10 Things That Made Us Embarrassed To Be Wrestling Fans In 2017
1. Not A Good Rook
"That's too far".
Not my words, but the words of Shakin' Stevens, and also the entire Oakland, California SmackDown Live! crowd after Jinder Mahal concluded one of the worst promos in wrestling history. Bursting through the screen like one of Mahal's own veins, the desperation to generate some kind of heat for the failing WWE Champion was palpable, but the content only resulted in the audience shooting daggers at the company itself.
References to 'Mr Miyagi', 'feasting on felines' and 'dining on dolphins' were small fry after Mahal doubled down on his racism, infamously going as far as to look down the lens at the 'King Of Strong Style' with the following barb:- 'You always rook the same'. It was dire, dated and disgraceful.
The company knew it too. They didn't upload the promo to their official YouTube page, despite one of the many rationales for Jinder's reign being the hits his videos could apparently do from the vast Indian market. An instant misfire, they allowed Mahal to mask their embarrassment as a "fictional personality that covered real world issues and sensitive subjects".
The mere suggestion that Mahal had personality was fiction, alright.