Previewing The Summerslam 2017 Main Events

Speaking of lackluster feud development, how about that Jinder Mahal vs. Shinsuke Nakamura feud? This is the WWE Championship match. The two don't even look like they are really feuding. This is terrible. The WWE should have put a lot more work into Nakamura.

Let me go back to another Summerslam title change. In 2004, Randy Orton defeated Chris Benoit for his first World title. I was a big Orton fan back then. I watched that PPV and was glad he won. Thing is, looking back, the feud development was not that great. Most would also say that Orton's reign flopped. There are many reasons why it was not better, including Triple H still being the centerpiece back then. Point is, many might argue Orton was not ready to be Champion back then. Keep in mind, however, that he did have a good run with the Intercontinental Championship prior to his bigger push. He also had a memorable feud with Mick Foley that included a great match that some might say helped him to break out.

What does Shinsuke Nakamura have to say for himself? Let's ignore NXT. Too much attention is often put on the WWE's developmental brand, which the general audience does not even watch. What has Nakamura done since coming to the main roster? No title reigns. His PPV performances and booking have not been that spectacular. He just doesn't look like a big deal. You can say his match with Cena a few weeks ago was supposed to be where he broke out. Even ignoring the terrible botch in that match and whose fault it was, it just didn't feel like that match accomplished what it was supposed to do. And there is a chance this guy might actually win the title this Sunday? It would be an even worse decision than Randy Orton in 2004.

Speaking of bad decisions when it comes to title wins, the alternative to Nakamura winning the title is Jinder Mahal retaining the title. I have seen fans get upset with the WWE having Mahal lose cleanly recently, and I'm not even talking Indian fans or Canadians. Why shouldn't Jinder Mahal lose cleanly to faces that are above him? He's a heel. He's a non-monster heel. There is no excuse not to have him lose now and then, especially cleanly. If that hurts his appeal and WWE Network subscriptions with certain demographics, so be it. It would have to happen eventually. That makes these kind of pushes even more questionable. They won't be sustained. And what happens then? The WWE is going to hope that the Mahal fans might get interested in something else, but when the whole product is so terrible and stars are not built and featured right, the WWE is still underachieving. And while the WWE is so busy pleasing these demographics, they are making bad decisions that turn away other fans.

This match is pretty much about appealing to Japanese and Indian fans. Who will win? Jinder Mahal to sell tickets for an Indian tour? Or Shinsuke Nakamura to help his merchandise sales? That seems to be the WWE's driving mentality these days. It sure isn't proper feud development and building stars properly. Jinder Mahal should retain the title. It could be by DQ or something like that.

Four big men will go at it for the Universal Championship. There was a time when smarks hated big men getting pushed so much. I don't see too many complaints for this feud. These fans love Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman, especially when he's killing Roman Reigns. And this is just a ripe situation for Brock Lesnar to drop the title. There is a good chance he will leave. Multi-man match, which means he does not have to be pinned. Which of the three challengers should get it?

Let me start with Braun Strowman. Since Summerslam last year, five men have won their first top title in the WWE. Finn Balor and Kevin Owens won the Universal Championship. AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, and Jinder Mahal won the WWE Championship. The WWE definitely needs to slow down. The only reason for Strowman to win the title would be to drop it to Reigns, which might make storyline sense. Reigns has gotten knocked around by Strowman for a while now. Not only can Reigns finally get a decisive win against him, but he might win the title in the process.

Samoa Joe is another guy that stands a chance to win his first top title in the WWE. I am not counting NXT. Once again, I will say the WWE needs to slow down. This guy just debuted a few months ago. I have heard the rumors that certain people in the WWE want Samoa Joe to get the title. Smarks would love it. It was one thing for AJ Styles to win the WWE Championship in his first year on the main roster, but not every smark favorite needs to do that. Samoa Joe could do it at Summerslam, as well as Nakamura. Bobby Roode might be rushed to a title reign when he debuts. It is all disgusting.

As I have pointed out before, Roman Reigns has not held a top title in over a year. All he has had is a midcard title run. Also take into account his PPV losing streak. Even before Wrestlemania, his year was not that great. He lost twice at the Royal Rumble, once to Kevin Owens and then losing the Royal Rumble. This guy does not look like a centerpiece at all. If you are going to hype him like he is the centerpiece, it would make sense to push him as the centerpiece. If not, move on to someone else. If this weak treatment is not working in shutting up his haters, many of whom seem ignorant to the fact that he hasn't been pushed that hard in the last few months and for most of the past year, then stop doing it.

I do feel like a title change will happen. I would say it should be Roman Reigns. I am not a fan of the guy. But if you are going to push him as the centerpiece, he needs to get back on track. They are just damaging him, even if it is unintentional. There are some fans, usually kids, who will buy into the hype, even if the booking does not match the hype. But there are a lot of other fans that will hear the WWE talk about how great Roman Reigns is, see Reigns put himself over, see other wrestlers put him over, and then see the guy just lose every big match he has had in the last few months and not hold a top title in over a year. What are they going to say? That this guy is overrated. I wouldn't be too surprised if the WWE gives the title to someone else in the match and Reigns wins it down the line, but the WWE should just stop the poor booking now and put the title back on him.

Randy Orton Finally Beats Jinder Mahal

Randy Orton defeated Jinder Mahal in a non-title match on Smackdown last week. It was in Toronto, Mahal's hometown. I see some fans unhappy with the result. They say it made Mahal look weak.

I do not see a problem with it, in terms of making Jinder Mahal look weak. Randy Orton lost to him three PPVs in a row. Jinder Mahal was going to put him over eventually. It is only fair. As for it being in his hometown, Jinder Mahal isn't exactly someone that deserves to be treated like royalty. If he wasn't getting his monster push, most people in Toronto, and even India, would not care too much for him.

I will say that I do not like that the WWE has not invested more in Jinder Mahal vs. Shinsuke Nakamura. That is the title feud. It is not the title feud I would have went with, but they went with it. If that is the way it goes, at least put better work into it. This is the last week before Summerslam.

Meanwhile, Randy Orton is feuding with Rusev. Rusev attacked Orton after his match. Once again, however, I feel like the WWE could have done more with this feud. These two could have had a proper feud, but I feel it was just tossed together the way the WWE handled it. Poor feud development just seems to be a theme for Summerslam this year.

The Great Khali Returns

Jinder Mahal did indeed retain the WWE Championship against Randy Orton at Battleground. And he did it thanks to The Great Khali.

I have said for a while now that the WWE should stop bringing back people. There are various reasons why. First, it costs money to pay all these people. A lot of fans are unhappy with certain cuts that have been happening recently. Some of those cuts are due to budget issues. There hasn't been mass releases this year, however. Second, the WWE has so many workers already and can't do a lot of them justice. Instead of spending time properly building stars and utilizing talent right, they just look for easy answers by bringing in all these people. Lastly, it doesn't do anything in the long run. After the initial buzz, the WWE just goes back to fumbling around. Ratings continue to decline. Fans are not consistently energized. The company finds themselves in these situations where they need to cut costs. Bringing in all these people just doesn't solve the issue, so why rely so heavily on this? Stop it.

Bringing back The Great Khali is just scraping the bottom of the barrel and shows the WWE has no solid direction right now. For a while, it looked like they were going in the direction of treating wrestling with more respect. You had the women's revolution. You had the return of the cruiserweight division. AJ Styles. Nakamura. A lot of guys from NXT. Roman Reigns has not held a World title in a year. But then the WWE does stupid stuff, like all the crap with James Ellsworth. The Great Khali returning just fits in with that garbage. He is not a great wrestler. Of all the people to bring back, not him. You have already had the return of Mickie James, Kurt Angle, and The Hardys this year, among some others. But these names I just mentioned are at least known for being good in-ring workers. Even if age has slowed some of them down, they are still known by wrestling fans for being good in the ring. The Great Khali is not. If the WWE is going to bring people back, they have to know what they want to be and try to stick to that identity. That doesn't mean they should never sign anyone that goes against that identity, but don't make it a habit. And don't sign someone as terrible as The Great Khali.

It doesn't matter how long he is back for. He should not get too physical at all. He obviously will. He cannot attack Randy Orton and think nothing more will come of it. Some people have talked about the idea of The Great Khali being Jinder Mahal's bodyguard. On paper, it sounds nice. But when you take into account the WWE's budget issues, all the other workers being misused, these returns not helping, and The Great Khali just not being great, it isn't a good idea in reality.

Previewing The Battleground 2017 Men's Matches

It is sometimes amazing how the WWE can hype a crappy kickoff match like it is something special on their website. Tye Dillinger faces Aiden English. I don't care. Dillinger wins.

Climbing the ladder of relevance, Mike Kanellis vs. Sami Zayn. This is just a rematch. Nothing too special. But this is another match I just don't care about. The gimmick Mike and Maria have might have some potential, but boring feuds against a midcard jobber like Zayn won't bring that out. I will say Mike Kanellis wins.

Baron Corbin faces Shinsuke Nakamura. The fact that Corbin has the briefcase means nothing. The WWE has a history of having the person with the briefcase lose a lot. On the other hand, the WWE has a recent history of overpushing people they are grooming to be main-eventers, like Jinder Mahal. But I don't think that happens at the expense of Nakamura this Sunday. He wins.

New Day get another title shot against The Usos. The tag divisions are just so terrible on both shows. There probably won't be a Twitter movement to turn things around. The WWE might as well let New Day win the titles. If The Usos do retain, who is left to take the titles off them? They could go back to Tyler Breeze and Fandango. They have been gaining momentum. But New Day will likely get a reign before them.

Kevin Owens tries to win back the United States Championship from AJ Styles. No reason for Styles to drop the title so soon. That is, no GOOD reason to do it. The WWE might do it if they want a lame excuse to prolong this feud. Just end it either here or Summerslam. Create some fresh feuds with these midcarders many people, including myself, don't care about.

John Cena takes on Rusev in a Flag match. I'll give them credit for a gimmick match. But these two? Again? They feuded with each other before. The rivalry just isn't fresh. I am going to tell you what I would have done with both guys a little later. As for this match, Cena wins.

And inside the Punjabi Prison, Jinder Mahal defends the WWE Championship once again against Randy Orton. This feud should have been over already. And it just wasn't heated enough to deserve this gimmick match. Some people are speculating The Great Khali will return to help Mahal. We'll see. If nothing else, this match should give Jinder Mahal further credibility. He should be retaining.

How would I have done things with the last two matches I just talked about? Switch the opponents around. Jinder Mahal could have been entering a feud against John Cena. It could have been the same pro-USA feud you have in Rusev/Cena. Meanwhile, Rusev feuds with Orton. That is a fresh feud. These two have never feuded. Rusev was wanting a title match a couple months ago. Just have Randy Orton go out there after losing to Jinder Mahal at the previous Smackdown PPV and start talking about wanting another shot. Instead of getting it, however, Rusev shows up to continue his angle of wanting a title shot. Those two then feud. If the WWE wanted to put a title opportunity on the line, fine. It would have taken things in a fresh direction and not messed up the storylines that were going on too much.

Orton And Mahal Inside The Punjabi Prison

Last time, I talked about how Smackdown could have progressed certain feuds in fresh directions through how they booked certain matches this week. They failed to do it. They booked things in a manner that makes things feel the same as they were coming off the recent PPV last week. Whether the WWE continues in the same direction or not remains to be seen, but there are other feuds that are also not over yet for the blue brand.

Randy Orton and Jinder Mahal will go at it for a third PPV. Was this truly necessary? I don't think so. This is not really that great of a feud that warranted another PPV.

Who else could face Mahal? Not Nakamura. It is too soon for him to win the title and it is too soon for him to lose to Jinder Mahal. AJ Styles is still tied up with Kevin Owens. How about the returning John Cena? The WWE is obviously not going in that direction, but he is returning next week. He could have started a feud with Jinder Mahal. John Cena is one title win away from breaking Ric Flair's record. Why not have him enter a WWE Championship feud right away. Play with the chase. He obviously won't win the title at a throwaway PPV like Battleground, but it could have been the start of a fresh feud. They even could have had Jinder Mahal talk trash about Cena these few weeks between Money In The Bank and Cena's return to help hype his return and build that feud. Instead, more of Randy Orton.

The story does not end there. This will be a Punjabi Prison match. This has not been a popular match type, but it fits Mahal's gimmick. On the one hand, if you are going to continue the feud, it might as well end in a gimmick match. On the other hand, is this feud worthy of this match? I didn't think this feud was worthy of a third PPV, so I obviously do not think this feud is worthy of this match type. It is like how Hell in a Cell has been overused in the last decade. It is no longer as special. But the WWE is obviously relying on tricks like this to get a ratings boost and get more subscribers. If they improved the quality of their product, they would have a better time drawing people in and would not have to rely on hype and cheap tricks for momentary boosts.

Previewing The Money In The Bank 2017 Undercard Matches

This Smackdown PPV has a pretty thin card. You can't blame that on injuries. Injuries put Raw on the spot a couple weeks ago, but that is not the issue for Smackdown right now. It is all because of the Money in the Bank ladder match taking so many individuals. I will talk about that on Friday. But this is a sign that there is still a depth issue. And that depth issue becomes more troublesome when they still insist on doing these matches that pull away so many singles feuds. Maybe this should have been a multi-brand PPV.

The Usos defend the tag titles against New Day. New Day have an act that actually got popular. I think the WWE got carried away by having them hold the tag titles as long as they did last year. I also have seen some people question whether New Day have just gotten stale. They will break up sooner or later. And you might question if splitting them up might be a good thing. It will provide more midcard depth. But that might not be happening anytime soon.

Will New Day win the tag titles? There aren't many credible, fresh tag teams that look like they deserve to take the titles of The Usos. It might as well be the New Day that take the tag titles. After that, Jinder Mahal's lackeys might get some title shots. Helping them look more credible might help Jinder Mahal even more.

Speaking of Jinder Mahal, he defends the WWE Championship against Randy Orton. I pointed out a while back that the main-event titles have been changing hands too much this year. Kevin Owens retaining against Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble is the only instance of a main-event title being retained so far in 2017. It is about time the WWE develop a good reign that includes successful PPV title defenses.

That being said, Jinder Mahal retains here. You can talk about the possibility of the WWE trying to hand Randy Orton enough title reigns so he gets to 16 and makes it some kind of race between him and John Cena to see who beats Ric Flair's record first. That might be interesting, but I doubt the WWE does it. Just let Mahal retain and build a fresh feud going forward.

Jinder Mahal Wins WWE Championship

Well, I did say Jinder Mahal had a better chance winning the WWE Championship than Dolph Ziggler had beating Nakamura. And Mahal did win it. Honestly, I did not think it was likely. Then again, the WWE has done some crazy booking recently. This is the most out-of-nowhere WWE Championship win since Sheamus beating Cena for the his first title run.

Jinder Mahal is a guy I have made fun of for years. I see a mixed reaction from fans on the Internet. Some love it. Some are wondering how many viewers Smackdown will lose. Some are wondering how Jinder Mahal has not failed a wellness test. For those that love it, outside of those of Indian descent, I would say it is more the shock value and someone like Mahal winning it than fans really loving this guy. I am not saying no one likes him. I am just saying a lot of it are bandwagoners.

For those that did want him to win the title, I have paid attention to what they said. Again, I am talking outside of Indian fans. The other fans are pointing out how hard Jinder Mahal has worked, his physique, and the fact that he gets a reaction. As far as hard work goes, you mean to tell me someone like Cesaro or Sami Zayn does not work hard? As for his new look, what happened to smarks hating Vince McMahon loving muscular men? And as far as his overness goes, I remember when he got no reaction at all during his first run. I remember fans laughing about it. I wouldn't make too much of that overness. If the WWE did not push him as well as they have, he would not be getting it. If they pushed him as poorly as they did in his first run, he would not be over. If they pushed him as poorly as they did during his first few months back, he would not be over. If they pushed him as poorly as they push Mickie James, he would not be over. I think you can get the idea. This guy is a product of his push. I am not impressed by Jinder Mahal.

Even with the work the WWE put into this guy, he is still someone that was just a jobber two months ago.  You can't push someone like crap for a long period of time and just plug them in and expect them to be great. Mahal did get some heavy, rushed build, but I would say it is not enough. If it really was so easy to do this kind of thing, the WWE would have no issues. Fans would always buy into whatever the WWE was doing. The WWE would be as hot as they were in the Attitude Era. The same proportion of the overall audience back then that was interested in the WWE would still be here. Because there are more people in the world today than back then, that means the WWE would have even more fans today. And ratings would be a lot better than they are. No DVR or Hulu excuses. This is must-see TV and the fans would be tuning in to see Raw and Smackdown live. But that's not happening. And that is because the WWE is not as hot as they were and are making terrible mistakes these days. I would say putting the WWE Championship on a jobber falls in that category.

Previewing The Backlash 2017 Main Events

I never thought I would live to see the day that Jinder Mahal was getting a WWE Championship match. It is happening at Backlash this Sunday. He will face Randy Orton.

Is there any good reason for Jinder Mahal to win the title? People can talk about appealing to the Indian market and this being a response to TNA going to India, or whatever along those lines. If the WWE really cared that much, it would not have taken depth problems a decade ago for The Great Khali to get a title reign. The WWE has done some terrible things with title reigns recently, so it is not out of the question that Jinder Mahal gets a title win.

I will say Randy Orton retains the title. Randy Orton has not done anything since winning the title at Wrestlemania. He lost to Bray Wyatt in a non-title match. He now finds himself in this feud with Mahal. Yes, John Cena beat AJ Styles for the title a few months ago, then did nothing with it, except lose it to Bray Wyatt. But there is no good reason to do that here for the sake of Jinder Mahal. I would have given the title back to Bray Wyatt. I have mentioned it before. But if they have kept it on Orton this long, there is still more they can do with him. They can soon turn him heel and have him defend against face AJ Styles or Shinsuke Nakamura.

Speaking of Nakamura, he faces Dolph Ziggler. You would normally not consider this match worthy of being the main event of a PPV, but the WWE does whacky things in the WWE Network Era. A non-title match between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton headlined a PPV last year over a WWE Championship match. Women have main-evented a PPV last year, as well. The WWE might feel this match is more worthy to close the show than the match involving Jinder Mahal.

The WWE has hyped up Nakamura's debut and built up to this match. Aside from house shows and dark matches, he has not had an official match on Smackdown. This is it. I have seen some fans talk like the WWE is testing how much of a draw this guy is by having his debut happen at Backlash. I would not expect too much, but the WWE will likely treat this well and smarks that tend to dominate PPV audiences will likely be very loud for Nakamura.

Is there any reason at all for Dolph Ziggler to win this match? I would say Jinder Mahal has a better chance winning the WWE Championship. Everyone knows Dolph Ziggler is just a stepping stone in this feud. The WWE has done some dumb booking recently, usually to prolong feuds, but there is no reason to prolong this feud. Some fans were unhappy when AJ Styles took his first loss in a singles match just a few weeks after debuting. He still got some wins before that loss to Jericho. I can't say how long Nakamura will be undefeated on the main roster, but there is no reason to start him off with a loss.

The Development Of Jinder Mahal

The most surprising push of 2017 has to be Jinder Mahal going after the WWE Championship on Smackdown. This time last year, Mahal wasn't even in the company. He was released by the company. He was never a popular worker. The WWE never pushed him to be a star. He never even seemed like a great worker that had potential to become popular or deserved to be pushed as a star. The WWE bringing him back was surprising enough, but he now finds himself in a big feud with Randy Orton.

What has the WWE done to develop him? Because they needed to develop him. He lacks a ton of credibility and needs work for a lot of fans to buy into him. The WWE couldn't just dump a title shot in his lap. Thankfully, the WWE hasn't gotten lazy here and is putting some work in for the sake of this feud. They had him take the WWE Championship belt. They had him get some sidekicks. They had him screw Randy Orton in his match with Bray Wyatt. This week on Smackdown, Mahal even pinned Orton in a tag match. Yeah, I think they have done a lot for him in this push.

Let me just go back to Orton vs. Wyatt. I can agree with Wyatt winning, but I dislike Mahal getting involved there. I know they are feuding, but the WWE could have just given it a rest for one night to give Orton vs. Wyatt a finish just between them. After everything that happened in this feud, it just seemed like it got a weak finish. Was all that they did during that feud really even worth it? Am I saying Bray Wyatt should have gotten a clean win against Randy Orton? Yes. If Cena can give clean wins these days to some heels, why can't Orton lose cleanly to Bray Wyatt to help put him over? The title wasn't on the line. Just put Wyatt over as a guy that kind successfully be a supernatural monster, following in the line of The Undertaker. The WWE failed to do that.

Jinder Will Not Be Hindered

I have made fun of Jinder Mahal many times over the years. What else was there to do with him? He then eventually got released when the WWE was cutting costs a couple years ago. Recently, when they were busy rehiring people to add depth due to the new brand split, Jinder Mahal was one of the people they brought back. And this decision was a head-scratcher for a lot of people. Of all the people to bring back, this lower-midcarder that never really stood out at all? And for a long while, it looked like Jinder had picked up right where he left off. He was still a lower-midcarder. He was a jobber.

And then he got sent to Smackdown. And next thing you know, he is now the #1 contender for the WWE Championship. Huh? Where did this come from? Out of nowhere, just like Randy Orton's finisher move.

Let me go back a step. It was Jinder Mahal vs. Sami Zayn vs. Luke Harper vs. Erick Rowan vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Mojo Rawley for the chance to eventually go after the top title on Smackdown. Looking at the names, this was a pretty pathetic field. The biggest name is Dolph Ziggler, but he has been pushed so terribly in the last few months, he fits right in with the rest of these guys. This is a match you would expect for a midcard title. This is not something you would expect to find a challenger for a main-event title. Yes, most of the brand's top guys are doing something else. Obviously, you can see I was not wrong when I said Raw won the trades last week just in terms of the names it gained from Smackdown and what Smackdown got from Raw.

Even then, just about all five of the other guys in this match were more deserving than Jinder Mahal. Mojo Rawley won the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal a few weeks ago. Dolph Ziggler still has the credibility of being a former World Champion, as well as a ton of other titles. Both Luke Harper and Erick Rowan have been involved in the feud between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton. There might have been storyline value in letting one of them win. And then there is Sami Zayn. There is freshness to him. Many fans have been hoping he would go to Smackdown for months now. They felt that was the better brand for him. They felt he would get what he deserved there. What happens? In his first opportunity to get a big push rolling, it goes to Jinder Mahal, not him. I think it would have been great if they let him get this push.

Back to Jinder Mahal. The only thing he has going for him is his physique. Some might argue Vince McMahon fell in love with it and wanted him to get pushed. Regardless of the WWE's reason to want to push Jinder Mahal, it should have been in the midcard. Obviously, he would not be chasing a midcard title at the moment, but develop a solid midcard feud for him away from the a title. If he did well with that, then promote him to a title push.

I would say the WWE doing this kind of thing is one of the reasons a lot of good to great performers are not as over as they could be. Instead of the WWE consistently and properly developing them, they kill their pushes for the sake of other things. That is why I am not a fan of James Ellsworth being hired and the push he got for a couple months. I would also say the development of American Alpha got ruined by the WWE getting distracted by other things. Simply tossing them the tag titles was not enough to undo the mediocrity that has hurt them. Instead of putting consistent work into certain things, the WWE just flips around with too many things.

And where are the WWE's standards? I have raised this issue before. I talked about it when it comes to the Hall of Fame. I talked about it when it comes to title reigns. With Jinder Mahal, what has this guy done to deserve this push? He's not over. He has not done anything impressive recently. A lot of fans criticized him for his recent match with Finn Balor. Instead of discussing whether he should be punished, we are discussing him getting a big push. If Jinder is not happy with being pushed as a lower-midcarder, he should step up and do more to get over. It is not enough to get Vince McMahon to drool for you. Get the fans to want you to get that better push. It was obvious that the WWE would have to push guys they would normally not want to push with the brand split back, but Jinder Mahal was just not someone I had in mind, especially when there were other guys available that might have been better options.

How far will this push go? I am not even talking about winning the title title or not right now. I am just talking about whether the WWE is serious about this. I can see it being a joke, like when Ellsworth got a title shot. Randy Orton will just knock Mahal and move on in an instant. Or it could just be a one-PPV thing at the most. I do not see this being something that lasts long. It shouldn't be. It would be unfair to other guys.

The Highs And Lows Of The Tag Division

With the finals in the tournament to find new #1 contenders for the tag titles postponed, that gives me extra time to talk about who I think should win. Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara vs. Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow. Since the current Tag Team Champions are being booked as faces at the moment, it would make sense for the heel team to face them. That would be Rhodes and Sandow.

How about a triple threat? Have both teams challenge Kane and Daniel Bryan. Can you really imagine Rey Mysterio being left off the card? Assume that his illness is not a factor at all. The WWE would definitely like to use him. At the same time, having just Mysterio and Sin Cara face Kane and Daniel Bryan may be awkward. Both teams would be faces. Besides, Rhodes Scholars would have their momentum killed if they just lose like that. What happens after? Do they still stay a team? Interfere in the tag title match? Even if Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio don't win the tournament, I can have an easier time believing they will still team together through the fact that they have this angle where Rey is Sin Cara's mentor. There are a lot of possibilities there. Even if Sin Cara goes back to getting solo feuds, they can still have Mysterio get involved very easily. Getting back to the topic, I still feel both teams should get the title shot. Both have momentum and are made up of guys the WWE cares about pushing. It would be tough to pick one over the other, potentially leaving the other out in the cold. If I had to choose just one team to win this, let it be the heels. Not only would it make sense, but the face team can still survive.

The tag division focus has mainly been on upper-midcarders and midcarders currently. However, there are some lower-midcarders who have been getting more time because of recent events in the tag division. That is always a good thing.

Zack Ryder got over on his own a year ago. Trying to get him a legitimate push must have been like getting a tooth yanked out of your mouth for the WWE. They obviously did not want to do it. When they finally gave him a midcard title, the reign was crap. Beyond that, they used Ryder to put over Cena's character. Once he did that, they phased him back down. Now, he is teaming with Santino Marella. It may not be too much, but at least I see him getting featured more. They have a gimmick going. It is better than being completely lost in the shuffle.

Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre, and Jinder Mahal. Jinder Mahal? Really? I never thought I would live to see the day. Before this boy band was created, none of these guys were being pushed too well. Heath Slater had an angle going where he was jobbing to legends for months, then continued to be used as a jobber after that. Jinder Mahal was last relevant when the WWE used him to put over Ryback in a minor feud. Drew McIntyre has been even less relevant than that. Combined and given this gimmick, these three are actually being used well. I know what you are thinking, these guys have a stable going, not a real tag team. True, but is it hard to imagine that they will be involved in tag matters? I consider them a part of the recent interest being put in the tag division. Good for them. Yes, even Jinder Mahal.

Ryback and Mahal

How can anyone pass by an opportunity to talk about Jinder Mahal? Honestly, I want to talk about this feud between Ryback and Jinder Mahal just to note that it is a feud where one person is obviously being developed to put over another. Not only is this not a feud between equals, but one guy is definitely getting shot back down when it is over. I haven't had a good example of that to talk about in a while. Jericho was being used to help put over Ziggler, but Jericho is a star and Ziggler is a rising star. Triple H put over Lesnar, but I have already pointed out that both these guys are big.

What about Ryback and Jinder Mahal? Ryback has been on a huge role since he came in a few months ago. He was squashing multiple individuals at a time. This feud with Mahal is his first real feud. It's not the kind of feud that leads to a big PPV showdown, but it is good for the midcard on the regular shows. Jinder Mahal, on the other hand, hasn't really been too relevant in a while. When the WWE first showed focus in prolonging the issues between these two, you could tell who was most likely being developed to put over who. The feud will most likely end on Smackdown this week. After that, Ryback continues to work up the ladder. Mahal gets shot back down the ladder.

I still don't care about Ryback that much. However, he is connecting well with the fans, so who really cares what I think? And if the WWE is willing to make the midcard more interesting through developing feuds with him, even better. Both midcard titles are currently on two heels. That means that this is the perfect environment to put them on midcard faces to develop those faces more. Main-event faces, like Rey Mysterio and Christian, don't need to win the U.S. or Intercontinental titles right now. I don't know how many more heels they want to feed to Ryback to get him built further, but a title reign would be nice.

Brodus Dances His Way Back Into Our Hearts

After weeks of not being on Raw, Brodus Clay made his return. Reports were that Vince McMahon was not happy with his work in the ring. If that is the case, not too much really changed last night. Brodus Clay squashed Jinder Mahal. It could just be the obvious. The guy was not a priority during the weeks needed to build Wrestlemania feuds. They did not have a plan for him and were running low on jobbers. Keep in mind, if the WWE had devoted legitimate time to Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes on Raw in some fashion, you probably wouldn't have had Brodus Clay squashing Jinder at all.

Finally! A chance to talk about Jinder Mahal! Well, his pre-match ritual was more interesting than anything he did during the match. And with that, I've run out of things to say about Jinder Mahal.

Back to Brodus. Last time I remember talking about the guy, I was saying that the WWE needed to develop him or he will run stale or get lost in the shuffle. He definitely was lost for a while. And he hasn't really developed anything new or fresh this time. I think his dancers came out with new outfits, but does that count? He won with a splash, instead of the crossbody. But as far as the gimmick and developing him goes, he didn't get that this week. He might be a part of the tag match between Team Long and Team Laurinaitis, but there was definitely better potential than that in the weeks they wasted him. Oh well, settle for what you get. I wonder if he can make it jiggle to "Mr. Saxobeat."

DiBiase And Mahal Went Nowhere

Just want to go back to a loose end from a few weeks ago. I talked about the potential the feud developing on Smackdown between Ted DiBiase Jr. and Jinder Mahal had. I didn't have much confidence that the WWE would handle it well. Now that it looks like both men have moved on, how did the WWE deliver?

I feel drained just trying to think about it. Depressingly drained. It started out well, but that is what made me first talk about it. Since then, it seems that all that has happened is that both men traded momentum, then went on to nothing too interesting in particular. Neither looked too strong or interesting in comparison to the other, in the end. DiBiase has nothing to do right now. You can say that Mahal has a little more focus, but he is still just a jobber. Only a matter of time before he gets squashed by Brodus Clay. The feud didn't really do too much for either man's credibility or overness either.

Failing to deliver in developing the talent can be overlooked, if the feud or storyline that was going on at least entertained or interested the fans. Did Jinder and DiBiase deliver? Did anyone even think they would? They didn't. The feud ends up being a waste of time. Just filler.

When I first talked about this, I thought the WWE would develop this to benefit DiBiase. I gave them too much credit. This thing didn't really benefit anybody. Jinder may have went on to win a few matches, but he is currently a midcard heel jobber on Smackdown. Is India going crazy for him? How about Canada? DiBiase isn't out of the scene entirely, but it's like his feud with Jinder meant nothing.

Ted DiBiase And Jinder Mahal

Ted DiBiase turned face just a few months ago. He entered a minor feud with Cody Rhodes over the Intercontinental Championship. I think that feud could have gone on a lot longer, but can't change things now. DiBiase has not really done much since that feud.

Jinder Mahal debuted in an angle with The Great Khali. They had an interesting storyline going on between the two for a while. After Khali left a few weeks ago, Mahal has found himself lost in the shuffle.

Bring the two together. Jinder Mahal and Ted DiBiase seem to be entering a feud. It can definitely help DiBiase become very over to go against an annoying heel foreigner. It helps that Mahal has that elitist attitude in this storyline. Will the feud be good for Mahal? There are two ways this can go. They can be just building Mahal up to put over DiBiase. That would make this feud similar to Chavo Guerrero's feud with Sin Cara. I doubt Mahal will get upset about being used to only put over other people and not being really appreciated. Chavo was a veteran and obviously had a lot more fans wanting better for him. Mahal is still new to the WWE. I can picture some backstage issues being reported on dirtsheets if he does get upset about this. Considering the WWE is still low on stars on their roster, they may still continue to push Mahal in some way, even after he puts over DiBiase. They could be building up DiBiase to put over Mahal, but I doubt that. DiBiase seems like the kind of guy they would want to make into a success in this feud.

Using one person to put over the other is one way the feud can go. If the WWE really wanted to, they can develop the actual storyline further. Both of these guys are similar. Both have a history of master-servant angles. Remember when DiBiase was looking for a "Virgil"? Remember when the WWE was selling the idea that The Great Khali was being forced to do Mahal's bidding? They can easily build this feud up to have the winner in one of their matches be the other guy's servant. Should Mahal win, you can easily imagine DiBiase's life being made into a personal hell. Should Dibiase win, and since he is a face, you can have him trying to take it easy on Mahal and get him to be more like a face. Mahal does not have to turn, but it can make for some good segments. It would be similar to a feud Paul Burchill and William Regal had years ago. I really believe that you can have a lot of directions this can go, and it can definitely make the Smackdown midcard more interesting.

I wouldn't be surprised if the WWE is building a mediocre feud to put over DiBiase. If that is what they are doing, I hope it does not drag on too long. If you are going to make it interesting and allow both guys to let their characters shine and develop, let it go for a while. If not, just have it last a month.