WWE’s Problems Can Be Traced Back To This EXACT Moment

End of Days.

Jinder Mahal El Torito
WWE.com

In his last televised WWE match before his release, Jinder Mahal lost to little person comedy act El Torito, in 01:39, on the May 27, 2014 SmackDown.

The character was so bereft of worth that WWE didn’t even use him to lay down to enhance anybody else of worth on the way out. There was absolutely zero point. To build towards the El Torito Vs. Hornswoggle Mask Vs. Hair match, Mahal, used here for practise ahead of it, aimed his attack on Torito’s recently-lopped tail (he played a bull). Torito won via moonsault.

Mahal didn’t fare much better upon his 2016 return; in November and December, he did jobs for Sin Cara and Darren Young on Superstars and Main Event, respectively. On the main roster, he formed a forgettable jobber tag team with Rusev. In the month before May 2017, he lost to Sami Zayn, Finn Bálor and Mojo Rawley on the flagship shows. Those three matches, aggregated, reached seven minutes and 50 seconds.

Jinder Mahal was a jobber. Jinder Mahal existed to enhance the names of midcard fixtures and social media experiments alike. He did this in his capacity as an enhancement talent—this being “doing jobs”.

One week removed from losing to Mojo in three minutes flat, Mahal defeated Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan, Luke Harper, Mojo Rawley and Sami Zayn in a #1 Contendership Six Pack Challenge match.

Immediately, this made no sense.

CONT'D...(1 of 5)

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!