WWE SmackDown: Could Jinder Mahal Defend His Title In A Fatal Four-Way?

Quietly, Jinder Mahal has become more of a steady presence as the WWE Champion, as his matches continue to improve. His blow-off match with Randy Orton on WWE SmackDown Live a few weeks ago may have been his best yet, but could a new challenge await him at Hell in a Cell?

The experiment with Jinder Mahal as the WWE Champion hasn’t gone swimmingly well at all turns, with his Punjabi Prison match with Randy Orton and his SummerSlam encounter against Shinsuke Nakamura being particular lowlights. But when you watch his entrance, his scowl as he holds a microphone, his laugh as he exited the entrance ramp after thwarting Baron Corbin’s cash-in, or his above-average matches with Orton at Money in the Bank and on WWE SmackDown Live, you realize that there’s something to Mahal.

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Regardless of how you feel about him, and most people aren’t fans, Mahal’s days at the top of the card are numbered. At some point, Nakamura – or perhaps even somebody else – must dethrone him, and this could happen as early as Oct. 8, at Hell in a Cell.

On Tuesday night’s episode of SmackDown Live, Nakamura and Orton will go face-to-face for the No. 1 contendership spot, and the match has been quickly built. That leaves me wondering if we will see some form of interference from Rusev, who has to be disgruntled. Not only did he lose to Orton in mere seconds at SummerSlam, but he never received the title opportunity he demanded from Shane McMahon for the Money in the Bank Pay Per View.

Although SmackDown Live has given us face vs. face matchups on television this year, most namely with AJ Styles in the ring, we usually don’t get treated to them in marquee slots. This means it’s a big opportunity for Rusev to sneak in there to make Mahal’s title match a fatal four-way among Mahal, Orton, Nakamura, and Rusev.

During his time as WWE Champion, Jinder Mahal has exclusively partaken in pure singles matches, and he’s only defended his title against either Orton or Nakamura. By throwing Rusev into the mix, the WWE could please the fans and provide some more interest in the match. Because the alternative to this would be having another Nakamura vs. Mahal matchup, and while it would be more satisfying to see Nakamura overcome Mahal on his own, it wouldn’t be as exciting of a match. I’d like to see what Jinder can do in a multi-man environment, especially since we already saw how flat his match with Nakamura fell at SummerSlam.

Raw has made liberal use of fatal four-ways with their main event talent, involving any combination of Brock Lesnar, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, The Miz, or Braun Strowman. SmackDown Live should do the same, and it would truly be a chaotic masterpiece to see four men battling it out for the main title at Hell in a Cell. The best match on the blue brand since the “Superstar Shakeup” was probably the Money in the Bank ladder match, and I wonder if a fatal four-way at Hell in a Cell could ignite the same kind of intrigue with Nakamura, Mahal, Orton, and Rusev all going at it.

I wonder if the WWE have struck out by never asking Mahal to defend his championship against multiple opponents, because there’s just something gluttonously satisfying about watching a heel escape the clutches of defeat in a multi-man match. It could have made him look much stronger as a champion, because it’s easier to book a shady finish in a multi-man match than it is to repeat interference from the Singh Brothers (or even the Great Khali) in a singles match.

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The rumor mill has been pointing towards a battle strictly between Mahal and Nakamura at Hell in a Cell, but I’m not so sure. That matchup would be far too predictable, because it would be crazy to envision Mahal successfully defending against Nakamura again. I mean, how would they manage to book a different finish for that match? But if they go the fatal four-way route, they should be able to do a better job of selling that match, get more talent involved, and even protect Mahal if they are still interested in utilizing him in the main card after he drops the title.