10 WWE Gimmicks That Just Aren't Working

From jobber to main eventer to jobber to... somewhere in between?

After years spent toiling in the undercard (and a lengthy spell on the indies), Jinder Mahal received a surprise megapush in 2017. WWE had eyes on moving further into the Indian market and believed the Punjabi Canadian could be the hot ticket. Unsurprisingly, presenting Mahal as a cowardly heel who got the Indian national anthem booed on live television didn't exactly pan out.

In the years since, Mahal's heel persona has been repackaged repeatedly in tandem with huge leaps up and down the card. In 2021, Mahal is on shaky ground as a watered down rendition of his old Modern Day Maharaja schtick. Re-debuting on Main Event (not an ideal start), Mahal squashed Jeff Hardy and quickly moved into a feud with old pal Drew McIntyre.

With new, considerably beefier cronies doing his bidding, Mahal mostly served as cannon fodder for The Scottish Warrior. McIntyre, coming off several losses to then-champ Bobby Lashley, needed reheating and Mahal was there to look at the lights for him.

With his new trio already separated thanks to the draft, things aren't looking promising for Mahal on SmackDown. His current character lacks credibility and is struggling to find any real connection with audiences. Outside of a babyface turn, there's little else Mahal can do at this point to potentially jazz up his character.