Jinder Mahal
Jinder Mahal is the new WWE Champion, defeating Randy Orton at Sunday’s Backlash pay-per-view event.

SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — Never say never, especially when it comes to professional wrestling.

World Wrestling Entertainment was flipped upside down on Sunday night at this month’s pay-per-view event, Backlash. Hundreds of thousands from the WWE Universe (the community in which fans of the sport gather) tuned in to watch Backlash, and were treated to the most unexpected ending: Jinder Mahal beat Randy Orton, nicknamed “The Viper,” to become the newest WWE Champion.

For those of you who don’t frequently tune into professional wrestling, it’s a sentence no WWE fan ever thought would come out of their mouths.

To become the No. 1 contender for the WWE title, Mahal had previously won a six-man match earlier this month. That was a shock in itself. Why, you ask? Mahal made his WWE debut to great fanfare in 2011, after a year of doing very little, he was attached to a three-man stable of wrestlers comedically named the “3 Man Band.”

The 3 Man Band were a trio of wrestlers who couldn’t play instruments or sing (but insisted they were great musicians) and were beaten on TV each week.

In essence, Mahal’s primary usage was as a tool to promote the success of the wrestlers around him. He was ultimately dismissed by the WWE in 2014, re-hired in 2016, and until this month, you could have counted the amount of matches he won on one hand.

With no foreshadowing, he became the No. 1 contender for the company’s top prize and most prestigious title. Since then, he’s found devious ways to beat everyone he’s encountered. In a manner of speaking, when Mahal won the title on Sunday, people freaked out.

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What’s this all about? India.

The world’s largest tech companies — Apple, Google and Facebook — have all been making aggressive pushes to expand their operations in India’s internet economy, a nation which is soon expected to have more than 450 million daily internet users, and a figure that is only slated to increase.

Vince McMahon is doing what Vince McMahon does best: promoting his brand.

Superstars such as Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock and now John Cena have fans on every corner of the globe, and their acumens have transcended generations. This is because of the promotional work of Vince McMahon.

India remains fertile ground for McMahon’s self-grown WWE Network, which already has a subscriber base fast-approaching two million. The South Asian nation serves as the company’s third-largest TV audience, this in addition to being the largest contributor of WWE’s social media on the globe. All of this remains while India also represent only a fraction of the company’s merchandise revenue, as well as revenues from its network.

After being treated as a nobody by the company for much of his career, Mahal could now serve as the WWE’s cash cow.