WWE SmackDown 5 Takeaways: Shinsuke Nakamura is Looking Strong

2. Jinder Mahal is Making the WWE Championship Feel Important

Although Jinder Mahal isn’t the most popular person among the fans, I look forward to his reign as WWE Champion, regardless of how lengthy it ends up being. Mahal came out last night and made the WWE Championship feel important, which is more than what I can say for how the title has felt following Randy Orton’s “meh” victory over Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 33.

By the way, that’s no slight on Orton, because the WWE likes to put the belt on him when they need a transition; he’s as safe as they come. Orton was merely the man to pass the title on to Mahal, who received a huge amount of credibility by defeating somebody as decorated as “The Viper” to secure the title.

The WWE Championship needs to feel like a big deal, and that will be the case with someone like Mahal holding the belt. This is his big opportunity, and it makes me think back to his first promo on Talking Smack at the beginning of the “Superstar Shakeup”. Mahal spoke about how he had never won a title during his time in the WWE, and Shane praised “The Maharaja” for his fire and passion.

We’re seeing those qualities whenever Mahal takes to the mic, and while the “foreign heel” trope is badly overplayed, he makes it tolerable with his facial expressions alone. He always looks angry, and he’s the heel version of the guy with the chip on his shoulder. As The Miz showed us, superstars who act as if the title defines their career and means everything to them are the superstars who make the belt feel like it’s something worth fighting for.