Jinder Mahal is the unlikely talent scout we didn't know we needed

The Modern Day Maharaja speaks on the future

Stop scrolling for a second. Yes, Jinder Mahal. The same guy who spent the better part of a decade being the world's most frustratingly booked champion is out here dropping scouting reports. When Jinder talks about someone having the elusive 'it factor' in NXT, you actually have to listen. This isn't some corporate suit in Stamford reading a spreadsheet of merchandise sales or social media engagement metrics.

This is a guy who has been at the absolute bottom of the card holding a literal trash bag of gear, and at the absolute top of the card holding the WWE Championship. Jinder knows what happens when the rocket is strapped to your back and you aren't ready, and he knows what happens when you have every gift in the world but the crowd just refuses to care. He has been in the trenches of WWE SmackDown bookings and lived to tell the tale.

The criteria for the 'It Factor'

People love to throw around the 'it factor' term like it’s a participation trophy. Everyone from a high-flying cruiserweight doing 450 splashes to a powerhouse hitting a stiff spinebuster thinks they are the next face of the company. Jinder cuts through that noise. He’s looking for the intangibles that make a crowd stop checking their phones when a theme song hits.

He understands that being a great wrestler is only about 30 percent of the battle. You can hit a standing shooting star press on a trampoline and still be as charismatic as a bowl of lukewarm porridge. If you can’t make an arena of 15,000 people believe you’re either the best guy in the room or the one who needs his teeth kicked in, you’re just doing choreography. It’s the difference between a mid-card match at a house show and main eventing at Saturday Night's Main Event.

The reality check

Let’s be honest: not every prospect Jinder hypes is going to hit the ceiling. We have all seen the 'can’t miss' NXT prospects who arrive on the main roster, lose their momentum, and find themselves jobbing out in three-minute dark matches. It is a tale as old as the brand split itself. The transition from the Full Sail comfort zone to the bright lights of a televised arena is where dreams go to die.

Maybe Jinder is wrong. Maybe he is just playing the veteran mentor role, throwing praise at the wall to see what sticks. After all, Jinder himself was the beneficiary of some of the most bizarre booking in modern history when he held the title for 170 days in 2017. He knows better than anyone that having 'it' is useless if the office doesn't have a plan for you.

Why this matters for the product

We are currently obsessed with who is going to take the torch from the guys like Randy Orton or AJ Styles. We watch NXT every Tuesday hoping to find the guy who can carry a show. When a veteran like Mahal singles someone out, it forces us to look past the work rate and look at the presence.

It is a refreshing pivot from the usual IWC discourse. We spend so many hours arguing about who won a match or who got buried. For once, we should focus on the fundamentals of star power. If a guy who survived the 3MB era and a world title run says someone is ready, I am willing to sit back and watch them work. Just don’t be surprised when the reality of the main roster hits like a stiff clothesline in the corner.

If you want to see how hard it can go wrong, look at the recent flux of talent movement across the brands. It is a meat grinder. The next generation needs to possess more than just a cool moveset to stay relevant for more than a few months. They need to survive the booking room, the crowd reaction, and the inevitable creative pivot that comes with every single draft. Jinder Mahal is betting his credibility on these kids holding up the weight. Let's see if he actually knows a future champion when he sees one.