10 Early Wrestling Predictions For 2018

3. Jinder Mahal Will Fall Off A Cliff

Braun Strowman Wwe
WWE

If this is it - and Jinder Mahal won't win his automatic WWE Heavyweight Title rematch, and AJ Styles isn't parachuted into India for the RAW December tour, the prognosis is negative.

The WWE midcard is loaded with ultra-talented performers. Hardcore fans, for years, have anticipated feature midcard bouts almost as much as headline attractions in order to determine if their new favourite guy really has the stuff. The problem is that, after a profoundly underwhelming run with the WWE Heavyweight Title, we know that Jinder doesn't. Mahal is a veteran of a decade and a half. He has reached his level, and it's as low as the hanging fruit that was his racist heat in the Shinsuke Nakamura programme. He's already faced three very different workers in prominent feuds: Randy Orton, Nakamura, and Styles. Only the latter elevated him. There will be no eyes on Midcard Mahal as he slides down the ranks; only the lurching dread pitted in the depths of the stomach.

WWE Chief Strategy and Financial Officer George Barrios remains intent on implementing a strategy of "localisation" - but, as sensible and lucrative as it reads on paper, the execution, from the United Kingdom territory to the Mahal push, simply hasn't worked.

WWE will press on with it, in some form or another. But Mahal is a terrible pilot for it - and his nosedive seems unavoidable.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!