt Angle clone Jack Swagger, WWE's resident gatekeeper Dolph Ziggler, and the unfortunate title run of Finn Balor. This is why the fans were visibly upset at the sight of The Maharaja and were ecstatic as hell with the appearance of The Rock.
But while it felt like his promo with Seth Rollins was a "gift" for the embarrassing manner he was promoted during The Rock's segment, it felt like he did incredibly well to garner the hate. Jinder turned chicken shit into chicken salad. It feels like Jinder was a mix of RTC's Steven Richards and Muhammad Hassan in that scene. When he spoke Punjabi to recite the U.S. National Anthem and the crowd booed him, it felt as if Hulk Hogan would come out and mistake Jinder for General Adnan. And in his second promo in 2024, he also did well against Seth Rollins.
This is why WWE needs to protect Mahal from this day forward. Jinder can be a noteworthy breakout star barrier. And it's not like he's not good in his role. In 2021, Mahal lost to Xavier Woods in the King of the Ring Tournament. Woods went on to win the tournament and feeding Mahal to him gave The New Day member a fighting chance for the plum. In 2022, Mahal returned to NXT to challenge Bron Breakker to a losing effort. Yes, Bron was expected to win the match, but again, feeding him a former main event champion further cemented his status as a wrestler on the rise.
Yes, Tony Khan made fun of Jinder's place in WWE's depth chart. With that said, he also fuelled the WWE to use him prominently Jinder for future projects. The gatekeeper role has been attached to Dolph Ziggler for the duration of his post-championship tenure, but the same can also be said with the likes of Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit, Booker T, The Big Show, The Miz, Chris Jericho, Christian, Jeff Hardy, Sheamus, and Kofi Kingston. Remember when Jericho lost to Fandango on Wrestlemania? Or how about the numerous clashes between Sheamus and GUNTHER? Mahal can still work as a manager, but he can also have at least two or three feuds in case the WWE needs an NXT star to have a high-profile victory. Give Jinder the same role as Baron Corbin. Put Jinder in a spot in the Royal Rumble, in which his arrogance would be his undoing. Time for WWE to restart Indus Sher. Another Jinder scenario they could give him is like what they have with Santos Escobar during his NXT and Smackdown run.
Heck, make Jinder a buddy of Drew McIntyre after Wrestlemania. I thought they had something a couple of years ago, but with both wrestlers acting like misunderstood fact spewers, this is a good way to give them something to do, in WWE's virtual preseason.
This is the second time I am going to write "Tony Khan" in this blog because I thought the situation he placed himself in could have been avoided. Yes, Hook can call out Samoa Joe, but unless this would result in a title change, he shouldn't throw a fit over this. Besides, Hook had all the momentum when he made his debut in 2021, but he has yet to win or at least feud with AEW's main event stars. There was a time when Hook's rise was equal to that of Dominik Mysterio.
Dirty Dom has not only outperformed Hook, but he has even eclipsed the careers of most AEW pillars, especially with the way he is booked.
Meanwhile, during his rise to the championship, Mahal has defeated the likes of Randy Orton, AJ Styles, and Shinsuke Nakamura. Again, WWE needed to take care of Jinder, because the former champion is going to be a valuable asset in a stepladder capacity.
Except for the deleted tweet in which Jinder jabbed at Hook, Mahal got the love because he turned a Rock spot into his own. When Jinder was fired, he worked on his muscles. Because of this, he got the nod to win a top title.
What Tony Khan tweeted will eventually die down but it is up to him if he's going to keep this momentum.
Hopefully, this is the last time, someone would hinder Jinder.