Opinion
The Throwback Slant: Jinder Mahal, WWE Champion
Chad Aaron takes a look at Jinder Mahal as WWE Champion, and compares him to champions of the past in the latest Throwback Slant!
Chad Aaron takes a look at Jinder Mahal as WWE Champion, and compares him to champions of the past in the latest Throwback Slant!
The recent return to Raw of Jinder Mahal got me thinking about his 2017 WWE Championship reign. The Modern Day Maharaja came up pretty much out of nowhere in 2017 to take the WWE’s top prize. He had only returned to the company a couple of months earlier, to little fanfare after a forgettable first go-round in the WWE. He came back with an all-new physique and aggressiveness. I recall he had a handful of better-then-expected matches with and against Rusev. He was then placed in a relatively high-profile spot, getting physically involved with Rob Gronkowski at Wrestlemania 33, finishing as the runner up to Mojo Rawley in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. He would go on to shock Randy Orton to win the WWE title in May and hold it for approximately six months.
Now, co-incidentally, the WWE was making some in-roads into India at the time, even planning a series of live events that winter. India is home to approximately 125 million English speakers. And while that number is a low percentage of their overall population, it still represents a huge untapped market for wrestling. It was pretty plain to most of us how having a champion of Indian heritage would help the company appeal to that populace.
Domestically, Mahal was an unpopular champion overall, and his reign did not feature any real highlights. He had the Singh Brothers constantly involved in his matches, needed help from The Great Khali of all people to escape the Punjabi Prison, and had a cringeworthy program with Shinsuke Nakamura. Mahal mocked his broken English and made racially insensitive remarks. There was not a single defining moment in his six months on top. AJ Styles took the WWE title off Jinder in November, and Jinder slid back into the undercard.
Now, most of you know all this already, even if you had tried to push those memories out of your brain. I needed to set the stage. An undercard performer suddenly thrust into the main event. A title win that might have taken casual observers off guard, and excited almost no one. The champion carrying his championship through an underwhelming and ill-received title run, and all for a backstage reason that most smart fans could see right through. This scenario sounds very familiar to an older fan like myself.
30 years earlier, in 1987, we had a multi-time NWA World Champion in “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. The biggest show of the year, Starrcade, was coming up, and this time was going head to head on pay-per-view with the WWF’s newest invention, the Survivor Series. Promoter Jim Crockett thought it would be a better draw to have Flair win the title at Starrcade rather than simply defend it. That meant, of course, Flair had to lose the belt to someone. But who?
The top two choices would seem to have been Dusty Rhodes and Nikita Koloff. However, both men were already slated for title matches on the show. Dusty in an extended program with young and upcoming star Lex Luger; and Koloff in an NWA vs UWF, TV Title vs TV Title program with Terry Taylor. Not to mention, between Rhodes and Koloff, they had main evented the previous three Starrcade shows against Flair. The next viable option would seem to have been Barry Windham. Urban legend has it that the still-young Windham balked at the idea of winning the title only to drop it so soon back to Flair. They then found a career mid-card guy who was more than happy to take such a short stroll at the top of the card. Enter “The Hands of Stone” Ron Garvin.
Now, unlike Mahal, Ronnie Garvin had already carved out a solid career as an underneath wrestler. He had held the Mid-Atlantic and US Tag Team titles with the company and was widely regarded as a respected, tough, and dependable member of the roster. He was 42 years old at the time, so this would likely be his one and final shot at such an honor. He was a regular on Crockett’s television properties, often positioned in the television main event of those shows, so the audience was accustomed to seeing him. The hope was that familiarity would translate to the live audiences accepting him as a top draw.
Garvin took the title from Flair in September and held it for around six weeks. During this time frame, Garvin made sporadic appearances on TV, as the World Champion often would do. He only defended the title on a handful of live shows. While the TV audience might have accepted him, the live crowds were not used to Garvin in main events and his lack of drawing power suddenly stood out at the box office. On TV he was given a 45-day hiatus from defending the title so he could train for the rematch with Flair. This gave the promotion the cover to not have the World Champion at some of the major cards in the run up to Starrcade.
Flair reclaimed the title in November, and Garvin slid back into his former spot on the card. He was positioned at times as a former champion, but for the most part, that part of his career was forgotten. Garvin never again attained the level of success. Within a year or two, he was off to the WWF for a minor push to all but wrap up his wrestling career.
Now Jinder’s return could well mark his return to main event status. And with former fellow 3 Man Band alumnus Drew McIntyre holding the WWE title, it would be an easy assumption that the two are likely to work a title program together in the near future. But for now, Mahal remains one of the most unexpected former world champions in history, one whose situation brings to mind another unlikely world champion from the past.
Until next time, watch some wrestling this week, stay safe, and never forget to #UseYourHead.
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Opinion
Chris King: The Wyatt Sicks’ Wasted Potential By WWE
Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.
Chris King takes a look at the WWE and their wasted potential of Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt Sicks faction.
It’s that time of the year again, folks; it’s unfortunate and downright awful that so many WWE superstars got released today. I’m not going to list all of them, but I am going to talk about one of my favorite factions,
The Wyatt Sicks. Nikki Cross, Joe Gacy, Erik Rowan, and Bo Dallas (Uncle Howdy) were something special. After Bo’s brother Bray Wyatt’s tragic passing, WWE felt like there was a hole that needed to be filled. Wyatt was one of the most creative and brilliant characters, and Bo would be taking over his brother’s concept and bringing it to life. In 2024, at the end of an incredible documentary highlighting Wyatt’s career and struggles, Bo appeared on the screen portrayed as Uncle Howdy. The last time Uncle Howdy was seen on-screen was at the 2023 Royal Rumble, where Wyatt defeated LA Knight in a Pitch Black Match. Howdy jumped off a structure onto Knight.
This post-credit scene sparked so much speculation and excitement that Wyatt’s brother would carry on his legacy and possibly debut the faction that was Wyatt’s concept. On the June 17th episode of Monday Night Raw, The Wyatt Sicks made their dramatic debut ,destroying the backstage area as well as “murdering” Chad Gable. It was such an iconic arrival for Howdy as he made his menacing walk from the back into the audience who were chanting “Holy Shit.” The Sicks and American Made (Chad Gable and The Creed Brothers) battled for months, with The Sicks being victorious. On the September 9th episode of Raw, The Sicks defeated them, with Howdy getting the win with Sister Abigail.
The following year, The Sicks would move over to Friday Night SmackDown, and it seemed like WWE had a plan in place. They would win the tag team championships from The Street Profits and start to look dominant. Now, what should have happened next is Howdy should have won the United States title. The Sicks could have held all the gold over on the blue brand, but it never happened. The Sicks entered into a never-ending feud with The MFT’s (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, JC Mateo, and Talla Tonga.) It started off exciting, and the WWE Universe was red-hot for their interactions.
After months of repetitive matches and The MFT’s stealing their lantern, the feud grew tiresome and boring. Even Tama asked Solo why they are still holding onto the lantern, as it was destroying them as a whole. Finally on the SmackDown before Mania, Tama
gave the lantern back to Howdy against Solo’s wishes. Please explain to me why both factions fought almost every single week instead of just having one final blowoff match at WrestleMania.
It should have been either a massive street fight or a falls count anywhere match on the grandest stage of them all. Instead, it turned into a meaningless week-after-week extravaganza that benefited no one. The MFTs won the rivalry, and The Sicks don’t even work for WWE anymore. This was the same criminalized creative process that Wyatt dealt with during his first run in the company.
We’ll never know how much of a dangerous force The Wyatt Sicks could have been in the WWE. For all their careers’ sake, I hope they stay far away from the company for as long as possible. Every superstar that was cut deserves better!
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Opinion
Chris King: Bloodline Saga: Is This the Right Call For WWE?
Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Chris King questions the WWE’s logic in setting up Jacob Fatu as the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns is once again World Heavyweight Champion after his dominant win over CM Punk at WrestleMania 42. On the following night on Monday Night Raw, The OG Bloodline came back together as a well-oiled machine as The Usos stood side by side with Roman. With the WWE Universe asking who would be the first to challenge “The Tribal Chief,” Jacob Fatu shocked the world by answering the call.
Fatu is running hot after his impressive win over Drew McIntyre and feels like he is ready to become the new world champion. This bloodline segment ended Raw, and it picked right back up on SmackDown with even Solo Sikoa and the MFTs involved. This is now two shows that have been centered around The Bloodline saga, and it’s made me question whether or not WWE should be retelling this story.
The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, and Solo Sikoa) ran WWE for over four years as Reigns’ henchmen, doing his dirty work to retain his title. Even though Roman has declared he doesn’t want Jey and Jimmy to serve him, it sure seems like WWE are spinning their wheels. Fatu could add a whole new chapter into the story, even if he’s not able to beat Roman at Backlash. “The Samoan Werewolf” could be forced to do the same thing as Jey did all those years ago and fall in line.
In my opinion, I feel like Fatu should be challenging for the Undisputed WWE Championship because that’s a title I feel like he should win. I understand standing up to your blood and trying to prove you’re the best, but I don’t think this is the right move. It feels like 2022 all over again, as The Bloodline is the central focus on both shows. If Fatu doesn’t win, what happens to all his momentum he’s been building over the last two years?
Why did WWE make this the best choice for storyline purposes? Why couldn’t creative have come up with a different challenger for Roman? There are so many other superstars that could challenge The Tribal Chief, such as Rusev, Bron Breakker, Gunther, or even a returning Sheamus.
I just can’t help but question WWE’s logic here, and it kind of reminds me of all the times The Shield reunited. Could WWE be pushing the same storyline too many times here? Could the WWE Universe get tired of this rinse and repeat cycle of The Bloodline Saga?
Are we about to see all the weekly episodes solely focused on The Bloodline again? Will it be cinema… Yes. Is there still money in The Bloodline… Yes. Was it the right call? That’s to be determined!
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Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!
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Attitude Of Aggression Podcast: The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history) Unidentified History (Ufology) & Game Gone Wrong (Game of Thrones Universe)
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