Former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal, now working under his real name Raj Dhesi, has offered three of his “hot takes” on the current WWE product, including a defense of Roman Reigns and an idea for the future of Oba Femi.
Speaking in a video published to Instagram, Dhesi addressed the recent debate over whether Reigns should be considered overrated. “Roman Reigns is not overrated.”
Dhesi argued that Reigns’ overall presentation separates him from virtually everyone else in professional wrestling. “Name anybody who can compete with Roman in terms of presentation, in terms of psychology, in terms of communication, in terms of aura.”
He did acknowledge that the criticism may have been easier to make earlier in Reigns’ career, before the character transformation that began in 2020. “Perhaps pre-pandemic Roman Reigns you could call overrated, but this version, no way.”
Dhesi’s second take concerned Oba Femi. Rather than continuing to present Femi as a babyface, he believes WWE should turn him heel and follow a similar blueprint to Brock Lesnar’s arrival on the main roster in 2002. “Turn Oba Femi heel, just like Brock Lesnar when he debuted. Have him destroy everybody and let the crowd naturally turn him babyface.”
Dhesi also proposed adding Paul Heyman to Femi’s presentation. “Put him with Paul Heyman.”
His third point concerned the development of young wrestlers and specifically their ability to communicate.
Dhesi referenced a video featuring NXT head writer Johnny Russo giving promo advice to athletes attending a WWE tryout and said aspiring wrestlers should pay close attention to it. “I agree 100%. If you’re a young wrestler, you must check this out. Again, the art of communication.”
According to Dhesi, the purpose of such exercises is not necessarily to see whether inexperienced recruits can immediately deliver polished wrestling promos. “They are seeing if you can convey emotions, if you can convey your story.”
He argued that character and traditional wrestling elements can be incorporated later once WWE knows that a performer can communicate authentically. “You can always spice up promos, you can add in character, and you do not want to see a bunch of athletes with no wrestling experience cutting wrestling promos.”
Otherwise, Dhesi believes forcing inexperienced recruits to imitate conventional wrestling promos could produce the wrong result. “It’s going to end up sounding like ’80s wrestling promos.”
