It was perhaps the biggest surprise of 2017 so far, and nobody can still quite believe that Jinder Mahal is actually the number one contender for the WWE Championship.

Considering Randy Orton’s House of Horrors match against Bray Wyatt is now a non-title contest, it means The Maharaja will meet The Viper at the SmackDown-exclusive Backlash event in perhaps his biggest test to date.

NEW NUMBER ONE CONTENDER

It did come as a surprise, though, as on paper even Mojo Rawley would have stood a better chance considering how much attention he was getting by winning the Andre the Giant memorial battle royal at WrestleMania 33 along with his well-documented friendship with New England Patriots tight end, Rob Gronkowski.

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However, the team formerly known as the Bollywood Boyz made their presence felt and that prompted fans to wonder why Mahal was given this sudden push, compared to guys like Luke Harper or even Sami Zayn.

One report that was doing the rounds online suggested that the only reason this was happening was because of the WWE’s expansion to India, and how they could use Mahal as a way to sell a lot of merchandise with WWE Shop finally opening up in the country.

Not only that, but a recent WWE press release revealed that the company had just brought in Sheetesh Srivastava as new vice president and general manager of their Indian operations.

So, while the expansion into the Indian market does play a small role in Mahal getting the push, a new report from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has shed some light on why else WWE made the surprising move.

Meltzer is claiming that since making his return to the company last year, Mahal has been highly praised backstage for his work ethic both inside of the ring, and in terms of getting into much better shape.

WORK ETHIC

Following his physical transformation, Mahal has apparently caught the attention of WWE officials and they’ve been impressed with his work so far; so they decided to bring him in as Orton’s next WWE Championship opponent – even if guys like Baron Corbin and AJ Styles are rumoured to be feuding with The Viper later this year.

The report also claims that Mahal is very popular behind the scenes and everyone is pleased that he’s finally getting an opportunity like this while the Observer also stated that those who know Mahal say he is taking this run very seriously in preparation for Backlash.

You can’t blame the fans for being a little sceptical on Mahal’s push, considering he’s a man that was defeated by El Torito in his last stint with WWE.

Even though the anti-American gimmick has been recycled, there’s a great chance for him to impress and keep him as a valuable asset of the SmackDown roster, rather than drifting into irrelevance once more.

What do you make of WWE’s decision to push Jinder Mahal? Have YOUR say in the comments section below and the second episode of GiveMeSport’s WWE podcast is here! Check out the inside info from our coverage in Orlando. https://soundcloud.com/user-818579649/givemesport-inside-wrestlemania-33

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