Jinder Mahal has revealed a frightening backstage incident that nearly derailed his career just before his rise to WWE Championship status.
Speaking on TMZ Inside The Ring, the former champion recounted accidentally giving Finn Balor a concussion during a singles match on Raw, one week before being drafted to SmackDown. The two performed a routine spot nightly, but a slight mistiming resulted in a dangerous situation.
“He was coming off the ropes. I gave him a forearm, just missed timing,” Mahal said. “Wrestling is a game of millimeters. If you’re a millimeter off, you could end your career, you could have a broken neck.”
The mistake did not sit well with WWE management. Mahal said he was met by a furious Vince McMahon backstage upon returning. “I felt terrible when I came into Gorilla. Vince told me himself, like, ‘I should fire you,’” Mahal recalled.
The timing of the incident makes it all the more remarkable in hindsight, as Mahal’s career took off almost immediately afterward. “That would change the trajectory of my life, because a week later I went to SmackDown, and a week after that, I was number one contender, and a month after I was WWE Champion,” he said. “Everything could have ended.”
Mahal added that he braced for whatever consequences might come, telling Road Dogg he was prepared to accept his fate. “Hey, dog, if I’m in the dog house and I gotta learn to eat, you know what, I’m gonna learn to love it,” Mahal recalled saying.
