10 Fascinating Facts About WWE In 2017
6. Jinder Mahal Was Forced To Do THAT Promo
What was that about Vince-led tyranny?
On the 12 September and 19 September 2017 editions of SmackDown, Jinder Mahal hit the ring to cut two pretty damn racist promos on WWE Title challenger Shinsuke Nakamura. Both included moments where Jinder mocked Shin’s voice. In the second one, he even referred to Nakamura as Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid.
Mahal has since told Chris Van Vliet's 'Insight' show that he never wanted to do either promo, but wasn’t left with much of a choice. McMahon himself had penned them word-for-word. When Jinder expressed reservations, he was told not to worry because “it’s not you - it’s a character”. Even so, Mahal knew it’d get some backlash.
Sure enough, when he returned back through the curtain the second time, WWE’s PR team were flapping. They instructed the reigning WWE Champ to type out a statement on socials, but Vince told him not to post it. Worse, Jinder claims he was literally told to do the second promo or pack his bags and go home.
What a nightmare situation to put somebody in.