WWE allegedly took the world championship off Jinder Mahal a few years ago because Brock Lesnar did not want to wrestle the superstar. The interesting backstage detail came to light in this week's Wrestling Observer Radio, where Dave Meltzer briefly discussed Mahal's WWE title run.
The former 3MB member's 170-day reign ended abruptly before the 2017 Survivor Series as AJ Styles beat him for the title on a SmackDown episode.
The Phenomenal One replaced Mahal in the Champion vs. Champion match and went on to have a memorable outing with Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series.
"You know why they did that? Because Brock did not want to work with him [Jinder Mahal]," revealed Dave Meltzer.
AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series 2017 was great
— Alex McCarthy (@AlexM_talkSPORT) September 18, 2020
And for weeks before that, they had promoted Jinder Mahal Vs Brock Lesnar.
Like, a big part of me wants to know how WWE would have done that match at a time where they were booking Jinder strong! pic.twitter.com/g9hTZINJSo
By the time 2019 came along, Jinder Mahal had been relegated to the 24/7 title scene and was involved in multiple angles with R-Truth. He eventually took some time off from WWE to take care of long-standing injuries and returned to action in 2021 for the Superstar Spectacle event.
Jinder Mahal's heel collective featuring Shanky and Veer didn't last long either, as the latter was sent to RAW. As things stand, Mahal and Shanky are still together and continue to get featured on SmackDown while fans await the reintroduction of Veer Mahan.