Unpopular Opinion: Jinder Mahal was an actual corporate champion
DISCLAIMER: The Views of the Writer Do Not Reflect The Views of Sportskeeda
During the Attitude Era, WWE introduced the concept of a corporate champion—a chosen one whom evil powers that be had conspired to put on top in spite of what the fans wanted or what kayfabe wrestlers deserved based on merit. It was the foundation of The Rock’s biggest heel turn and first world title feud with Steve Austin. WWE more subtly revisited the idea with the McMahons backing Triple H in years to follow and nodded toward the concept again in the John Cena-CM Punk program of 2011. The company dove headlong into this story again for Daniel Bryan’s journey from 2013 to 2014, as the beloved underdog whom WWE management dismissed in favor of John Cena and Randy Orton.
While fans tend to look at John Cena and more recently Roman Reigns as the real-life realizations of corporate champions, there’s an even more direct, literal version of this dynamic to look to from recent years of WWE programming: Jinder Mahal.
After WWE let Mahal go, he worked hard to develop a killer physique and work his way back to the WWE roster. That new look, paired with corporate interests in India fueled the push of a lifetime for the Modern Day Maharaja. He unseated Randy Orton for the WWE Championship and reigned for half a year before dropping the title to AJ Styles.
Mahal was the champion no one wanted. He didn’t drive business in India the way WWE management reportedly hoped he would, and reigned over a period when ticket sales were down and that critics universally panned. While Mahal was a passable act at the mid-card level, he simply didn’t have the wrestling skill, talking skill, or charisma to ever feel anything like the main event star.
With a year’s hindsight, we can very reasonably assess Mahal now as the purest distillation of the corporate champion concept. He wasn’t the champion fans wanted, or a guy who had earned that spot by any clear metric. Instead, he was a guy the powers that be handpicked to feature until they simply couldn’t justify doing so any longer.