10 WWE Gimmicks That Pushed The PG Era To Its Limits

8. Jinder Mahal (Victim Of Racism)

Jinder Mahal Singh Bros
WWE.com

Attention, wrestling writers: racism never works, and it hasn't been an effective heat seeker since the 1980s.

That won't stop promotions from trying, and WWE are especially guilty of relying on nationalities, skin colour or religious beliefs to provoke prejudice. The latest example was Jinder Mahal, and it made the new WWE Champ look like a modern update of Attitude Era flop Tiger Ali Singh; that's not a favourable comparison.

Throughout his 170 days with the title, it wasn't uncommon to see Jinder stand proudly with The Singh Brothers and claim he was the victim of racism from North American bigots who hated the fact he had done so well for himself whilst wearing a turban or being proud of his Indian heritage.

The main problem here was that few despised Mahal for flaunting his ancestry. No, they hated him because the xenophobic mantra was boring, uninspiring and had been done to death. The result was a gimmick that insulted the audience and tried to paint innocent fans as racist morons (something that wouldn't fit in with WWE's corporate profile) in 2018.

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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.