SUMMARY
- Jinder Mahal was released by WWE on April 19, 2024.
- The Modern Day Maharaja's departure from the company was something not many expected to happen.
WrestleMania 40 ended up being a major milestone in the history of WWE, as it is being considered to be the best ever edition of The Show of Shows. With this, the company has officially entered a new era, but this shift hasn’t resulted in a setback for Jinder Mahal, as The Modern Day Maharaja has been released from the Stamford-based promotion.
Not just Mahal, but various other in-ring stars have been removed from the pro wrestling organization, but no other release has shocked fans more than the departure of Jinder. A major reason behind this is the stardom the veteran enjoyed in his recent run in the company, as he was involved in segments with top stars from the promotion.
In fact, the former WWE Champion was even a part of a major promo battle with The Final Boss, Dwayne Johnson, not too long ago, where he absolutely destroyed him. His interaction with The Rock took place on the Day 1 episode of Monday Night RAW, as The People’s Champion interrupted him during the special show.
After this, Mahal wasn’t able to control his frustration and took several shots at The Brahma Bull, after which he tried to take down the Hollywood star. Even though Jinder ended up taking a beating from Johnson, the way he cooked Dwayne and complimented him brilliantly got him a lot of praise from the pro wrestling audience.
In fact, just a week after his brilliance on the mic, WWE rewarded him with a huge opportunity, as he got a title match with Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship. It was something that nobody from the community expected to happen, but AEW CEO Tony Khan seemed a bit too angry by this booking decision by Triple H.
Tony’s furiousness was so high that he tweeted about it through his official X handle, and it started a kind of fan war on the social media platform. But after some time of Khan’s remarks against the underrated Indian-origin star responded to the comments, and it was an absolutely epic response from his side.
Jinder Mahal rattled the WWE Universe with his feud against Tony Khan
Even though Mahal deleted his response after some time, probably due to interference from the promotion, Jinder Mahal rattled the WWE Universe with his feud against Tony Khan. The way Jinder came out to tackle the remarks by something the fans praised a lot, and started supporting him in this matter.
In fact, after this, pro wrestling enthusiasts took the matter into their own hands and started trolling Tony in heavy numbers for his double standards. Amid the kind of influence Jinder’s online beef with Tony has on the community, it brought Mahal into the limelight. The Modern Day Maharaja became an internet sensation in no time.
In fact, this entire saga also helped him get a lot of support from the wrestling audience, as people backed him heavily after Tony Khan‘s controversial statement about him. Not only this, but they also pushed hard to see The Modern Day Maharaja win the world title once again, but it didn’t turn into reality, and after few months Jinder has been released.
Jinder Mahal’s career achievements and future plans
Jinder made his WWE debut back in 2011, as he was added to a storyline with Khali, after which they formed an alliance. But it didn’t take long for them to feud with each other. In the following year, Mahal, Drew McIntyre, and Heath Slater formed a new group, 3MB, and all three of them got a lot of TV time with this alliance, but after a couple of years with the stable, the Indian-origin star was released.
After this exit, Jinder Mahal started competing on the independent circuit and made a sensational comeback to the Triple H-led promotion in August 2016. In April 2017, he won an opportunity to challenge for the WWE Championship and eventually won the title at that year’s Backlash by defeating Randy Orton. This was a surprising move, but it became the biggest moment of Mahal’s career.
After a 170-day reign, The Modern Day Maharaja lost his title to AJ Styles on the November 7 episode of SmackDown. Following this loss, he won the US title at WrestleMania 34 and lost it to Jeff Hardy after just 8 days in his title reign. He also won the 24/7 Championship once, but that reign lasted just a few hours. After this, the Indian-origin pro wrestler was aligned with various people but never reached the same level of popularity.
But all this changed in 2024, as Mahal got the opportunity to be in the spotlight by participating in promo segments with Dwayne Johnson and Seth Rollins. Not just this, he also got an opportunity to fight for the World Heavyweight Championship, as he challenged The Visionary in January 2024 for the title.
From recently challenging Rollins to being released from WWE in April, Mahal’s career has been a roller coaster ride in recent months. Amid the kind of performances he gave in his recent appearances on television, many fans aren’t really able to believe that he’s no longer with the Triple H-led promotion, while others are curious about his future as a professional wrestler.
Jinder Mahal has been released by WWE, Fightful Select has confirmed pic.twitter.com/Uoef3ETF0h
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) April 20, 2024
Many wonder if Jinder is going to join All Elite Wrestling right away, but it doesn’t seem likely to happen due to their feud. If that’s really the case between these two parties, the independent circuit might be the best platform for The Modern Day Maharaja to prove himself. But he won’t be able to do so, at least for the next few months, as he is currently under a 90-day non-compete clause after his WWE exit.
As per this condition, the wrestler won’t be able to compete inside the ring anywhere around the world for the next three months. But he can obviously make a return to the ring after the clause is completed. Amid all this uncertainty about Jinder’s future, it remains to be seen what’s next for him as a wrestler. Moreover, it’ll be interesting to see if Jinder Mahal shares information about his future plans in the near future or not.