After being largely left off of television for months after returning to the main roster following a decent run as Indus Sheer’s manager in NXT, Jinder Mahal shocked the world when he walked through the curtains on RAW Day 1 and addressed a crowd hoping to see The Rock in their city.
Now granted, The Rock did eventually show up and even hit the former WWE Champion with a Rock Bottom for good measure, but in the end, Mahal still ended up with a ton of screen time and was ultimately able to parlay that into a World Heavyweight Championship match against Seth Rollins on the Red Brand too; a bout more famous for injuring Seth Rollins and Tony Khan’s social media promotion than anything the “Modern Day Maharaja” did in the ring.
Discussing how his program with The Rock came together in an appearance on Insight with Chris Vam Vliet, Mahal revealed when he learned about the call and how quickly he was handed a true dream booking.
“I got a text from creative, ‘Hey, you guys have nothing this week. And then actually, travel text says, ‘Hey, you guys are not flying out.’ I’m in a group chat with Indus Sher and our travel department. And 20 minutes later, I get a separate text saying, ‘Actually, you are going.’ I thought it was a little weird that it was just me and not Indus Sher. But I don’t think anything of it,” Jinder Mahal explained via WrestleZone.
“And then, like, a few hours later, I saw the announcement on Twitter, former WWE Champion returns. I knew it wasn’t going to be me but I figured I’m going to be a part of it. I texted Indus Sher, ‘Hey, are you guys going to RAW?’ They said no, [so] it’s just me going. So I’m like, okay, good chance I think it’s me.”
“And actually, it was Christmas week. I was with my family in Calgary. I was flying back on the 30th and when I was on my flight, I got a text from one of the writers. ‘Hey, can you talk on the phone?’ I said I’m in the plane for a few more hours I’ll call you when I land. One of the writers said, ‘Yeah, so we got you in the segment with The Rock.’ Yes 100%. Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. So that’s how I found out man one or two days before.”
Wow, from undesirable to undeniable, am I right? Talk about a story worthy of making a Peaco*ck documentary about… you know, until Mahal lost to Rollins, moved back on the bench, and was released shortly thereafter.
Jinder Mahal credits The Rock for being a great collaborator.
Asked what it was like to actually collaborate with The Rock when he returned to the promotion, Jinder Mahal explained how their creative process came together, which included Brian Gewirtz, the creative mind who works with “The Great One” on all of his WWE material. Where some “job” performers might have to get through their stuff quickly to set up a returning star, Mahal was allowed to really enjoy the moment, as it’s one he will now remember forever.
“Yeah, it was amazing. I met him at his hotel. And Brian Gewirtz was there, wrote an awesome promo. When he sent it to me [I said] can we say this? [Brian said] Yeah. Okay, I guess with The Rock anything goes. So no he just said have fun, let’s do it. He was excited to work with me and I was obviously excited to work with him,”Jinder Mahal noted.
“And he’s just a class act, The Rock is amazing for him to give me that moment. And especially Brian, telling me like we got time don’t rush, because I was actually kind of shortchanging myself. I was like, maybe I will walk and talk to the ring. He said no enjoy it, have a full entrance, get some heat. We were allotted 20 minutes, so it was an awesome experience.”
Could Mahal have started out in the ring, said a few lines, and then been squashed by The Rock before his own massive promo? Sure, plenty of WWE Superstars have done it before, and plenty will likely do it again. But by allowing Mahal to get his own stuff in as well, it made for a stronger segment, made the eventual reveal all the more interesting, and ultimately set both men up for future matches against Seth Rollins. All in all, a very successful promo, no matter how you quantify it.
