Raj Dhesi's tenure in WWE as Jinder Mahal arguably peaked duringhis 170-day run with the WWE Championshipin 2017. Unfortunately for Dhesi and his fans, the company released him inApril 2024, and he's since returned to the independent scene. Dhesi recently appeared on "Busted OpenRadio," where he looked back at the aforementioned WWE Championship run."It was very stressful," he admitted, quickly adding that the main event pressure was different compared to his career beforehand, and he had to deal with all the opinions about him online. "Just being inGorilla [position] itself, when you're WWE Champion in that spot, is a very, very high-stress situation; it's the pressure cooker!" Despite this, Dhesi proclaimed that this was what he wanted and what he was working hard towards."There's a common misconception that I was brought back to become WWE Champion," he said, attempting to kill the rumors that he was only ever given the belt to appease the Indian fans WWE had garnered at the time. "The day that I came back withHeath Slater, I was nowhere near the Maharaja that became WWE Champion. I had just, literally, stopped drinking a couple of months before that and refocused my life, and it was an ongoing process."
In order to continue painting the picture of how his return wasn't a long-term booking plan, RajDhesi also admitted that he was initially brought back simply to fill a spot on the roster that was empty. "Again, right place, right time Rusev went out with a shoulder injury, and they needed somebody to work Randy [Orton]," he claimed. "As we got closer to Backlash,Randy even told me the plan is for him still to work Rusev, so likely it's just a one-shot deal me and Randy, one pay-per-view. Then as we got closer to Backlash, I think something changed with Vince [McMahon]."Dhesi claimed that he believes Vince McMahon started to see how hard he had been working since his return to WWE and it's always a good thing to shock fans, so the plan was changed. Interestingly, he contrasted this to the current booking style in WWE, claiming that things have become far more "predictable" when it comes to title changes and major victories. However, while he was happy to be recognized, it was always his aspiration to become champion."I had to become champion before I became champion; it was a mental shift," Dhesi explained. "Had I still been doing the same thing I was doing in 3MB just waiting for my opportunity and just sitting on the sidelines, not really giving that much of an effort there's no possible waythat I would've even came close to becoming WWE Champion."If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted OpenRadio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
