10 Wrestlers WWE Gave Up On In 2017
2. Jinder Mahal
Jinder Mahal's name wouldn't be eligible for inclusion on a list like this as recently as five weeks ago, but the former WWE Champion's fall from grace was almost as sudden as his rise to the top.
Pushed out of nowhere in April, 'The Maharaja' starred in one of the era's most ill-conceived main event runs, with his paymasters desperate to cash in on the untapped Indian market. It failed, dramatically. Mahal's lengthy, tedious run as champion surpassed the longest reigns of countless wrestling legends, including The Undertaker, Kurt Angle, and The Rock, yet even when all the metrics pointed towards complete failure, WWE continued swimming against the tide.
They gave up on Jinder sometime in October. He was originally pegged to face Brock Lesnar in a champion vs. champion bout at Survivor Series, but AJ Styles took his title two weeks before the PPV. Mahal was then omitted from the pay-per-view card entirely, and while he'll receive his rematch at Clash Of Champions, there's little chance he walks away with the gold.
Losing to Triple H in India this past weekend compounds a spectacular de-push for Jinder, who should soon take his clichéd gimmick and outdated working style back to the midcard.