The one thing that the WWE is constantly pointing out when they promote Jinder Mahal as their new WWE World Heavyweight Champion is that he is representing India. However, there needs to be more work than that and ESPN Indian analyst Sidharth Monga said that the people of India might not be as much behind Mahal as the WWE is making people believe. According to Monga, Jinder needs to put in a lot of work to prove to India that he deserves to be their champion.
Jinder Mahal and equality in the WWE
The main thing that people see when Jinder Mahal reigns as the WWE world heavyweight champion is that he was a jobber up until last month.
Mahal had not won a match on "SmackDown Live" in years before he won the multi-man match to earn his world title shot. Since then, he has beaten Randy Orton for the world title and even beat AJ Styles on "SmackDown Live" to become the top star in the company.
The problem is that many fans are not accepting Jinder Mahal as the biggest name in the company. The WWE, through their announcers, have emphasized that there are more people in India than the United States and that Jinder is their champion. According to Monga, there are a lot of WWE fans in India but they see Mahal like Americans do, as a man who never earned this opportunity.
What Jinder Mahal needs to do to achieve success
Just calling Jinder Mahal a WWE champion from India is not enough.
For one thing, Mahal is not from India. His family is from India but he was born and raised in Canada. He is as much of an Asian as Sami Zayn is -- another wrestler born in Canada whose family is from Syria. However, Jinder embraces his Indian heritage, speaks Punjabi, and has taken on the role as the foreign superstar.
That worked for someone like Bret "The Hitman" Hart, who was a villain in the United States but a hero in Canada.
For Jinder Mahal, he is not anywhere near the skill level of Bret Hart so he might not be the fan favorite in India that the WWE hopes he can be. However, there is also the chance that India won't be as big on his wrestling skills because they still consider The Great Khali a national treasure, despite his obvious lack of skills.
A better comparison in the WWE to Jinder Mahal
While the WWE is pushing Jinder Mahal as a foreign champion to win over fans in India and gain lots of boos from the pro-American crowd, a better comparison would be that of current "SmackDown Live" commentator JBL. When the WWE made JBL a world champion, no one bought into it because he spent his entire career as a tag team wrestler. However, the WWE morphed him into a New York millionaire type of wrestler and he took off. That means there is hope for Jinder Mahal as long as the fans give him a chance to develop his character and in-ring skills during this title reign.
