Former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal has revealed that a backstage mistake involving Finn Balor nearly cost him his WWE career just weeks before his unlikely rise to the top of the company.
Speaking on TMZ Inside The Ring, Jinder Mahal recalled accidentally concussing Finn Balor during a match on Raw after mistiming a routine sequence the pair had performed numerous times.
“He was coming off the ropes. I gave him a forearm, just missed timing,” Mahal said. “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 following the incident and revealed that Vince McMahon confronted him immediately after the match.
“I felt terrible when I came into Gorilla. Vince told me himself, like, ‘I should fire you,'” Mahal recalled.
Jinder Mahal Went On To Receive A Huge Push Despite Being Threatened With Firing
Despite fearing the worst, Jinder Mahal’s career took a dramatic turn almost immediately afterwards.
“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,” he said. “Everything could have ended.”
Mahal also recalled speaking with Road Dogg backstage, explaining that he was prepared to accept whatever consequences came his way.
“Hey, Dogg, if I’m in the dog house and I gotta learn to eat, you know what, I’m gonna learn to love it,” Mahal said.
Instead of seeing his push come to an end, Mahal was drafted to SmackDown shortly afterwards, then defeated Randy Orton to capture the WWE Championship in May 2017.
