At Monopoly Events’ For The Love of Wrestling, Raj Dhesi spoke about his WWE run as Jinder Mahal and how his role in 3MB led to his unlikely WWE Championship victory. Dhesi shared that when he first heard about Heath Slater getting a band, he speculated who’d be cast. While he saw names like Johnny ‘Fandango’ Curtis and Jon Moxley as potential band members, the idea was not for him.
“I jokingly said watch all be in the band complete joke and lo and behold I found out that I was going to be a member of the band.”
Dhesi was distraught at the idea of being part of the comedy group, equating the idea to “career s*icide.” After this initial shock, however, Dhesi decided to embrace the role, for better and worse.
“You just have to embrace it and we actually embraced it too much where we thought we were legit rock stars which led to the downfall.”
The downfall in question saw Dhesi released in 2014, a setback that forced the wrestler to re-evaluate his life. After focusing himself on getting in better shape, Dhesi was rehired in 2016 and became WWE Champion the following year.
“Without 3MB, there would be no Maharaja, there would be no WWE Champion.”
Dhesi’s story highlights the importance of wrestlers embracing what they are given as even the most unlikely characters can rise up to become World Champion. With all three members of the band seeing success after the group’s split, Dhesi’s unlikely journey to the WWE Champion is a story that should inspire wrestlers on all rungs of the proverbial ladder.
