It was earlier announced by the WWE that Jinder Mahal would be facing Randy Orton at the Backlash PPV for the WWE championship. Quite surprisingly, Mahal got a big push once the Superstar Shakeup took place. He was moved to Smackdown Live and received the shot to the much amusement of the audience.
This is for the very first time that an Indian origin wrestler is getting a shot at the WWE title. Previously, The Great Khali, who hailed from Punjab, was given the title shot. He was the first one to earn the World heavyweight championship in 2007. This is the greatest accolade earned by an Indian in the sports entertainment, till date.
Jinder Mahal, on the other hand, will be getting a shot at the WWE’s most coveted prize which itself will be the biggest milestone for an Indian. The speculations suggest that he does have the chance to win the title.
The creative is waiting to get the response of the crowd towards Jinder. One episode of Smackdown Live is still to come on this coming Tuesday which will be the final chance for the Maharaja to show his potential. If the writers are impressed then we might very well be seeing a new WWE champion at the Backlash PPV.
Meanwhile, he sat down with SportsKeeda for an interview to express his feeling after getting the opportunity of a lifetime. When he was asked about his feelings of representing India in front of the whole world, he quoted:
“I’m very proud to be representing India in the WWE. The Indian fans are very passionate about our product, they’re very passionate about the WWE and it makes me proud that I’m representing all of them on such a big scale and I hope I can become WWE Champion and make all of India proud. I just want to thank Indian fans for always supporting me and being very passionate about our product.”
He also expressed his feelings after becoming the number one contender for the WWE championship by commenting:
“The feeling was great. With everything in perspective, I’m one win away from becoming WWE Champion. One win away from making all my dreams come true and changing my life. So if anything, it motivates me more.
I’m going to be more aggressive, I’m training harder now. Overall it’s a great feeling being #1 contender but I’m not the champion yet. That’s the goal – to be WWE Champion. The goal isn’t to become #1 contender but to become champion.”