Slowly but surely the WWE universe is beginning to come around on Jinder Mahal. While it’s chemically impossible for him to to be “liked” (he’s a heel) the wrestling community is admitting that The Modern Day Maharaja is good at his job. And if there’s still a couple doubters out there, Mahal and The Singh Brothers most recent endorsement may eradicate their reluctance.
The WWE Champion and the Singh’s made a stop in Vancouver, B.C., where The Rock happens to be filming his upcoming movie, Skyscrapers. Like any reasonable adult, The Singh’s gave a shout out to The Rock upon landing:
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Just landed in the 6-0-4. @TheRock, if you need a couple dudes for a ‘Bollywood-style’ action scene, holla at your boys. 👊🏽#Skyscrapers pic.twitter.com/9xcNLImd0e
— Singh Brothers (@SinghBrosWWE) September 6, 2017
Not only did Rocky happily reply to his wrestling brethren but passed along quite the compliment:
Ha luv it. Bring the Champ Jinder as well. Just keep in mind everyone jobs to me on my sets. 😂 #kayfabe (seriously you 3 are doing GREAT!)
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) September 6, 2017
Since The Rock has issued the decree, it may be time to start appreciating Jinder Mahal. The Modern Day Maharaja may not be your favorite champion of all time, but he’s trending in the right direction. On a recent episode of E&C’s Pod of Awesomeness, former WWE Superstar Edge fully supported the WWE Champion.
In fact, Edge saw a lot of Mahal’s rival, Randy Orton, in the WWE Champion’s current standing.
“Here’s what people forget: that was Randy 15 years ago. That was Randy working Chris Benoit, teaming with Ric Flair, working against Shawn Michaels and [Chris] Jericho, and teaming with Batista, working against me,” he said. “Like, he was working against guys that were much more experienced in that level on the card and he was thrust into that too. And, obviously, he swam like Michael Phelps with it.”
Edge would go on to underline a subtle, yet significant, change in Mahal’s work.
“You do see the confidence Jinder is gaining and the small time lapse of trying to think of what to do next instead of going with instinct are starting to happen. That instinct, and timing, and not second-guessing yourself is starting to assimilate in and you can see it happening,” he added.
WWE has spent the Summer of 2017 thoroughly padding his resumé. He’s not only beaten Randy Orton in 3 consecutive pay-per-views but also snagged a signature at SummerSlam in his title defense against Shinsuke Nakamura. His next defense is set for Hell in a Cell at October. Earlier murmurings have him escaping the show as WWE champion to set up a dramatic showdown with John Cena.
Whatever the plan may be, Mahal has been a success so far. To keep his heel-dom in tact, we can applaud him later.
