Former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal has revealed that his United States Championship victory at WrestleMania 34 came together much later than many fans may have realized.
Speaking on TMZ Inside The Ring, Mahal explained that the original plan called for Randy Orton to defend the United States Championship against Bobby Roode in a singles match. “That match actually came to fruition very late. It was originally supposed to be Randy versus Bobby Roode one-on-one for the United States Championship. Somehow I weaseled my way into that match.”
According to Mahal, Orton’s physical condition contributed to WWE changing the match. “I believe it was Randy, because he was dealing with some back or some knee issues, just to kind of make it easier on him, they added me to the match.”
Rusev was later added as well, with Mahal saying the decision made perfect sense given the popularity of the “Rusev Day” movement at the time. “It made a ton of sense to put him in the match too. He needed a WrestleMania match himself, because when you’re that over, you want that shot of the crowd going crazy, as well as the merchandise.”
Despite Rusev entering the bout as the overwhelming fan favorite, Mahal was the one who left WrestleMania as United States Champion. “Rusev was the heavy, heavy favorite. I don’t think anybody expected me to win.”
Mahal also revealed that he didn’t learn he was winning the championship until the day of the event. “I actually found out that I was going to win that day.”
Even then, he said he wasn’t convinced it would actually happen, citing WWE’s history of changing plans at the last minute.
“When you hear that you’re going to go over, you’re going to win a title or a match, you don’t believe it until it actually happens, because things change last minute all the time. You could be in Gorilla and Vince changes his mind. I’ve actually been in a match, and Vince changed his mind about who’s gonna go over through the referee.”
