10 Big Questions About Jinder Mahal As WWE Champion
9. Will SmackDown Live!'s Television Ratings Rise Or Fall?
Ratings aren't quite the currency they once were in professional wrestling, but quarter hours and weekly spikes are still reviewed enough to highlight if a show has recurring problems with main or featured characters.
Mahal has just stormed into one of those key roles, so it would be unfair to place all the pressure of a numerical downswing on his shoulders just as it would praise him for a sudden resurgence.
But it's that type of boost the blue brand desperately needs as it (along with WWE's televised output in general) continues haemorrhaging viewers as following the product becomes less of a hobby and more of a unyielding weekly challenge.
The show has only once risen above three million viewers in 2017, but a sharp decline in April saw the blue brand bottom out at just over two on the May 16th go-home show for Jinder's eventual victory. Built around Mahal's 'Punjabi Celebration', the following week's episode gained 200,000 viewers, but it remains to be seen if further curiosity will translate to longterm gains.
As with house show gates and pay-per-view buys (what's left of them), given time, Jinder will be able to take credit for these increases or own the possible failures.