4 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (April 25)

3. Jinder Plays The Numbers Game

As jarring as Jinder Mahal's sudden ascent to number one contendership was last week, it has at least given a new wrestler the opportunity to show what he can do in a bigger spotlight. It'll take a lot of hard work to paint the former jobber as a credible opponent for Randy Orton, but if the former 3MB member fails, it won't be through a lack of effort. Jinder looks visibly fired-up and motivated for the biggest angle of his career, and while this doesn't really say much, last night was probably the best segment of his WWE career.

Orton attempted to address Bray Wyatt following his victory over Erick Rowan, but Mahal interrupted. Flexing his wealth, talent, and class, he promised to take the WWE Championship "to his people," and was saved by The Singh Brothers as he brawled with 'The Viper.' The group left with Randy's title belt in their clutches, giving the feud some genuine heat, and Orton a reason to hunt Jinder down next week.

Mahal's character is far from perfect, with the textbook "evil foreigner" shtick particularly tiresome in this day and age. Similarly, the "look at how rich I am" material is as trite as it gets, but the performers can only work with what the writers give them. Questionable material aside, Mahal was in good form last night, and performances like this will go a long way to cool the backlash his push has been met with.