10 Things We Learned From WWE Champion Jinder Mahal On Talk Is Jericho
4. Mahal Hated The Idea Of An Anti-American Character At First
On that subject, and probably because of Bad News Brown's lecturing, Mahal initially hated the idea of playing an anti-American character during his career. This is something that has cropped back up for him recently, and the new WWE Champ even discussed how fans detest the idea of an Indian being their champion at Backlash.
Wrestling will never move away from using stereotypes for heat. The 'foreign menace' gimmick has been part of industry culture since the dawn of time and it's always one WWE make use of whenever they can. During the Talk Is Jericho interview, Mahal said he'd rather not play up to racism but did realise how such characters were part of wrestling's fabric.
Like it or not, the 'I'm an Indian, boo me for being different' character Mahal plays is here to stay. Gunning after xenophobia is nothing new in the American market either, but it's true that Jinder fancied trying something a little different and simply being a standard heel.