Jinder Mahal has revealed a frightening backstage moment that nearly derailed his career right before his rise to the WWE Championship.
Speaking on TMZ Inside The Ring, the former champion recalled accidentally giving Finn Balor a concussion during a singles match on Raw, just one week before he was drafted to SmackDown. The two had a routine spot they performed nightly, but a slight mistiming turned dangerous.
“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 the boss. Mahal said he was met by a furious Vince McMahon upon returning backstage. “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 punishment 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.
