Heath Slater recently appeared on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling to talk about various topics. Here are the highlights:

The success of fellow 3MB members Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre:

“Those two guys are like my brothers and I love them to death and I am so happy for both of them. Jinder is doing great, Drew is doing great, they are both great and all I can say is that I am happy for them. I just need to beat up Brock to become the Universal Champion and we can all unite like Transformers and make that big 3MB comeback again but I am pretty sure that is not going to happen (laughing) so that is like words in the wind. But I am very happy for them and they are awesome dudes and hopefully they get more success.”

His free agent storyline in 2016:

“It was so much fun. I wish they would have kept it going and I just wish that somehow they would have kept it going but winning the tag titles and getting that contract was amazing. But in my mind and what I was thinking was as a free agent on Smackdown and doing all the interruptions and all this stuff it was getting steam and you could feel the energy when you walked in the building and when I would break up stuff and do all that nonsense, it was one of those things that could have gotten me sympathy. If we would have lost that night and if I showed up to RAW the following week and did the same thing on RAW to try and get an opportunity again and to keep it going but they just wanted to end the storyline I guess. It was amazing winning the titles and it was Rhyno’s first time ever winning the tag team titles and was cool because he tagged with guys like Tajiri and Stone Cold Steve Austin and never got the titles and here comes Heath Slater and we win the titles. The story was good, the people were good and it was a lot of fun.”

If he tried to work elsewhere during that time:

“I tried. I tried to do that. I wanted to wrestle in EVOLVE and work with Drew and I wanted to do stuff like that. Guys that I know and worked before that won’t act a fool and go AWOL and be out for themselves, lets have a good match and let people believe this storyline that I am doing and I pitched it but they turned that down real quick.”

You can listen to the entire interview here.

Last night on RAW, General Manager Kurt Angle confirmed several big RAW vs. SmackDown matches for next month’s Survivor Series, including the Champion vs. Champion main event between Brock Lesnar and Jinder Mahal. Later in the show, Brock Lesnar’s advocate Paul Heyman delivered a masterful promo formally accepted Mahal’s challenge on his client’s behalf.

Following up on a report from PWInsider, Wrestling Observer Radio confirms WWE in fact planning to add a special guest referee for the match. John Cena was a name that was mentioned as a possibility and Bryan Alvarez noted that would make sense in order to set up a feud between Cena and Mahal down the road.

Other names have floated around, however, the job will most likely go to Cena because the other names being considered most likely don’t want to work the match. Bryan Alvarez speculated that Goldberg or Undertaker could fill the role, but Dave Meltzer shot that idea down because both men have already feuded with Lesnar and he doesn’t see them back in WWE any time soon.

With Jinder Mahal being a questionable opponent for The Beast, the dynamic of a guest referee would add some much needed intrigue to the match. Mahal is on record saying that he wants to face John Cena at WrestleMania, so Cena refereeing his match against Lesnar could be used as a vehicle to set up that eventual showdown.

Discussion: Who would you like to see as the Special Guest Referee for Lesnar vs. Mahal?

As we’ve previously reported, it is expected that WWE Champion Jinder Mahal and WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar will meet at the WWE’s Survivor Series pay-per-view (PPV) from Houston, Texas next month.

Mahal called “The Beast” out on this past Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown Live, and Lesnar is expected to respond to “The Modern Day Maharaja’s” challenge on RAW next week. Per a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE officials have discussed doing a WWE Champion vs. Universal Champion match for some time. It is not, however, considered to be a major match by officials backstage. This will simply give Lesnar the opportunity to be on a major show and set something bigger up for him down the road.

It is expected that inaugural Universal Champion Finn Balor will be Lesnar’s next opponent, likely at The Royal Rumble this January. “The Beast” is still expected to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 34 in April. As for the finish to Lesnar vs. Mahal the WON notes that nothing is concrete yet but it makes no sense for Lesnar to lose to Mahal given his victories over Goldberg, Samoa Joe, and Braun Strowman. If Mahal loses, however, it makes SDL look like the ‘B show.’ A DQ or No Contest finish is very possible but WWE fans usually don’t take too kindly to these at major events.

WWE Champion Jinder Mahal’s ‘big announcement’ that he was hyping for SmackDown turned out to be what’s been rumored since last week – he wants to face Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series.

AJ Styles interrupted Mahal after the challenge to Lesnar was issued, kicking off what could be the next top feud on SmackDown.

Later in the evening, WWE revealed that Brock Lesnar will respond to Jinder Mahal’s challenge next week on RAW.

Should Lesnar accept this Champion vs. Champion Match challenge, the WWE Universe will bear witness to a battle of brand supremacy at WWE Survivor Series on Sunday, Nov. 19. How will The Anomaly respond?

#TheBeast @BrockLesnar will ANSWER @JinderMahal's #SurvivorSeries challenge NEXT MONDAY on #RAW! #SDLive @HeymanHustle pic.twitter.com/ZS32gEnikP

— WWE (@WWE) October 18, 2017

WWE Survivor Series takes place on Sunday, November 19th.

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown and WWE 205 Live will take place from the Key Arena in Seattle, Washington as the road to Survivor Series heats up.

Confirmed for tonight’s SmackDown are Bobby Roode vs. Dolph Ziggler and WWE Champion Jinder Mahal issuing a Survivor Series challenge. Mahal is rumored to be facing WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at next month’s pay-per-view.

Sami Zayn will open the show, WWE United States Champion Baron Corbin will be in action and we’ll get the latest episode of The Fashion Files from Breezango.

205 Live will feature Enzo Amore & Ariya Daivari vs. Mustafa Ali & WWE Cruiserweight Champion Kalisto plus Rich Swann vs. Jack Gallagher.

Join us here tonight for our weekly WWE SmackDown Live Coverage.

– It was reported in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE Champion Jinder Mahal is dealing with a shoulder injury. During an interview published this morning on ESPN.com (click here for highlights), Mahal denied rumors of the injury.

“I don’t have an injury. Those are just rumors,” Mahal said. “I have large traps and that causes my shoulders to roll forward so when I tape them up, it just pulls my shoulders back and I start to develop my rear shoulders more. My traps are a bit too strong so it puts me out of balance. So it is just to prevent future injuries.”

As of late, Mahal has been wearing Kinesio Tape at WWE live events. However, he does not wear it at televised events.

https://twitter.com/theryansours/status/914385518674157568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

– In this video, Seth Rollins reflects on his first acting role in WWE Studios’ Armed Response, available now on Blu-ray, DVD and digital.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLPzv_4zlh4&w=620&h=349]

– This Saturday, The Honky Tonk Man will be appearing at the 4th annual ECWA Women’s Super 8 ChickFight Tournament in Woodbury Heights, New Jersey at the Community Center. Click here for more information on the show.

• Who is Jessie in WWE NXT?

WWE Champion Jinder Mahal recently did an interview with ESPN to talk about a variety of professional wrestling topics. “The Maharaja” talked about wanting to play a babyface during his run with WWE, watching tape on other wrestlers inside the ring, and setting big goals for himself in his career. You can check out the highlights here below:

Wanting to play a babyface:

“I am interested in seeing what other characters I could play. The evolution of a WWE character is such that things change and I can’t wait to have a babyface character. I can’t wait for the crowd reaction when I come here [India] and definitely the WWE will see some of that reaction. Maybe that starts to plug something in creative and you might see a different side of me.”

Watching tape on other wrestlers in the ring:

“No one sees the 24 hours that I put in. A large part of those 24 hours is putting the work that will make me the best WWE superstar that I can be. That means watching tape. Not just matches of myself but also the great matches including matches of Triple H and just watching the stories that he tells in the ring. I will see The Rock, Stone Cold (Steve Austin) or even watch Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels. Their Ironman match at Wrestlemania XII was the greatest of all time.”

Setting big goals for himself in his career:

“My goal is to be the greatest of all time. There isn’t any point setting small goals. You have to set large goals. When I set the goal of becoming WWE champion, people would laugh. I remember when I was entered into the six pack challenge match to be the No.1 contender for the WWE title, there were many who asked ‘why is Jinder here?’ But I set my aims high. I proved the doubters wrong and I look forward to proving more doubters wrong.”

You can read Mahal’s full interview with ESPN by visiting this link here.

WWE Champion Jinder Mahal has issued a formal challenge to John Cena for a match at WrestleMania 34.

Mahal hosed an #AskJinder Q&A session on Twitter over the weekend and was asked who his ideal opponent was for WM34. In his response, Mahal said he fully intends to be WWE Champion through next year’s big event and issued an ‘official challenge.’

“I fully intend on being WWE Champion, come WrestleMania, and even after WrestleMania. So, John Cena, this is an official challenge to you.”

It’s a bold move by the WWE Champion, who looks to solidify his spot in main events by calling out the biggest name in WWE.

WrestleMania 34 takes place on Sunday, April 8th, 2018 from New Orleans, Louisiana.

You can check out footage of his challenge embedded below:

.@PhenomenalMk #AskJinder pic.twitter.com/OxKfYqhMhJ

— WWE India (@WWEIndia) October 15, 2017

The modern-day record for a WWE Title reign is held by CM Punk at 434 days, and current WWE Title-holder Jinder Mahal is looking to break that record. While Punk’s reign isn’t the longest WWE Title reign of all time, it is the longest since 1984. Mahal’s current reign is at 140 days but in a recent interview with Sportskeeda, “The Maharaja” indicated he thinks he has what it takes to break Punk’s record. Here are the highlights:

If he thinks he can break Punk’s record:

“Absolutely think I can. Why not? I believe I haven’t even entered my prime yet. So, I’m 31 years old, I’m already WWE Champion for 140 something days at the moment. I’ve a lengthy title run ahead of me and many more title runs yet to come”

His WrestleMania 34 dream opponent:

“Brock Lesnar — that would be amazing. Or someone like John Cena. Even John Cena’s such a big, big star here in India it would be a blockbuster match. Especially if I beat someone like John Cena, I would really establish my own legacy, which is my number 1 goal”

– Since leaving WWE it seems as though Austin Aries is going to make far more money working the independent scene than he did in WWE. Aries took to Twitter to note that he will be making more money in the next six weeks working “bingo halls” than his last four months in the “big league”:

https://twitter.com/AustinAries/status/919202093738680322?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

– WWE Champion Jinder Mahal is currently doing some promotional work over in India. He got to meet with cricket legend and Indian politician Sachin Tendulkar, a very famous name in India. Many consider him to be the Michael Jordan of cricket. You can check out the photos here below:

WWE Champion @JinderMahal meets the master-blaster @Sachin_rt to invite him to #WWELive.
Get your tickets NOW: https://t.co/0kdYhtS5we pic.twitter.com/fLTTkRDTut

— SPN_Action (@SPN_Action) October 14, 2017

You make us proud @JinderMahal. Thanks for inviting us to #WWELive in Delhi! The WWE fans will see you on Dec. 8th! https://t.co/6be5NyozM9

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) October 14, 2017

WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar successfully defended his title against Braun Strowman last month at No Mercy. As of this writing, Lesnar does not have a title defense scheduled for next weekend’s Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view.

It’s been rumored that Lesnar’s next opponent would be Finn Balor, but Dave Meltzer reports that WWE has another opponent in the works for Survivor Series on November 18th.

According to Meltzer, the current plan is for Lesnar to face WWE Champion Jinder Mahal in the main event of next month’s inter-brand PPV. Even though both men currently hold the two top titles on RAW and SmackDown, this Champion vs. Champion showdown would be a non-title match.

Author’s Opinion: 

If Lesnar vs. Mahal is the plan, it’s obvious that no other superstar will be getting the WWE Championship before Survivor Series on November 19th.  This actually extends itself to the beginning of December as Jinder will be defending his title against Kevin Owens on the tour of India.

The same can also be said for Brock Lesnar and the Universal Championship, however Lesnar has appeared a lot more secure in his title reign which is no surprise.

The Survivor Series main event plan can also shed light on WWE’s hopes for Jinder and his injury.  WWE must be pretty confident that Jinder Mahal can hold himself together with his injury to face Brock Lesnar, but it seems like a big risk with little reward.

The main question from this plan is, who would win?  On paper it seems like an easy win for Brock Lesnar, but how happy would the company be with the WWE champion being swept aside like trash in Suplex City?

The Ultimate Author’s Opinion:

Being brutally honest, it comes across as a match no one asked for.  It works with the theme of Survivor Series, but the names on the card are wrong.

The WWE injury bug appears to have struck again. Samoa Joe, Jeff Hardy and Big Cass are amongst the top WWE Superstars currently sidelined with various ailments. While he hasn’t missed any scheduled appearances, WWE Champion Jinder Mahal is reportedly dealing with a shoulder injury.

Mahal has been seen at recent WWE live events wearing Kinesio Tape, which the company describes as “rehabilitative taping technique that is designed to facilitate the body’s natural healing process.” It’s worth noting that Mahal has not been wearing the medical tape on television, an indication WWE is trying to downplay the injury.

As noted earlier this month, Jinder Mahal will be joining the RAW brand’s upcoming tour of India, scheduled for December 8th and 9th from New Dehli at the IGI Stadium.

Mahal won’t be the only SmackDown Live star traveling to India with the RAW crew. He announced on WWE’s Facebook page that he’ll be defending the WWE Championship on the tour against Kevin Owens.

Tickets for WWE’s December live event from New Dehli, India are now on sale.

Tickets for #WWELive in #India are now open! Book them here: https://t.co/r7RdyuQVEp pic.twitter.com/LKpy3rFCKq

— WWE India (@WWEIndia) October 11, 2017

WWE COO and former WWE Champion Triple H recently did an interview with The National while he was in India to talk about current WWE Champion Jinder Mahal. During the interview “The Game” discussed how “The Modern Day Maharaja” earned his respect, and how WWE Superstars are more than just athletes. You can check out the highlights here below:

Jinder Mahal earning his respect:

“Jinder Mahal has done an amazing job in recreating himself. Jinder was in WWE for the first time and wasn’t as successful as he would have wanted. But we went back and re-energised himself, dug deeper (within) himself and worked extremely hard in his second chance and is now making the most of it. People can criticise him, but he has earned my respect.”

WWE Superstars being more than just athletes:

“They are more than just athletes. They are the best and most well-conditioned athletes, but beyond that they are the best entertainers in the world. Their ability to be able to control the crowd to garner those emotions and also tell the story they want to tell through athletic manoeuvres. And this is what makes them different.”

You can read Triple H’s full interview with The National by visiting this link here.

After last night’s (Sun. October 8, 2017) WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view Jinder Mahal successfully defended his WWE Championship against former New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Shinsuke Nakamura.

Mahal’s reign as WWE Champion has now extended to 141 days. That’s a longer title reign than several top-name WWE Hall Of Famers such as AJ Styles, The Undertaker, Kurt Angle, The Rock, Chris Jericho, Ric Flair, Edge, and Mankind.

Here’s the breakdown:

• AJ Styles: 141 days
• The Undertaker: 133 days
• Eddie Guerrero: 133 days
• Kurt Angle: 126 days
• The Rock: 119 days
• Chris Jericho: 98 days
• Ric Flair: 77 days
• Edge: 76 days
• Mankind: 26 days

If Mahal is able to keep the title through Survivor Series next month, he’ll pass up the title reigns of The Miz (160 days) and Stone Cold Steve Austin (175 days).

WWE Champion Jinder Mahal, who is scheduled to defend the title against Shinsuke Nakamura at this Sunday’s at WWE Hell In A Cell PPV, recently spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated about various topics. Here are the highlights:

Winning WWE Championship:

“There was originally no plan in place for me to become WWE champion. It felt like I became the number one contender out of nowhere. I call what I did forcing the results. I wasn’t happy with my position. I was putting in the work, but I wasn’t getting the results. I was going to force the result no matter what the cost.”

His planned promo on Shinsuke Nakamura last month that received backlash:

“Every day in WWE is also an opportunity. I have to rise to the occasion every time I am given that opportunity, and that includes every promo on SmackDown, too.”

You can read the entire interview here.

As expected, the WWE has announced that they will be returning to India for some Live Events in the midst of Jinder Mahal’s WWE Championship. The shows will take place in New Delhi at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Friday December 8th and Saturday December 9th. Here’s the WWE’s official press release, which includes a comment from Mahal:

“WWE® LIVE RETURNS TO INDIA WITH “THE MODERN-DAY MAHARAJA™” JINDER MAHAL™

“MUMBAI, India & STAMFORD, Conn. October 5, 2017 – WWE (NYSE: WWE) and Sony Pictures Networks India today announced that WWE LIVE will return to India with two shows in New Delhi at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Friday, December 8 and Saturday, December 9. Ticket information will be announced in the coming weeks.

“The shows will feature “The Modern-Day Maharaja”, current WWE Champion Jinder Mahal, who will be accompanied by The Singh Brothers™. In addition, WWE LIVE will feature WWE Superstars Roman Reigns™, Seth Rollins™, Dean Ambrose™, Braun Strowman™, Alexa Bliss™, Sasha Banks™, and more.*

“”It is an honor to represent the people of India every time I step into the ring, and it will be a true privilege to perform for them live,” said Jinder Mahal.

“”WWE enjoys a large, dedicated following in India, with the highest TV viewership after only cricket,” said Mr. Rajesh Kaul, President, Sports and Distribution Business, Sony Pictures Networks. “We are delighted to announce to our loyal fans the return of WWE LIVE, presenting them with an opportunity that will take them closer to their favorite WWE Superstars.”

“”Following overwhelming demand from our massive and passionate fan base in India, we are excited to bring WWE LIVE back to New Delhi for two shows of spectacular, non-stop, family-friendly entertainment,” said Sheetesh Srivastava, Vice President and General Manager, WWE India. “I know our fans cannot wait to fill the Indira Gandhi Stadium and welcome back their favorite WWE Superstars.”

“Sony Pictures Networks India offers WWE programming, including Raw®, SmackDown LIVE®, Main Event®, NXT®, Total Divas®, and monthly specials, such as WrestleMania® and SummerSlam®, on Sony TEN 1 and Sony MAX. Earlier this year, WWE Sunday Dhamaal, an exclusive new weekly highlights show in Hindi, launched on Sony MAX, giving Indian fans a unique, localized WWE viewing experience.”

Jinder Mahal is having a breakout year. After lingering at the bottom of cards for most of his WWE career, the Modern Day Maharaja is now four months into his first WWE Championship reign. He’s fended off challengers like Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura, but will be put to the test once again when he defends against Nakamura at Hell in a Cell on October 8th.

Despite his undeniable success in 2017, we think he’s overstayed his welcome as WWE Champion. Here are 5 reasons why it’s time to take the gold off Jinder Mahal.

Both Of His Feuds Have Been Terrible

Since winning the WWE Championship, Mahal has feuded with Randy Orton and now Shinsuke Nakamura. Orton is already an established Superstar, but still wound up having one of the worst feuds of his career with Mahal. Orton and Mahal had a terrible match in Philadelphia at WWE Battleground earlier this year. It was a Punjabi Prison match and fans at the Wells Fargo Center complained about not being able to see what was happening in the ring due to the gigantic structure obstructing their vision.

Mahal has since entered a feud with Shinsuke Nakamura. He handed Nakamura his first loss on the main roster in a completely forgettable match at WWE SummerSlam. Jinder will once again defend his WWE Championship against Nakamura at WWE Hell in a Cell next month. The match has very little buzz surrounding it and it may not even be the main event of Hell in a Cell’s card.

He Brought The Great Khali Back To WWE

Photo Credit: WWE.com

As if the Punjabi Prison match at WWE Battleground couldn’t get any worse, it featured the return of the Great Khali. Thankfully it was just a one-off appearance and Khali hasn’t been seen since. The ending of WWE Battleground has scarred much of the WWE Universe for life and is something that Mahal should never be forgiven for.

His Matches Are Consistently Boring

Photo Credit: WWE.com

Mahal may look the part of a WWE Champion, but he sure as hell doesn’t wrestle like one. His matches are painfully dull due to his lack of in-ring skill. He relies on the Singh Brothers to interfere in order to steal victories and hold onto the WWE Championship. Can you name a memorable spot during a Jinder Mahal match? The only one I can think of is one that had nothing to do with Mahal. Orton knocked Samir Singh off the Punjabi Prison and he went crashing through the announce table. That has been the best moment of Jinder’s WWE Championship run and he wasn’t even involved in the action.

He Lacks Charisma

Photo Credit: WWE.com

Not only is Jinder Mahal boring in the ring, he is boring with a microphone in his hands as well. The best promo Jinder Mahal has cut since his return was after he won the Six-Pack Challenge to become #1 contender. Since then, it has been the same old tired promo and half the time you can barely hear him because he is speaking so softly into the microphone. His promo skills have not improved at all and now he has become a hack-comedian presenting slideshows of Nakamura on SmackDown.

The Fans Are Indifferent Towards Him

Photo Credit: WWE.com

WWE figured that the fans would begin to hate Jinder during his title reign, but that just hasn’t happened. Mahal often tries to provoke a reaction from the crowd in attendance by calling them ignorant or xenophobic. Occasionally it will incite a half-assed “USA” chant from the WWE Universe, but for the most part it barely musters up an eye-roll.

The only “heat” Mahal has been able to generate lately is by cutting outdated and ridiculous promos about Shinsuke Nakamura. Instead of causing fans to hate Mahal as a performer, fans have instead aimed their vitriol against WWE creative. Mahal’s promo on this past week’s episode of SmackDown got mainstream media coverage for all of the wrong reasons. Mahal mocked Shinsuke for being Japanese and said that Nakamura will always “rook the same” and compared him to Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid movies.

This caused the crowd to chant “that’s too far!” and the Washington Post to publish an article about the controversial promo. WWE didn’t even upload the promo to their YouTube channel and had to release a statement about the racial remarks said by their current champion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9xVKhblhxw

[td_smart_list_end]

Discussion: Do you think Jinder Mahal has run his course as WWE Champion, or should WWE keep the title on him longer to solidify his spot in the main event scene on SmackDown Live?

Marissa Payne of the The Washington Post has published an article about Jinder Mahal’s controversial promo from Tuesday’s SmackDown Live titled, “WWE has dealt with racism before, but a scripted rant has fans chanting ‘that’s too far!’”

For those who missed it, the WWE Champion mocked Shinsuke Nakamura’s Japanese heritage. In addition to criticizing Nakamnura’s (saying “you always rook the same” whether he’s happy or angry), Mahal also referenced Japanese people feasting on cats and dolphins and compared Nakamura to Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid movies.

https://youtu.be/y8-6yXcvKRk

Fans in the arena chanted, “that’s too far” and fans on social media shared the same sentiment, calling out WWE for racism.

Who on earth is writing @JinderMahal's promos! They are distasteful and racist! I am not impressed! @WWE sort this out! #SDLive #Nakamura

— Thomas Jackson Kay (@tjkay22) September 20, 2017

HEY @WWE HAVING A BROWN PERSON SAY OPENLY RACIST RHETORIC DOES NOT MAKE IT OK

— the ringfluencer (@FKAsocks) September 20, 2017

https://twitter.com/zomboid_muse/status/910515429218582528

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer was quoted in the article, explaining, “Wrestling was always in its own little world. Now everyone watches it, and you can’t get away with those kind of old tricks. The fan base will blame it on the company and not on the heel.” He added that it’s an embarrassing situation for WWE, since “Nobody wants to be called racist.”

A WWE spokesperson issued a statement to the Washington Post about the promo:

“Just like many other TV shows or movies, WWE creates programming with fictional personalities that cover real world issues and sensitive subjects.

As a producer of such TV shows, WWE Corporate is committed to embracing and celebrating individuals from all backgrounds as demonstrated by the diversity of our employees, performers and fans.”

Jinder Mahal will defend the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura at Hell in a Cell on Sunday, 10/8.

– As seen on Tuesday’s SmackDown LIve, WWE Champion Jinder Mahal cut a promo that mocked Shinsuke Nakamura for being Japanese.

At one point in the promo, Mahal mocked Nakamnura’s appearance, saying “you always rook the same” and always has the same facial expression whether he’s happy and angry. He also referenced Japanese people feasting on cats and dolphins and compared Nakamura to Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid movies.

Fans in the arena weren’t having it and responded by chanting, “that’s too far.” WWE apparently wasn’t a fan of this segment either, as it was not uploaded to the company’s YouTube channel.

Mahal will defend the WWE Championship against Nakamura at Hell in a Cell on 10/8 from Detroit, Michigan.

Here’s footage of the segment from a non-WWE YouTube channel:

https://youtu.be/tohnHlx8I-Q

– Paige was back at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando on Tuesday as she works towards getting cleared to return to the ring. She tweeted the following:

https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/910235042282123267

https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/910235191960010754

Jinder Mahal certainly has not been the most popular WWE Champion of all-time. Mahal won the WWE Championship on May 21st at Backlash. Since then, he has been able to hold onto the title with a ton of assistance from the Singh Brothers. Mahal defeated Shinsuke Nakamura at WWE SummerSlam by planting him with a Khallas after Samir and Sunil Singh interfered in the match. Mahal will once again have to defend his title against Nakamura next month, but this time surrounded by steel at WWE Hell in a Cell.

John Cena Sr. was a guest on Boston Wrestling Sports’ Wrestling Insiders show. During the interview, Cena Sr. was asked about Mahal as WWE Champion. Cena Sr. responded with the following:

“I do not think he is a good champion. I don’t think he is a worthy champion. I think they need to get somebody in there that can get people involved in the championship matches. I don’t think that he is the man for the job. The fans are going to get pretty tired pretty fast. They didn’t like Mahal to begin with and not because he is a good heel, it is because he cannot wrestle.”

Host of the show, Dan Mirade, compared Mahal’s reign to JBL’s title reign leading up until WrestleMania 21. Mirade stated that it has been a comparable run because it took some time for fans to warm up to JBL. However, fans wound up getting into it and every time he worked with a new babyface, the fans thought that this would finally be the guy to defeat him. Mirade believes that we are going to see the same thing with Mahal going forward. The fans will continue to think that someone is going to take the title from him, but Mahal will wind up holding it for a long time.

Cena Sr. didn’t like that take and stated that Mahal “wasn’t even close” to JBL.  He went on to say that Mahal is only champion to capture the Indian market and isn’t on JBL’s level as a performer. Cena Sr. also claimed that it is too early for Shinsuke Nakamura to win the WWE Championship. Mirade said that sometimes he has trouble understanding Nakamura and Cena Sr. suggested that WWE bring back managers to help wrestlers like Nakamura connect with the crowd. You can check out the entire conversation in the video below.

WWE will be holding two RAW-brand live events in New Delhi, India in December.

The shows are scheduled for Friday, 12/7 and Saturday, 12/8 at the Indira Ghandi Indoor Stadium. The venue has a capacity of approximately 16,000 people.

That overseas tour kicks off on Thursday, 12/6 with a live event from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates at the Zayed Sports City Tennis Stadium. Centre court at facility holds approximately 5,000 fans.

WWE has been expanding its presence in India in recent years. Following the WWE Network launching in the country in late 2015, Sheetesh Srivastava was announced as the new Vice President and General Manager of WWE India back in April and WWE Sunday Dhamaal, a  new weekly show in Hindi which premiered back on June 25th on on Sony MAX, India’s top-rated movie channel.

With WWE Champion Jinder Mahal wrestling exclusively for SmackDown Live, it seems logical that he’ll be working this RAW-branded tour.

WWE Champion Jinder Mahal recently did an interview with The Times Of India to talk about a variety of professional wrestling topics, including his change in attitude and physique since returning to WWE, the relation to his WWE title reign and the company’s desire to get in on the Indian market, having control over his character creatively, and WWE planning to hold a show in India while he is WWE champion. You can check out the highlights here:

His change of attitude and physique since coming back to WWE:

“The change in attitude means a total change in my way of thinking, the way that I train, the way that I look. And thinking positively, what I do is I write down my goals. Every day I write down that I want to be 10-time World Champion, I write down that I want to have the best body in WWE, so that motivates me every day to train hard and constantly reevaluate myself. You associate yourself with positive people and try to have positive energy. I think that I can be the best WWE superstar then only can be the best WWE superstar.”

The relation between his WWE title reign and the company’s desire to hit the Indian market:

“WWE sees India as huge opportunity and wants to continue to build its base. Personally I am hoping being champion will increase the WWE Universe in India because I know that Indian fans are really passionate and I want to be WWE Champion in India.”

Having creative control over his character:

“I do have creative control but also Vince (McMann) gives advice and ideas and I take them. Vince has experience and he has made the biggest sports entertainment in the history. He has made WWE into a global phenomenon. I have a good relation with Vince, he trusts me on the microphone, with my matches, which will only increase with time. I personally want to seek Vince’s advice.”

WWE planning to visit India soon:

“There is no date confirmed yet, but WWE is working very hard at the moment to conserve a date. I am personally very excited to come to India.”

You can read Mahal’s full interview with The Times Of India here.

WWE Champion Jinder Mahal was scheduled to walk UFC heavyweight Arjah Bhullar to the Octagon this past weekend at UFC 215, but did not appear. Following his win over Luis Henrique, Bhullar revealed that Mahal was unable to leave Florida due to Hurricane Irma.

“He gave me a call, he’s caught in the hurricane,” Bhullar said. “He lives in Tampa, Florida and he’s like, ‘You know what brother, I got four different properties down here, got me dog down here. I just haven’t been able to make peace and then leave this.’

“So, he decided to bunker down there, so “The Maharaja” got grounded, but I’m thinking of him. I told him stay safe — first and foremost — and we’ll see him in the foreseeable future.”

Check out this video of Jinder Mahal and Arjah Bhullar working out together in a “UFC vs. WWE” workout:

https://youtu.be/MQdLK66kkqo

NXT Champion Drew McIntyre recently spoke with The Whig to talk about various topics. Here are the highlights:

Winning the NXT Title at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III:

“The photograph of me there, on my knees looking at the title, that pretty much says it all. All the hard work over the past few years and busting my ass, the physical and mental tol;, that moment, it all felt worth it and the picture just sums up everything I was feeling in that moment.”

His friendship with Jinder Mahal:

“(We took) different journeys. Straight out of the gate, I knew what I was going to do. I had a very clear mission statement. With Jinder, he kind of fell out of it a little bit and he has spoken about his publicly. He wasn’t sure if wrestling, or sports entertainment was in his future. He was getting a little out of shape, he wasn’t quite motivated, but he started pushing, training again, got himself motivated and he got the call to come back to WWE. We kept in contact with each other. Both of us would go back and forth about cutting the negatives out of our lives; both of us cut out the alcohol and the partying, which isn’t productive for an athlete. We started eliminating anything that wasn’t benefiting us, people who weren’t benefiting us, we were just very driven and very focused and we were both on the same page in that sense. Our physiques obviously changed. When you train that hard and try that hard and you’re that driven, pushing each other and pushing each other. It was so cool that our careers started mirroring each other.”

You can read the entire interview here.

– On this week’s episode of his Dinner With The King podcast, WWE Hall of Famer “Jerry Lawler” revealed that had a recent encounter with a fan who has a tattoo of Vince McMahon on his rear end. Lawler couldn’t believe it at first, but the fan dropped his pants and showed Lawler the proof.

Here's the tattoo of Vince McMahon on a fan's behind we talk about on the show this week! https://t.co/BDaT8M66EZ pic.twitter.com/ILJBitnkHN

— Jerry Lawler (@JerryLawler) September 6, 2017

– Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson praised WWE Champion Jinder Mahal and the Singh brothers on Twitter. The brothers joked that they’re available if The Rock needs a couple guys for a ‘Bollywood-style’ action scene in one of his movies. The highest paid actor in Hollywood told the Singh brothers that they and Jinder Mahal are “doing GREAT!,” but reminded them that everybody ‘jobs’ to him on set.

Ha luv it. Bring the Champ Jinder as well. Just keep in mind everyone jobs to me on my sets. 😂 #kayfabe (seriously you 3 are doing GREAT!)

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) September 6, 2017