Jinder Mahal?
That’s probably what you were thinking when Mahal won a Six-Pack Challenge on Smackdown Live last week to become the No. 1 contender for the WWE championship.
That’s the same Jinder Mahal who lost to Finn Balor in minutes on RAW three weeks ago; and the same Jinder Mahal who was embarrassed again by the New England Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski during Mahal’s Smackdown debut two weeks ago. Oh, and the same Jinder Mahal who was brought back to WWE last summer to seemingly help fill out the roster after the brand extension.
Mahal is expected to face Randy Orton at Blacklash on May 13 for the championship.
“I know how hard I’ve worked and I know what I’m capable of,” Mahal said on Talking Smack. “I will prove to everybody — despite everybody hating you, nobody giving you opportunities and you earning opportunities — you rise to the occasion and become a champion here in WWE. So when I become champion it’s going to be Jinder ‘The New American Dream.'”
Using Dusty Rhodes’ moniker is probably a good way to get booed and putting a strong heel character works against Orton, but take a step back and try to separate the man from the character.
At a time when fans complain that WWE puts the same performers in top positions, Mahal is a departure, even if those same fans are still complaining.
But he also represents using a second chance to improve on a first impression.
Mahal was released with 10 other performers in June 2014 after four years with the company, including almost three years on the main roster. At the time, he said he was surprised because he felt like 3MB – a group with Mahal, Drew McIntyre and Heath Slater – had been filling the role the company had asked them to play.
Mahal began working for independent promotions, making appearances in Canada, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Japan, India and the United States. McIntyre, also released at the time, would travel around the world, becoming world champion for TNA and twice for Insane Championship Wrestling, based in the United Kingdom.
Jinder Mahal (Photo: WWE.com)
Mahal, 30, returned last summer, having to “beat” Slater in a match to earn a contract with Monday Night RAW. McIntyre, 31, a former Intercontinental champion in WWE, recently began appearing in NXT and seems poised to make a big impact.
“I don’t know (Jinder) was as fully ready for the experience (on the main roster) as I would have liked him to be,” Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE’s executive vice president of talent, live events and creative, told For The Win. “Drew and Jinder are in some ways similar — two guys who were very young and very green, but I liked them a lot when they were here.
“Jinder is a guy who has always worked extremely hard. He trains hard; he’s very intense about what he wants with his career; he’s very thoughtful. That’s the same with Drew. That opportunity came for them when you’re too young and not ready for it and a little immature to it. (When they left), I had a conversation where I told them, ‘We’re not going to be able to do more with you here. Go other places, learn more in your career, mature and think about the business in a different way.’ Sometimes you get reliant on other people telling you what to do instead of going out there and figuring it for yourself, which is what you have to do.
“To Jinder’s credit and to Drew’s credit, they left, they went and figured it for themselves, they improved. They’re both men now as opposed to kids trying to make it in the business. They see their careers differently and what they want and are still extremely hard workers and great people. Now hopefully they are in a better position to succeed.”
Mahal has completely reinvented his body to the point where he has veins popping out everywhere and improved physical conditioning has led to better work. He also has said he gave up alcohol last June to help change his body for his WWE return. And yes, he knows what you’re thinking.
“I’ve been tested multiple times since coming back, and have never once in over 6 years with WWE had any issues,” Mahal wrote on Instagram, noting that he will get a hundred steroid or wellness comments on his photos. “Follow my IG stories or my SnapChat and you can see that no one is out-training me, and no one is out-dieting me.”
In his return to WWE, Mahal has done enough to convince officials to give him a larger role. Whether it lasts will be seen in the weeks leading up to Backlash and how he performs against Orton.
“From the second he’s been back it’s been, ‘What else can I do to make this work? What else can I do to improve? What else can I do to get to the next level?’” Levesque said. “It takes time. You bring people back, you let them get their feet wet a bit, you make sure they’ve matured in the way you want them to and move from there. I think fans or people who watch we do, they think it’s a matter of, ‘This guy is there so why don’t they do something with him?’ It’s a more complex process than that and a lot goes into it.
“But I’m happy for a guy like him — whether it was because of him or whatever reason it didn’t work out on the first pass through — to be able to come back and do it again.”
Spoiler alert
Among the challenges for promotions such as Ring of Honor and Impact Wrestling that don’t have live television or tape shows weekly is that the results of the matches are available online even as the tapings happen. No one will see the finished product for weeks, but fans know who won the matches, the title changes, the debuts.
What does Ring of Honor chief operating officer Joe Koff think of online spoilers?
“I think it’s kind of changed the way we do our business, although I’ve never been fearful of it,” he said. “I’ve been a wrestling fan my whole life, and even though I know what the story is, I still like watching the story. I mean it’s no different than anyone who’s seen Star Wars 72 times and nothing’s going to change in the 72nd airing, but you might see something you missed, and you still enjoy it, and that’s what wrestling is. It’s a story that’s to be watched and watched and watched. …
“The fan that says – ‘Oh, I already know the result; I don’t need to watch it,’ then they’re not really a fan. The fans want to see how it happens; they want to see that picture evolve; they want to see how that photograph developed. You can’t get that out of the Internet, because you’re seeing it through someone else’s eyes.”
The cost of live shows or weekly or biweekly tapings is prohibitive so it’s understandable, but occasionally that leads to unique situations. Matt Sydal, formerly WWE’s Evan Bourne, was shown on Ring of Honor’s syndicated show over the weekend in an appearance taped April 8 in Baltimore. Sydal will face “The Villain” Marty Scurll for the ROH world TV title on the War of the Worlds pay-per-view on May 12. Ring of Honor’s next TV taping is May 14 in Philadelphia.
Meanwhile, late last week, Sydal returned to Impact for its TV tapings in Orlando. It is possible that Sydal could appear on television for both companies simultaneously.
Mick Foley hip replacement
WWE Hall of Fame Mick Foley had right hip replacement surgery last week.
He provided an update on Facebook:
Chyna doc trailer released
The trailer for “Wrestling with Chyna,” a documentary focusing on former WWE performer Joanie “Chyna” Laurer was released this week. The film is scheduled to be released in the fall. Laurer, who died last year at age 45, was interviewed along with former boyfriend Sean “X-Pac” Waltman, Hall of Famer Mick Foley and members of her family.
At one point in the trailer, she says, “I went from a billion dollar commodity to the street.”
Around the ring
- It appears that WWE will take a fourth shot with Primo and Epico – the son and nephew, respectively, of Puerto Rican legend Carlos Colon. The team debuted as Primo and Epico in 2011, worked under masks as Los Matadores from 2013 to 2015, and then as The Shining Stars in 2016 and earlier this year. Thanks to the Superstar Shakeup, they have moved to Smackdown Live, have changed their look a bit and are now known as The Colons. The team beat American Alpha last week.
- Ken Anderson – formerly Mr. Anderson in TNA and Mr. Kennedy in WWE – will make his Ring of Honor debut April 29 in at Masters of the Craft in Hopkins, Minn., as he challenges world television champion “The Villain” Marty Scurll. Anderson lives in Minnesota.
- Ring of Honor continues to announce New Japan Pro Wrestling stars for the War of the World Tour that begins May 7 in Toronto and includes a May 12 pay-per-view in New York City. Seven-time IWGP Heavyweight champion Hiroshi Tanahashi, current IWGP Intercontinental champion Tetsuya Naito, former IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion Kushida, NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto, Sanado, Bushi and Gedo are scheduled to appear. The main event for the May 7 show will feature Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks against Hiroshi Tanahashi, ROH champion Chris Daniels and Kazarian.
- MGM Television, led by Mark Burnett, has announced a strategic partnership to develop new content for WOW Women of Wrestling, which is owned by Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeannie Buss. MGM also has partnerships withLucha Underground and the Drone Racing League.
- Thea Trinidad, who worked in TNA as Rosita, appeared at ringside for a match between Kassius Ohno and Andrade “Cien” Almas at NXT tapings this week. Trinidad, who is engaged to Austin Aries, will play A.J. Lee in the upcoming movie about Paige from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s production company.
- Scott Steiner returned to Impact Wrestling during its TV tapings Sunday to set up a match at Slammiversary in July between Steiner and Josh Matthews against Jeremy Borash and Joseph Parks (Abyss).
