Jinder Mahal is the WWE Champion and a large portion of people are clearly not happy about it. Over the past few months, Jinder has held a tight grasp on the title, narrowly retaining it against the likes of Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura. However, while Jinder has been on the “top of the mountain” of the SmackDown brand, there is something that undermines him week in and week out.

The Main Event

The proof is in the card. The fact is, you’d be pretty hard pressed to find Jinder Mahal in any SmackDown main event match in recent memory. Although the same can be said about Raw and their top draws, an exception can be made on SmackDown because it is ⅓ shorter and in my opinion, it is also not as draining to watch.

Jinder Mahal mostly cuts repetitive promos on SmackDown, and to his credit I don’t think he’s doing an awful job. WWE clearly knows who people came to see, though, and who the big draws are on the blue brand (hint: not Jinder). In the months that Jinder was feuding with Nakamura and even Randy Orton, who was in the SmackDown main event? Who was purposely not put on the card and instead often featured in dark matches so that WWE could keep fans in their seats for 205 Live?

AJ Styles

AJ Styles was (and is) highlighted every week, especially when he was the United States Champion. During his reign, the SmackDown main event usually involved AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens or Baron Corbin. During that time frame, Jinder was in a parallel universe as the WWE Champion. In short, even though he held the “mid-card” title, Styles was considered the more important of the two male singles champions on the show.

When AJ Styles was US Champion, the championship roles on SmackDown were extremely odd to say the least. You have one title picture including AJ Styles and one including Jinder Mahal. Which one sounds more legitimate to you? I would tune into SmackDown this past summer and only think about how the title pictures should be completely switched with AJ at the helm and Jinder honing his craft in the mid card.

Post Survivor Series

Now that AJ is no longer US Champion and has his eyes firmly set on Jinder’s WWE Title, this transition seems like a no-brainer. It looks like WWE may be seeing the obvious dollar signs that are plastered all over AJ Styles and they may soon reward him for his efforts as the mid-card champion during the Jinder Experiment. However, this could go one of two ways.

WWE may have come to the realization that Jinder Mahal was a mildly interesting (and wildly unsuccessful) project and now it’s time to put the title onto one of the best workers in the industry. Or they want to continue their attempt to legitimize Mahal by feeding him AJ Styles. There’s a big gap between those two, and I’m not sure WWE necessarily knows which way they’ll go yet.

The Verdict

The WWE Title does not feel prestigious right now. It does not feel like the top title on SmackDown and it certainly does not feel like the top title in the WWE. The WWE Title needs AJ Styles to elevate it to new heights. Imagine if we were getting AJ Styles vs. Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series. That has WrestleMania main event written all over it. Brock Lesnar vs. Jinder Mahal sounds like a last minute house show match (no offense to Jinder).

I also think that if AJ takes the title next Tuesday in England, it’ll be a good move for Jinder. Without all the pressure of being the top guy, Jinder may be able to retool his character and find some success. I think he has a lot of potential and can eventually work his way to the top for a legitimate run. He definitely needs a stronger in ring arsenal and a finisher that isn’t garbage. Another important factor is that he must learn to deliver his English promos with the same passion that rings clear when speaking Punjabi.

AJ Styles is the right star to carry the WWE Championship and the SmackDown brand back into relevancy. Jinder Mahal is an up and comer who is ripe for a mid card run after being pushed to be such a big deal for so long.

Reverse the roles and reap the benefits, WWE.