In the Ring with Jordan #8: Jinder Mahal VS Brock Lesnar accomplishes nothing in the long run

Last night on SmackDown Live, Jinder Mahal laid down a challenge for the Survivor Series pay-per-view. His challenge was to none other than Raw's Universal Champion Brock Lesnar. While this seems like an interesting match on paper, I assure you it's not going to accomplish anything in the long run.

Jinder has been working with an injured shoulder for a while and may require surgery for it down the line. WWE has stretched all that they can do with Jinder's reign. Although I agree that Jinder has vastly improved while holding the WWE Championship, it hasn't exactly been a "stellar" reign. I'm one of those people who will advocate for the TOP prize to be defended in the main event of a pay-per-view.

Jinder Mahal didn't accomplish that. His feud with Shinsuke Nakamura was pushed to the side for the main focus of Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon, and the matches suffered from it. Fans stopped caring and had no reaction whatsoever. This happened at Money in the Bank, SummerSlam, and Hell in a Cell.

This upsetting booking makes fans wonder if the WWE Championship was as prestigious as it was back when Triple H or John Cena held it. Jinder not defending his title at a big four pay-per-view (Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and WrestleMania) is going to continue this pitiful booking. Not only that, but his opponent is Brock Lesnar.

For those of you who might not know, Brock Lesnar typically likes to finish matches relatively quickly. I wouldn't exactly call him a workhorse like AJ Styles or Kevin Owens. Another big issue with Brock is that he's not willing to collaborate. Dean Ambrose voiced his frustrations with that during their WrestleMania 32 match. Ambrose had all the spots set up for the match and Lesnar simply shrugged them off. Their match suffered due to it.

Brock is going to ruin all momentum that Jinder once had. And why? I wouldn't exactly call Brock Lesnar a "representative" from Raw, considering the fact that he doesn't even appear on a weekly basis. Besides, isn't Brock Lesnar technically heel? I mean, Brock Lesnar does whatever the hell he wants, but don't his mannerisms seem very heel-like?

It just doesn't make sense to me and it's going to be a train wreck of a main event. I already know Jinder and Brock aren't going to have good chemistry in the ring. Mahal will seem lost fighting against Brock's offense. Lesnar is going to put Mahal away in quick fashion and disappear for a couple of months. So what? What is that going to accomplish? Why should fans be invested into this?

Survivor Series is notorious for having great main events. The infamous "Montreal Screwjob" happened at Survivor Series. The Shield's debut happened at Survivor Series. Sting debuted at Survivor Series. Is Brock Lesnar versus Jinder Mahal something that will be memorable? Before you contemplate answering that question, I'll answer it for you--no. It's not going to accomplish anything.

If it is brand supremacy that this "story" (I use that term loosely) is going to revolve around, why not have Braun Strowman face Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship? If Braun wins, he comes to SmackDown. They could easily have gone that route. Someone like AJ Styles can challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. Brand supremacy is key here.

If that route isn't the right one for the company, then they could have gone with an obvious choice of AJ Styles challenging Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship and Braun Strowman getting a rematch against Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship.

But Brock VS Jinder? Sounds like a bathroom break to me. It will take a lot for me to get invested in this feud, and I'm hoping that the match is half decent. Will it be? Probably not, but hey, I'm not going to jinx anything.