WWE Greatest Royal Rumble: Star Ratings For All 10 Matches
7. Jeff Hardy (c) Vs. Jinder Mahal - United States Title
When Jinder Mahal's critics rip into the man's wrestling ability, this is exactly the kind of match they'll use as evidence. It was bad. Not awful, but typical of last year's excitement-killing WWE Title run, and comfortably the worst thing on the show up to this point.
'The Maharaja's' control segment was painfully boring, and he fumbled his way through a number of spots, most notably a Whisper In The Wind that was a good foot away from connecting, but Mahal chose to sell regardless. Jeff wasn't much better either. Though still a good-to-great wrestler on his best days, he found little chemistry with Jinder, and must shoulder part of the blame for not reaching his opponent on the botch.
The runtime was merciful. Mahal and Hardy went for little over six minutes, with Jeff hitting the Twist Of Fate and a Swanton Bomb to retain his United States Championship. Had it gone any longer, and the star rating would've trickled down to nothing.
Mahal has demonstrated some improvement since his shotgun elevation last year, but bouts like this prove that he's still far from a super worker.
Star Rating: *3/4