10 Wrestlers That Don’t Deserve To Be Hated

5. Jinder Mahal

Baron Corbin 2022
WWE.com

This could be a controversial pick.

Was Jinder Mahal a great WWE Champion and on par with greats like Steve Austin, John Cena or others? No, not at all. Was he the "worst World Champion in company history" though? No, not at all x2. That's such a lazy way of describing him, and (full disclosure) this fan has fallen into the same trap before.

It's hard not to get swept up in that kind of sensationalist negativity, to be honest. Back in 2016, fans were stunned that Vince McMahon decided to put his top prize on a career midcarder who hadn't worked even one outstanding match across multiple runs in the promotion.

That's fine, but lazily proclaiming him "the worst" just because it sounds good isn't. What made Jinder's title reign worse than other experimental World Champs like Jack Swagger or The Great Khali, for example? In fact, compared to Khali, Mahal was Bret Hart.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.