Jinder Mahal Dives Into the Making of His WWE RAW Day One Moment with The Rock

Jinder Mahal experienced major eyeballs and media attention at the start of 2024. One of the prime reasons was an altercation with the biggest star in entertainment, The Rock on the first edition of Monday Night RAW of the new year.

During a recent conversation with The Gorilla Position, Jinder revealed that he found out about his segment with The Rock when he returned to the road after the Christmas break, getting a call from one of WWE’s writers.

Moreover, he credited The Great One for making him feel comfortable during the entire promo and opened up on the events following the segment with The Rock that included an entire social media fiasco with AEW’s Tony Khan and a huge title opportunity against Seth Rollins.

“I didn’t pitch it. I went home for Christmas. When I landed back in Tampa, I got a call from one of the writers, ‘I think you’ve probably seen on social media, we announced a WWE Champion will return.’ Yeah, it’s me, but….I knew a big kicker was coming. ‘There’s going to be a big switch, you’re actually with The Rock. Don’t tell anybody.’ I found out a few days earlier. What an awesome moment. I was super excited. The Rock is one of the most amazing performers of all time. Super giving. Super easy. That was the most relaxed I’ve been in a promo. He’s an absolute pro. In the meantime, I’ve been working with an acting coach. That was a different side of me I got to show and I got a lot of positive comments and a very positive response overall in my performance. Followed it up with a promo against Seth Rollins. Had a title match. All in all, was a great start to the year. I wasn’t planning on it, but luckily, I stay ready year-round. That’s WWE, anything can happen at anytime. Just like when I became WWE Champion out of nowhere.” 

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He further opened up about how it felt working with The Most Electrifying Man in all Entertainment and his belief that The Rock as the new TKO Board member would take WWE to unprecedented heights.

“Unbelievable. Obviously, he’s now a board member, so he brings a different side of entertainment to WWE. I believe it’s only going to make us bigger. Coincides with Raw moving to Netflix next year. It’s an amazing time. An amazing time for the company. We’re exploring uncharted territory in terms of growth. All of us performers in the locker room are super excited. Dwayne is a very giving performer. Based off my experience, he’s always been super helpful. Anytime he’s there on Raw or SmackDown, he hangs out after. He’s super approachable, he gets along with everybody. Overall, it’s a positive thing.”

The Rock has recently joined his iconic cousin, Roman Reigns, and his Bloodline to combat their sworn enemy on the road to WrestleMania 40, The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes. He is scheduled to appear on this week’s SmackDown to address the comments made by Rhodes and his new ally, Seth Rollins at the Elimination Chamber PLE regarding their feud.

What are your thoughts on Jinder Mahal’s segment with The Rock? Do you think he benefitted from the segment on RAW? Sound off in the comments!