10 WWE Stars Who Briefly Flirted With The Main Event

Jinder Mahal's sudden ascent to the top of the card has caught nearly everyone by surprise - including, even, the WWE creative team, who had been booking him as little more than a blustering comedy act since his return to the company late last year.

Exactly why Jinder has, almost over night, gone from jobber to number one contender for the WWE Championship has been the subject of some debate in the wrestling community.

The consensus is that he's either a placeholder challenger whilst more fitting adversaries for Randy Orton (Corbin, Owens) are otherwise engaged, or that Vince and co are simply throwing ideas at a wall, hoping something might stick. It certainly wouldn't be the first time.

Either way, it doesn't sound too promising for his long-term prospects as a main eventer.

If Jinder does slide back down the pecking order after eating an RKO at Backlash, he can at least take solace from the fact that many before him have followed the same path.

Point is: enjoy your moment in the sun while it lasts - because it might not come around again.

A new jacket, a burly bodyguard, and the word "the" prefixed to your name. If that's all it takes to go from being a tag team jobber in comically over-sized rainbow trunks to competing for the WWE Championship then it's surprising that more wrestlers haven't followed suit (and if his first couple of Raw appearances are anything to go by, 'The The Miz' might want to consider it).

Admittedly, when Kendrick got his shot at Triple H's title, he was one of four contenders at Unforgiven 2008, in one of three Championship Scrambles (a short-lived match format - and with good reason) on the same show. That's a total of fifteen members of the WWE locker room competing for a world title in one night, making it - statistically - unlikely that he wouldn't be one of them.