10 Wrestlers Who Went To Insane Lengths To Get Over (But Didn't)

2. Jinder Mahal Gets Shredded

Orange Cassidy Jack Evans
WWE.com

Along similar lines, Jinder Mahal also put in the hours.

The man's body in 2017 was unrecognisable from the undefined physique he once carried. He was smart enough to grasp that he had a significantly higher chance of getting over with the office with vascularity than with an imploding corkscrew 450° splash. With this astute goal in mind, he transformed himself and got drier than NXT at the Capitol Wrestling Center.

It worked in the eyes of Vince McMahon, clearly; he was so enthused about Jinder's gains that he thought, hell, why not, let's strap up somebody stigmatised as a prelim guy - with very little additional effort to reverse that perception!

The shock of his WWE Title win at Backlash generated much engagement, in what was a development that WWE had the luxury of indulging in back then. They wouldn't do it now. Perhaps the reason why is related to why they did it in the first place. Jinder was office over, but not over over, and was scripted to go to yet more insane lengths when his character racially abused Shinsuke Nakamura.

How far did he go?

The man practically travelled back to a different time, and still couldn't convince fans to take him seriously in the role.

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!