10 Wrestlers That Bombed Twice

9. Jinder Mahal

Ultimate Warrior WWF 1996 WCW 1998
WWE

Whether it was at the side of the Great Khali, against the Great Khali, feuding with Ryback, or as part of 3MB, Jinder Mahal's first WWE run - which started in 2011 - got progressively worse before the performer was released from his contract in mid-2014.

Of course, Jinder's return to the company two years later famously (or should that be infamously?) led to him defeating Randy Orton at Backlash 2017 to become WWE Champion.

One cannot argue the incredible shape Mahal got himself into by the time of that return, but even the biggest of Jinder fans would surely find it tough to claim the Modern-Day Maharaja's run as WWE Champion was anything but a complete failure.

Across a painful 170-day reign, Jinder made the WWE Title picture into must-miss TV. His long, monotonous promos were nauseating, his matches - including PPV bouts against Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura - were glacial in pace, and his presence at the top of the WWE tree saw SmackDown's viewership tumble.

Sure, Jinder Mahal as WWE Champion was arguably a worthwhile experiment when taking into account WWE's desire to breach the Indian market. That experiment should've been cut off at the knees way, way earlier than it ultimately was, with AJ Styles thankfully, eventually bringing Mahal's WWE Title run to a halt at a November 2017 episode of SmackDown.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.