Jinder Mahal shocked the world when he became the #1 contender for the WWE Championship by winning a 6-pack challenge on SmackDown Live. During the free-for-all, Jinder Mahal defeated five other superstars who would usually be considered as better contenders for SmackDown’s top belt. Some might not understand why WWE is deciding to give Jinder such a big push but it all comes down to money.
WWE is expanding into India in a big way. They are looking to capitalize on the Indian fanbase who love pro wrestling and could bring a lot more money to the company. WWE recently opened up a WWE Shop in India as well. Therefore, you shouldn’t be surprised to see Jinder Mahal merchandise pop up soon.
It’s been reported before in The Observer that Impact Wrestling already does great business in India. They air on Sony SIX and it is the company’s highest paid TV deal. Impact Wrestling is also planning a big tour overseas as well. WWE airs its programming on India’s TEN2 channel, so they see direct competition over there.
If you factor in the recent hiring of Sheetesh Srivastava as Vice President and General Manager of WWE’s offices in India it shouldn’t be a surprise why they’re making big moves. Srivastava knows how to move product coming from Disney.
WWE obviously sees money on the table in India. They’re bringing up The Bollywood Boyz for the same reason. WWE has also been in talks with Indian Olympic silver medalist Sushil Kumar as well. Bringing in this kind of high-profile Indian signing and pushing Indian superstars is certainly a great way to gain fan attention overseas.
It should be interesting to note Jinder Mahal was actually born in Calgary, Alberta Canada. But Mahal’s family is of Punjabi Sikh descent and he speaks Punjabi fluently. Jinder Mahal is also a monster, so it only makes sense that he gets the push out of the situation.
Excellent write up. Makes more sense
[…] to determine the #1 contender for the WWE World Championship. Jinder Mahal won the match and although the reasons for Mahal’s victory might be solid, many fans would have much rather seen Nakamura come out on top. Unfortunately, Shinsuke […]
The stable he will lead will probably be ISIS. Then Muhammad Hassan and Divari will come back just to join the stable, and then they’ll go bomb Vince McMahon’s house in Stamford, Connecticut.
They’ve already got Shawn’s brotha Ariya in the CW DIVISION SO no need for Shawn unless he wants to come back
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[…] Let’s talk about Jinder Mahal because nobody is talking about him at all, right? WWE pushed him to the top of their roster seemingly out of nowhere and made him an overnight top heel. A lot of people wondered why WWE would make this kind of decision and the general consensus was it came down to India’s money and social media influence. […]