Jinder Mahal Joins RAW, Loses US Championship in Opening Match

The Superstar Shake-Up started with a bang as Jeff Hardy pinned Jinder Mahal to become the new [...]

By Jack Snodgrass

The Superstar Shake-Up started with a bang as Jeff Hardy pinned Jinder Mahal to become the new United States Champion.

This all began when Jinder Mahal opened RAW as the first entry in the Superstar Shake-Up. He sauntered down to the ring and admonished Kurt Angle for arranging an SUV not a limo for his grand entrance. However, after Angle could stomach Mahal no longer, he put Jinder's US Championship on the line.

Before Mahal could finish his tantrum, Jeff Hardy's music hit. Ten minutes later, a new champion had been crowned.

We know that Mahal is a RAW Superstar, but we can't say the same for Hardy. At the moment, RAW has both the Intercontinental Championship and the United States Championship.

And one of them is headed to SmackDown.

Chances are, it will be Hardy who brings his title to Tuesday nights. Rollins has had an incredible 2018, as he's finally come into his own as a top babyface. He could certainly take that momentum to SmackDown, but he may be the hottest stat in the company and maybe next in line (behind Roman Reigns, of course) for a Universal championship bid.

Jeff Hardy will never be a Universal Champion, but he could be great as SmackDown's top mid-card babyface. Fans have always loved him, and that sentiment is clearly still around. As US champion, Hardy can now serve as a veteran gatekeeper of sorts for SmackDown's younger stars.

Even more, there's not much for him to accomplish on RAW. Unless WWE is planning to reunite him with his kooky brother, Woken Matt, then there isn't much juice to be squeezed with him on Mondays.

Matt's wife, Reby Hardy, may have killed this notion in March when she told a fan in the Instagram post that Jeff and Matt would stay separated.

"Matt has busted his ass to get to this point. He & I have been fighting for this to happen for nearly a year. After the hard work & $50k+ in legal fees that *WE* paid, I'm gonna have to say NO. He is not "needed". Jeff is clearly doing his own thing & it has nothing to do with us right now," she wrote.

We'll see what happens on Tuesday!

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