10 Big Questions About Jinder Mahal As WWE Champion
7. Will Talent Focus More On Appearance To Get A Push?
Secondary to his potential reach of the Indian market, the remarkable change to Jinder Mahal's physical appearance clearly drew the attention of WWE's decision makers when determining who to strap a rocket to in the post-WrestleMania lull.
Since his return last year, much attention has been paid to his ripped and vascular physique, especially when compared to how viewers last saw him shortly before his 2014 departure.
Initially, he portrayed a stereotypical 'Man of Peace', but he was transformed into 'Hardbody' Jinder during his comedic partnership with the deluded 'Handsome' Rusev. Somebody was clearly paying attention.
Results didn't particularly reflect it, but Mahal at least never strayed too far adrift, and heavy involvement alongside Rob Gronkowski during the WrestleMania pre-show Andre The Giant Battle Royal should have possibly foreshadowed the direction the company were shortly set to take.
Nearly ten years on from the extreme tightening of the Wellness Policy following the Chris Benoit tragedy though, will this adjust the narrative on physiques in general? Randy Orton stands directly below Jinder on SmackDown Live!, and as JBL likes to utter ad nauseam, he's what a superstar would look like if built from the ground up.
But Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura and Baron Corbin aren't. And Dolph Ziggler and AJ Styles are well conditioned, but neither are giants chiseled from stone. It's possible that the crop of talent underneath the upper echelon may look towards Jinder's unlikely rise as motivation for a wholesale transformation.