Not sure if you’ve noticed or not, but Jinder Mahal is having what you’d call a moment. Even though he’s a former world champ, he’s arguably never been quite as much at the center of pro wrestling discourse as he is right now. And with a big title shot coming up tonight on WWE Raw from Little Rock, Arkansas, that shouldn’t change.
Where is WWE ultimately going with Jinder Mahal?
Let’s get this out of the way up front: No one expects that Mahal will upset Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship tonight on Raw. That’s nothing against Jinder at all, just a reflection of where the world title situation is with just a few months to go until WrestleMania 40. Rollins seems destined for a match so big that it might be one night’s main event.
But there’s no question that all the attention Mahal has garnered of late, regardless of where it started, means WWE is suddenly playing with found money with him. It’s going to be really fun watching what might happen to him, especially if he shows out during his time in the spotlight on Raw.
Is this the night The Judgment Day finally runs out of patience with R-Truth?
Speaking of found money, R-Truth has added delightful new dimensions to The Judgment Day’s story arc on Raw. He’s just a wonderful performer who commits to his persona so completely.
Alas, The Judgment Day are supposed to be badass heels, and they can’t let Truth keep making them look silly forever. In fact, it kind of feels like maybe Damian Priest is jeopardizing his spot on the team by letting Truth go for this long. But regardless, Truth will team with The Miz to face Priest and Finn Balor in Little Rock, and … it just feels like it might be a bad night for Truth.
How will Gunther feel about what’s transpired during his time away?
The Ring General missed a few weeks of Raw for one of the best possible reasons: He just became a father. His return will see him back on his more familiar patriarchal role as the leader of Imperium, but he might not love everything that’s happened while he was away.
In fact, with Giovanni Vinci on the shelf for a while with injuries, who knows if there even is much of an Imperium right now? Gunther might instead be busy with a new challenger for his Intercontinental Championship, whoever that turns out to be.
Also on the schedule for Raw tonight:
- Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh take on #DIY
We’ll be back to work tonight at 8 p.m. ET to recap this show and anything that happens, so join us back here at Wrestling Junkie if you need somewhere to follow along.