On a recent episode of the “TMZ Inside The Ring” podcast, former WWE Champion Raj Dhesi (fka Jinder Mahal) gave a full, behind-the-scenes account of his memorable segment with The Rock on the “Day 1” 2024 episode of WWE Raw. Dhesi detailed how he found out about the surprise appearance, the process of rehearsing with The Rock, and his belief that he got the better of the exchange.
Dhesi explained that he was not being used on WWE television at the time and was home in Canada, having just gotten engaged a few days prior. After seeing a teaser for the return of a “former WWE Champion,” he assumed it was someone else. “I knew it wasn’t me returning. I knew someone else was,” he said. “I’m trying to do the math, just for my own sake… is Big E coming back? Is it Goldberg?”
He received a text from a WWE writer asking him to call, and it was then that he learned about the plan. “When I landed, I called the writer, and he told me, he’s like, ‘Hey, so you probably seen on Twitter a former WWE Champion, yes, it’s gonna be you and… it’s gonna be The Rock,'” Dhesi recounted. “But hey, kayfabe, super kayfabe, don’t tell anybody anything. And I didn’t tell anybody anything. Actually, I didn’t even tell my fiance.”
Dhesi also revealed that The Rock personally selected him for the high-profile segment. “So Rock told me he picked me,” he stated. He then detailed the process of preparing for the lengthy promo, which included receiving a script from The Rock’s writer, Brian Gewirtz, and going to The Rock’s hotel to rehearse on the day of the show.
“Rock had actually his part…already memorized his script.,” Dhesi admitted. “I was a little bit embarrassed, because let’s rehearse, and I hadn’t really memorized the script. So I’m referring to the page… I have a real big problem doing that, so I just need bullet points. But I told them, like, ‘Guys, I promise in the ring, I’ll have it.'”
When asked if he would be open to a rematch with The Rock, Dhesi responded without hesitation. “Yeah, definitely…I feel like I out-promo’ed The Rock.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit TMZs Inside The Ring with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
