WWE SmackDown 5 Takeaways: Styles vs. Owens for WWE Title On Deck

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2. Jinder Mahal in the United States Championship Picture is the Perfect Place For Him

In recent memory, no superstar has had more of a metamorphosis in such a short amount of time as Jinder Mahal has.  He went from a member of 3MB to getting squashed by Rob Gronkowski at WrestleMania 33 to holding the WWE Championship for nearly six months.

Mahal’s rise came out of nowhere and while many justifiably have criticized it, there’s no denying the Modern Day Maharaja came out it a better superstar than he was before he entered it.  But now that Mahal is out of the WWE Championship picture, the WWE has put him in a more adequate position on the card.

With the recent development of Dolph Ziggler apparently relinquishing the United States Championship, a tournament to crown a new champion was announced last night and in one first-round match, Bobby Roode defeated Baron Corbin.  And in the other, Mahal knocked off Tye Dillinger.  It’s still unclear if any other first-round matches will take place, but that’s beside the point at the moment.

Having the Modern Day Maharaja in the U.S. Championship picture is where he needed to be from the start of his push.  His character is the perfect one to be challenging for the U.S. Championship and if he would have been put in this position back in April or May rather than immediately winning the WWE Championship, he would be considered a much-better main event talent now than what he is viewed as being.

The Modern Day Maharaja finally has the chance to be properly built and his character should be able to reap the benefits from it.