Jinder Mahal shocked the world by becoming the new WWE champion this past Sunday at Backlash.
He defeated Randy Orton in order to become the 50th WWE championship holder in the history of the company. Also, his win made him the second one from India to hold a World title after The Great Khali in 2007.
Now, Jinder going to the main event status happened four weeks early when he defeated five other competitors to become the number one contender for the WWE championship. Ever since then, there has been a fall in TV ratings for Smackdown Live.
Following Backlash, it might have been worse, as noted by the wrestling journalist, Dave Meltzer. He stated that Mahal’s push barred the WWE from selling out the Smackdown-exclusive event on Sunday. The event took place at the infamous All-State arena in Chicago, Illinois.
Meltzer pointed out that the decline in ratings started with the Superstar Shakeup episode for the blue brand. Following that episode, Mahal became the contender for Orton’s title which witnessed a loss of over 500,000 viewers, approximately.
The go-home show for Backlash hit a record low considering this year. It recorded only 2.175 million viewers around the world which were the lowest in recent memory. Plus, the building was not sold out.
The same happened at the Backlash event, as well. The All-State arena has the capacity of containing 18,000 people in combined. However, the hosts were able to sell out only 10,000 of them leaving a huge void for that night. Chicago’s fans are well known for their love for any sports.
However, the decline certainly indicated their unwillingness to witness Jinder Mahal as the champion.
The eye-witnesses noted that the entire arena was speechless after Jinder was able to pin the champion going in the total contract of their rowdy attitude. Fans have previously complained about his abrupt push on Jinder. He has spent a long time on the roster but instead of a gradual push, he was handed the championship, in no time.
WWE still kept faith in Jinder’s capability, for now. But, if the ratings keep on going downwards, it is high unlikely that they will let him carry the title for a long time. He will defend the title against Orton at the Money in the Bank PPV.