In what proved to be one of the biggest upsets in recent years, Jinder Mahal defeated Randy Orton at the SmackDown-exclusive Backlash pay-per-view to become the new WWE Champion.

There was already a lot of surprise at the fact that The Maharaja was crowned the number one contender in the first place, and not many would have ever assumed that the company would pull the trigger on putting the title on somebody who was perhaps the weakest in 3MB and was released shortly after.

NEW WWE CHAMPION

Still, he put in the hard work to improve his look and was brought back to add numbers to the roster because of the brand split and it now seems to have paid off in the best of ways.

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It was well-documented that WWE’s big expansion into India played a key role in Mahal receiving this push, considering the market is absolutely massive over there so you can’t blame them for taking advantage of that.

Now the question must be raised, how long do they plan on keeping the championship title on him?

In a number of cases, we’ve seen WWE take the title off of somebody just days after the event - such as Christian during his feud with Orton - but it doesn’t seem like it’ll be that short of a reign.

It was reported last week that WWE could be giving Mahal a one-month trial run as champion, in a sort of sink or swim scenario to see how he fares under the limelight as the biggest champion in the company.

LENGTHY REIGN?

However, IWNerd has now shed some light on how long the organisation could keep the gold around his waist.

The interesting thing to note is that since becoming champion, Mahal has been portrayed differently in two videos on YouTube.

In the US, Mahal is playing the traditional anti-American heel but it seems as if he’s going to be a face for the Indian fans, as a different video showed him thanking his Indian fans and playing up how proud he is – both of which you can watch below.

However, Mahal also mentioned that he’s looking forward to defending his title in India; that’s where things get more intriguing.

As of this writing, WWE doesn’t have any planned live events in India until September, which means if they’re serious about their Indian expansion and moving ahead with it then it looks as if WWE could be could have him as champion when they go there for the tour – as it makes sense for him to walk into the events as the champion.

It’s a bold plan from WWE as there’s no indication how well he’d perform as a champion.

While there has been some negative reaction from fans over the decision to make him champion, he’s probably safe for now as he can get plenty of heat from the US audience on a weekly basis which means he’ll be doing his job really well.

It certainly freshens things up in WWE, which makes you want to watch and see what could be in store for him next.

How long do you think Jinder Mahal will remain WWE Champion? Have YOUR say in the comments section below and the third episode of GiveMeSport’s WWE podcast is here! Check it out via this link: https://soundcloud.com/user-818579649/gms-wwe-podcast-all-the-fallout-from-wwe-payback

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