6 Reasons WWE Network Lost Record Subscribers This Summer

2. Jinder Mahal As WWE Champion

jinder mahal
WWE.com

Harking back to an earlier point about star power, casual fans who returned for WrestleMania 33 likely didn't even see Jinder Mahal on the card at all. Tucked away in a Kickoff show Battle Royal, the current WWE Champion is now someone WWE expect those jaded people to accept as worthy of a title dubbed wrestling's most prestigious.

Jinder's rise has been rapid and a consequence of WWE's clear wishes to plunder the Indian market, but it has felt low-rent compared to champions of the past. Nobody can claim Mahal hasn't worked hard to whip his body into shape, but that alone doesn't automatically make him championship material.

The played out wealthy foreigner with a disdain for America gimmick feels positively archaic in 2017, especially next to forward-thinking champions in other companies like NJPW's Kazuchika Okada. WWE titleholders do need to have character, but plucking someone previously cast as an also-ran and expecting fans to embrace it overnight is foolish.

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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.