7 Most Insane Things Happening In Wrestling Right Now (May 24)
The richest prop in our industry.
What is the WWE Championship?
It used to be represent the high watermark of professional wrestling achievement. Bruno Sammartino and Hulk Hogan were awarded with it because they were the top draws of the territorial and expansion eras, respectively. There was never any illusion that they were the best technical wrestlers on the planet - they were far from the best technical wrestlers in their own company - but their incredible bond with the audience propelled them and it to great heights.
In subsequent years, the belt continued in this tradition. Aside from the odd transitional reign, the men chosen to hold it were expected to carry the company. Some did (Steve Austin), some didn't (Shawn Michaels). The Attitude Era saw the title change hands with head-spinning frequency. It was no longer the sole preserve of the man. Kurt Angle was never seen as the company's top star, but then, there were so many. The WWF had the luxury of switching it between several mega-over players to create an environment in which anything could happen on any given TV show or pay-per-view.
Even then, the handling of the lineage was (mostly) careful. There were so many stars that WWE never felt the need to award it to someone undeserving as a means of getting them over. That happened years later, in parallel with WWE's creative decline, with Sheamus and The Miz. Things, depressingly, are even worse now.
Prize, to heater, to prop: the WWE Title is now dead...
7. Jinder Mahal Is WWE Champion
Let's examine Jinder Mahal's record before WWE suddenly decided to pretend he was good enough to orbit the WWE Title picture.
In his last televised WWE match prior to his return last year, he was defeated by comedy little person El Torito in 1:39. Incredibly, he fared even more poorly on the independent circuit. The man lost to Colin Delaney on an Empire State Wrestling (us neither) card weeks after leaving. That's how low his stock was. It was almost - almost - as if even the grim outliers of the wrestling fringe knew he was a bust.
He was even defeated by lowly NXT geopolitical relations stunt Tian Bing over in Japan in 2015. Sadly, that's probably foreshadowing. On this evidence, WWE will probably hand the title to Bing to convince Chinese fans to purchase WrestleMania 34 after 33 was the first allowed for broadcast. On Sunday, after a sudden and incongruous push, he defeated Randy Orton for the WWE Championship at Backlash.
It's a sad state of affairs, it really is. All WWE needs to do to generate a moderate reaction from an undiscerning fanbase is to grab the nearest man of ethnic descent, rush him into the ring and have him blurt out anti-American sentiment for a couple of sentences. Job done. Cynical inroad to the Indian market accomplished.
After the crazy events of Sunday, Jinder Mahal and the Singh Brothers embarked on a Punjabi Celebration on SmakDown. Jinder is a heel because he's foreign. His push isn't just moronic, sudden, undeserved, whatever. It's borderline irresponsible in these times.