Jinder Mahal weighs in on WWE’s lack of Indian representation
(Courtesy : WWE)
The former WWE Champion believes India has plenty of wrestling talent, but lacks the infrastructure.
Jinder Mahal, 40, recently opened up about the limited representation of Indian wrestlers in WWE and admitted that he was surprised the company had not done more to capitalize on the country’s enormous wrestling market.
Mahal, whose real name is Raj Dhesi, enjoyed his biggest WWE run in 2017 when he captured the WWE Championship and held the title for almost 170 days. During that period, he was associated with The Singh Brothers and later Shanky.
Jinder Mahal explains why WWE needs more Indian talent
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Despite being surprised by WWE’s lack of Indian representation, Mahal believes wrestlers from the country must first develop to a level where they can compete with the company’s biggest stars.
“Very surprised. Very surprised. But at the same time, we can’t just expect representation. We ourselves have to be at that level to compete with Roman Reigns, with Seth Rollins, with the rest of the WWE roster, with the rest of the locker room.”
Mahal also pointed to the lack of infrastructure as one of the biggest obstacles preventing more Indian wrestlers from reaching the global stage.
“So there’s just no infrastructure in place properly yet. But I think in the future there definitely will be. And there’s some great young talent there,”
He made the comments while speaking to Denise Salcedo in a recent interview.
Jinder Mahal names Indian wrestlers fans should watch
The former WWE Champion also highlighted the talent emerging from India’s wrestling scene and encouraged fans to look beyond WWE when searching for the country’s next potential star.
He specifically named Kevin Malik, who competes for WXM, and compared the young performer to WWE legend Jeff Hardy.
“The promotion that I wrestle for, WXM, if you guys want to look up a guy, his name is Kevin Malik. Kevin Malik, M-A-L-I-K. He’s incredible. He reminds me of kind of a Jeff Hardy type where he’s a little bit of an enigma.”
Mahal continued by explaining what makes Malik stand out from other performers.
“Kind of quiet. Has a quiet charisma, but super jacked, super agile. He actually had a match with Zack Sabre Jr. It’s on YouTube. I encourage everybody to check it out. Like, India has some lit wrestlers. They just don’t have the proper platform yet,”
Mahal parted ways with WWE in 2024 and is currently active on the independent wrestling circuit.
When did Jinder Mahal become WWE Champion?
Mahal won the WWE Championship in 2017 and held the title for almost 170 days.
Why does Mahal believe India lacks WWE representation?
He pointed to the lack of proper wrestling infrastructure and platforms needed to develop talent to WWE’s highest level.
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