Jinder Mahal has opened up about a backstage incident that nearly changed the course of his WWE career just weeks before he captured the WWE Championship.
Speaking on TMZ Inside The Ring, Mahal recalled accidentally giving Finn Bálor a concussion during a match on Raw, explaining how a routine sequence went wrong.
“He was coming off the ropes. I gave him a forearm, just missed timing. Wrestling is a game of millimeters. If you’re a millimeter off, you could end your career, you could have a broken neck.”
Mahal admitted he felt terrible after the incident and revealed that Vince McMahon confronted him immediately after he returned through the curtain. “I felt terrible when I came into Gorilla. Vince told me himself, like, ‘I should fire you.’”
Looking back, Mahal said the timing made the moment even more significant, as his career changed dramatically just days later. “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. Everything could have ended.”
Mahal also recalled speaking with Road Dogg afterward, saying he was prepared to accept whatever consequences came his way. “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.”
