10 Things We Learned From WWE Champion Jinder Mahal On Talk Is Jericho

8. TNA Contacted Him Before His WWE Run

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WWE.com

Right before the WWE Draft last summer, reports began surfacing online that the company were interested in bringing back a slew of former stars to bolster the Raw and SmackDown rosters. Jinder Mahal was one of the names mentioned, but he very nearly ended up working for Impact Wrestling instead.

A few days before WWE contacted him about a return, Mahal received a call from TNA asking him to head down to Orlando for a chat about signing with the promotion. Before he could meet with TNA management, Jinder had pretty much already made his mind up about a WWE comeback. Even so, he met with Impact out of respect.

Imagine how different things would have been had Mahal agreed to test himself in TNA or signed with the company before WWE got in touch. No disrespect intended to TNA, but things have worked out much better for Jinder in the long run.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.