5 Potential Contenders to the WWE United States Championship

WWE.com

1. Jinder Mahal

Jinder Mahal has been pushed into the main event scene in a somewhat controversial manner. Some believe it is ridiculous that a wrestler who has not won a memorable match on TV or PPV is getting a shot at the most prestigious title in sports entertainment. Others are happy someone new is getting a title shot because it is something different.

If Mahal wins the WWE title it will not only be shocking but probably one of the biggest upsets in wrestling history, more likely than not, he will not walk out of Backlash as champion. However, it is possible that the WWE are not setting up the former 3MB member for a main event push, but rather a major midcard push.

A few weeks ago the Maharaja declared himself “the New American Dream” and since then the Bollywood Boyz have not been far behind him. So with the new nickname and seemingly All-Indian stable, Mahal has been cutting the cliché “foreign heel” promos.

Those kinds of promos haven’t been successful in the main event since the 1980s. Rusev had some success with it in the modern era (with the US title) but that is about it. So if Mahal falls short of winning the WWE Championship from Randy Orton, what is the next step for the New American Dream? The logical choice is the United States Championship.

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The WWE does not need to put their most prestigious title on Mahal to expand into the Indian market, especially if they want to go the anti-American or foreign heel route. The US title is the perfect belt for the New American Dream to cut scathing promos on the Americans who make up the WWE Universe.  It could also serve as a test-run of sorts to see how The Maharaja does with a title-run.