Jinder Mahal had a reign as WWE Champion that was met with often negative reviews from fans and even the equally controversial Vince Russo. He's limited on the mic and despite his muscular build, isn't that gifted as an athletic performer.

Nonetheless, Vince McMahon and the creative team saw something in Mahal and had him hold the WWE Championship for 170 days, until losing to AJ Styles on SmackDown last week.

Well, former WWE and WCW writer Vince Russo doesn't think the future is bright for Mahal in his post-WWE Championship run. Speaking on the latest episode of his The Brand podcast, Russo believes Mahal is going to move down the ranks on the WWE card.

“I don’t understand for the life of me why you would put the belt on somebody for six months, and then take it off of them without really rising their stock, making them the main-eventers that they should have been, and probably now letting them stumble back into the sea of mediocrity.”

Despite what Russo says, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio recently reported that Mahal will eventually regain his championship against Styles heading into WWE's India tour in December. Mahal was being promoted as a two-time WWE Champion for the tour, so it only makes sense for him to win it back. Though plans may have changed as The Modern Day Maharaja may be facing off with Triple H during that tour.

RELATED: TRIPLE H TO FACE JINDER MAHAL IN "BIGGEST MATCH IN INDIA'S HISTORY"

Mahal has no reason to worry about moving down the card. Vince McMahon tried pushing Roman Reigns to be the next face of the WWE for three years. The fans and critics aren't accepting him, but Vince hasn't stopped. So why would he give up on Mahal so quickly?

via skysports.com

With his loss to Styles, however, Mahal is no longer facing Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series. As of now, he isn't on the card for next week's pay-per-view. WWE's tour in India will be on Dec. 8, 2017, and Dec. 9, 2017, and there are no pay-per-views set between Survivor Series and those two dates.

That means if Mahal regains the championship, it'll likely happen on an upcoming episode of SmackDown. So Russo may have to hold the phone on those thoughts about Mahal going back to the mid-card.

RELATED: REASONS WHY JINDER MAHAL LOST HIS WWE CHAMPIONSHIP