[P Thriller]

go-away heat is not a real concept anymore. and the idea that Jinder's reign drove away a bunch of fans is something people want to be true, but it isn't. Ratings didn't significantly change, and house show numbers on SD were doing better than RAW at the time, which means he was drawing better than Seth on the B show. go look up the numbers.

the real heat / go away heat argument is just a way for certain fans to justify why the people they prefer are ones everyone should be enjoying and vice versa. A heel isn't a good heel because you respect them as a performer and want to secretly cheer for them. Heels of the past were legit hated and even got death threats from audience members or physically assaulted. The idea IS for people to hate you if you're staying true to your character. and Mohomad Hassan was legit hated by people, not booed but they secretly respected and adored him. I used to despise Corbin for example but I can actually enjoy him as a heel now considering most heels these days aren't that good at being heels.

and if he was really getting "go away heat" in the manner people wish was true, the numbers would have significantly dropped and that isn't what happened. numbers were already dropping prior to that, and as I said earlier, SD was continuing to pull better numbers than RAW despite being the B show at the time. even when Roman was getting this "go away heat" it didn't mean fans were completely tuning out and didn't want to see him. Roman was still drawing a big reaction even if it wasn't the reaction WWE wanted because of how forced his babyface push was and that's the same situation with Jinder's forced push as champion. That isn't "go away heat", it's just heat.

Numbers were not already dropping prior to them making Jinder Mahal Champion. He was Champion for 25 weeks:

Average Smackdown viewership 25 weeks prior to Jinder Mahal winning the Championship: 2,604,760
Average Smackdown viewership during Jinder's 25 week title reign: 2,476,880
Average Smackdown viewership for the 25 weeks after Jinder's Reign: 2,618,240

He literally lost viewership during his reign and they all returned after they finally took the belt off of him.

But even ignoring numbers. Comparing heels now to heels of the past makes no sense. Heels of the past were hated because people literally believed that the product was real. Fans don't care at all about the characters themselves anymore, they tune in to watch good matches and hear good promo's and then hope that the guy they like the most gets pushed. It sucks that it has become that way, but that is how the product is viewed now. Everybody knows the product is fake, so they really don't care what character that person is playing. People Boo'd because they hated the booking decision, they didn't care one bit about the character that Jinder was playing, they cared that he was in the way of watching people they actually liked.

In modern wrestling there is no such thing as heels and faces because the audience doesn't think the product is real and don't watch it in the same way. That is why heels always get cheered and babyfaces always get boo'd. WWE never adapting to this new reality is why their product has failed so bad the last decade. People were booing Vince, not Mahal because everyone knew it was a ridiculous decision to put the title on a jobber just to appease the Indian market, which he failed at miserably by the way.

 

[The Wood]

It made me cancel the WWE Network. If they don’t care, why should I?

Looking back, I can understand it as a forced “soft power” kind of move. Not sure if it helped them get a better TV deal in India. I know Jinder didn’t connect as a draw to Indian fans, but long-term, having a history of pushing talent that is marketed as being Indian might have some sort of benefit. It’s traditional pro-wrestling though. As a pro-wrestler, he sucks. Good for him turning his life around though.

 

[Strike Force]

This is a really low bar for a long-reigning WWE champion, but you need to be good at something. Mahal's below average at best on the mic and horrific in the ring, relying entire on his juiced-up physique and nothing else. When people correctly say he's one of the worst champions ever, it's not an exaggeration. He really was.

 

[Krin]

Numbers were not already dropping prior to them making Jinder Mahal Champion. He was Champion for 25 weeks:

Average Smackdown viewership 25 weeks prior to Jinder Mahal winning the Championship: 2,604,760
Average Smackdown viewership during Jinder's 25 week title reign: 2,476,880
Average Smackdown viewership for the 25 weeks after Jinder's Reign: 2,618,240

He literally lost viewership during his reign and they all returned after they finally took the belt off of him.

But even ignoring numbers. Comparing heels now to heels of the past makes no sense. Heels of the past were hated because people literally believed that the product was real. Fans don't care at all about the characters themselves anymore, they tune in to watch good matches and hear good promo's and then hope that the guy they like the most gets pushed. It sucks that it has become that way, but that is how the product is viewed now. Everybody knows the product is fake, so they really don't care what character that person is playing. People Boo'd because they hated the booking decision, they didn't care one bit about the character that Jinder was playing, they cared that he was in the way of watching people they actually liked.

In modern wrestling there is no such thing as heels and faces because the audience doesn't think the product is real and don't watch it in the same way. That is why heels always get cheered and babyfaces always get boo'd. WWE never adapting to this new reality is why their product has failed so bad the last decade. People were booing Vince, not Mahal because everyone knew it was a ridiculous decision to put the title on a jobber just to appease the Indian market, which he failed at miserably by the way.

your last 2 paragraph is what's wrong with wrestling today but you need to accept, not everyone thinks like that. don't generalize all fans as though they all enjoy wrestling that way. Not everyone only watches for spot fests and just the wrestling, people desperately want more characters and stories. I know AEW fans embrace that and kayfabe is dead but no that is not true, there are def wrestlers who are legit disliked by fans I could read you off a list who have real heat with the fanbase.

and as for the rest of what you said, it's no shame being outdone buy Styles in numbers but Jinder was still a better champion than the internet's beloved Seth and Kofi (my opinion) but also statistically regarding Seth.

as far as "people just booed, they didn't care about the character, they just hated the booking" as you said, then why were there "USA" chants if people weren't invested at least a little in the character and promos? there were also moments when there was a small divide in the crowd and people actually cheered him over the face in regards to Orton and Roman, so no. I will say yes the majority became tired of his reign and hated him because he was undeserving but it's highly exaggerated how bad his reign was and the rest of what you said generalizing fans as mindless indy marks who just care about workrate isn't true either, it's just who the product is geared to (and imo why wrestling is still in a slump)

 

[Brodus Clay]

Awful but at least less awful than Boringctyre.

 

[NondescriptWWEfan]

meh.

 

[HankHill_85]

Probably the most random world title reign in company history.

It managed to give Smackdown a legit heel champ for a short while, but it ultimately went nowhere and benefitted no one. I mean, it's cool Jinder can say he was WWE Champion, but that's about it.

WWE's got two world titles so they can experiment with bizarre picks for world champ once in a while. In that respect, Jinder's run pretty much falls in with that of Swagger, Khali, Henry, etc.

 

[farhanc]

Hello as long time wrestling fan, I think it was a marketing exercise.

They did it as the WWE were opening offices in India and wanted to expand in new in a territory and gain revenue.

Jinder tittle reign was portrayed differently in India where the local commentators portrayed him as face, rather than a heal.

The same could apply if there was a Chinese wrestler who they made champion just to get extra revenue from China.

Yours

Farhan

 

[OldSchoolRocks]

Totally unqualified to hold the top title. Mahal is one of the most mediocre acts in the company, minimal persona or talent. I would rather watch paint dry.
The whole thing only happened to try and gain traction in the Indian market and I doubt that it made much of a difference.
The definition of a flop is Jinder Mahal's WWE title reign.

 

[Krin]

Totally unqualified to hold the top title. Mahal is one of the most mediocre acts in the company, minimal persona or talent. I would rather watch paint dry.
The whole thing only happened to try and gain traction in the Indian market and I doubt that it made much of a difference.
The definition of a flop is Jinder Mahal's WWE title reign.

well they are opening NXT India soon. despite him not being qualified to be have been world champion, there really hasn't been as big of an Indian star aside from Kahli in any promotion. who's to say he didn't open doors for those newly signed talents in the superstar spectacle ? (even though I personally was not impressed by any of them so far) they do see value in him and like him backstage. they could easily build him back up into the main event or IC/US division if they want to upon his return and he could be a viable contender

and while he didn't explode into some mega star in India during the while thing he was still well received by fans and well liked there.

 

[PhenomenalOne11]

While the reign was awful at least he actually looked like a top guy and a world champion, which you can't say for a lot of guys over the past few years.

 

[DoctorWhosawhatsit]

A hilariously poorly conceived and executed attempt to break into the Indian market.

Jinder's title run had nothing to actually do with Jinder. If Tiger Ali Sing was on the roster he would have been given the push, and that sums up the whole problem.

WWe didn't push Jinder because they saw something in him or the fans were clamoring for a run, they did it because they had an Indian tour coming up and Jinder was the first Indian (even though he's actually Canadian) they saw.

 

[MIZizAwesome]

I loved his reign. I'm a big heel guy so I tend to like most. Was at that PPV in philly when he faced Orton in that Punjabi Prison match. Was epic because everyone there hated him and I was being the troll heel fan. Had little cena fans in front of me too asking me why i'm being an asshole when cena came out too lol. Booing the shit out of cena

 

[Jnewt]

It wasn't good, but at least it was different. Anytime you see a new face in the main event scene as champion it at least opens up possibilities. Seeing Orton as champ in todays era doesn't do shit for me. I've already seen him as the top heel many times and lose the championship to the good guy. Why the fuck should I care for a 13-14-15th time? Same logic for guys like Cena. I've already seen every possible story with this character. Either change your gimmick or stay out of the title picture. Even Hogan knew he had to evolve at one point.

 

[justin waynes]

I respectfully disagree. People need to stop confusing actually heat with people booing because they think that someone is awful. People were booing because they were pissed that WWE would be stupid enough to give the title to a jobber when there were so many guys that were better than him. The "any reaction is a good reaction" excuse is exactly why the company can't get people to watch their show anymore. "Oh look, the fans are pissed off, this must be working" is why the fans ultimately gave up on the company. The fans were trying to tell them that they disapproved of the product but Vince wouldn't listen so they eventually tuned out. Real heat is what Ciampa got when he turned on Gargano. The fans would boo the hell out of him but loved to boo him and wanted to see more of him. Jinder heat is fans booing because they literally didn't want to see him anymore.

Heat is heat .you are still not making yourself clear.boos are still boos, even hogan knows what am saying.

 

[The_It_Factor]

It’s funny how the only entertaining one out of 3MB got released while the other two got WWE Title runs. Not that I think Heath Slater should’ve gotten a push, just saying that it’s funny.

He sucked, but not any worse than McIntyre sucks. No worse than Miz back in 2011 or whenever that was.

 

[Krin]

It’s funny how the only entertaining one out of 3MB got released while the other two got WWE Title runs. Not that I think Heath Slater should’ve gotten a push, just saying that it’s funny.

He sucked, but not any worse than McIntyre sucks. No worse than Miz back in 2011 or whenever that was.

he simply doesn't have the stature that Drew and Jinder have. if he changed his physique maybe he could do that. I do thnk he will come back eventually and they will do a 3mb angle or reunion or feud of some sort.

 

[P Thriller]

Heat is heat .you are still not making yourself clear.boos are still boos, even hogan knows what am saying.

Boos are not just boos. When Roman Reigns won the Rumble and everyone boo'd him out of the building and then #CancelWWENetwork was trending, would you consider those good boos?

When Rey Mysterio entered the rumble last and people boo'd him out of the building, what did that have to do with Rey? He wasn't a heel. They were booing the booking decision.

There is a clear difference between an audience booing a character and the audience booing the company, it happens all the time. 90% of the heat the last decade has been booing the booking heat which is why the company has lost all of their viewership cause they ignored it

 

[The_It_Factor]

he simply doesn't have the stature that Drew and Jinder have. if he changed his physique maybe he could do that. I do thnk he will come back eventually and they will do a 3mb angle or reunion or feud of some sort.

Yeah, I mean, I wouldn’t have wanted to see him as champ, but he should have a spot in the company IMO.

 

[Krin]

There is a clear difference between an audience booing a character and the audience booing the company, it happens all the time. 90% of the heat the last decade has been booing the booking heat which is why the company has lost all of their viewership cause they ignored it

but the heat he got wasn't just people booing the booking. It was a mix of both that and the ones reacting to the anti American cheap heat stuff. there were "USA" chants etc. as I said, so the anti American gimmick was still part of his heat, as was just the undeserving aspect. and people legitamely despised the character regardless of if it was booking or go away heat or however you describe it, the hate he was getting helped get AJ more over at the time in his career as a babyface. I'd even go as far to say that Jinder vs. AJ was the better match between that and AJ vs. Nakamura due to AJ winning the title, making history of winning in the UK, and the fact that AJ vs. Nakamura simply didn't live up to the hype at Wrestlemania. the angle was built around low blows and Nakamura's newfound heel character, while AJ vs. Jinder was a classic 80's style David vs. Goliath match which resulted in AJ having a memorable title victory.