Yuvraj Singh Dhesi (born July 19, 1986) is best known by the ring name Jinder Mahal, is an Indo-Canadian professional wrestler who is signed to WWE, where he performs on the RAW brand.
Jinder Mahal joined WWE in 2017, making his debut on the Unforgiven pre-show on July 16th, 2017. Jinder Mahal then made his in-ring debut on the following episode of RAW on July 24th, 2017 where he was victorious. After a brief stint in the mid-card which involved a fail attempt at capturing the WWE Intercontinental Championship, Jinder Mahal was named as the representative for Team Triple H in the main event of Halloween Havoc where he would fight Adam Cole and Cesaro for the WWE Championship. In what was called the biggest upset in the history of the WWE Championship, Jinder Mahal won his first WWE Champion and is currently still the reigning champion. Jinder Mahal won the WWE championship a mere 98 days after his debut which is a WWE record. He picked up his second WWE Championship when he defeated Chuck Taylor at Summerslam. He is also a former WWE Tag Team Champion with Alberto Del Rio
World Wrestling Entertainment[]
WWE Debut []
Various Feuds (2017)[]
After his WWE debut at Unforgiven and various matches on RAW, Jinder Mahal finally entered his first program with The Velveteen Dream which accumulated in a match at Summerslam which Jinder Mahal lost. After attacking The Velveteen Dream, and injuring him. Velveteen Dream was then written off TV and Jinder Mahal entered a beat-the-clock challenge to challenge The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship on the September 25, 2017 edition of RAW. Jinder Mahal was successful in the beat-the-clock challenge, defeating Marty Scurll in 5:12. Jinder Mahal and The Miz then appeared on their respective TV shows, MizTV and Jinder Mahal's own parody of MizTV, MaharajaTV which he continued on after the feud as he had Cesaro as a guest on the November 13, 2017 ,edition of RAW. In their title match, Jinder Mahal failed to capture the Intercontinental Championship. This would be the last Jinder Mahal and The Miz feuded or fought in the ring until they were the final two in the traditional Survivor Series match at Survivor Series 2017.
After his failed venture at the Intercontinental Champion, it seemed management was still high on Jinder as he main evented the next weeks RAW which featured Tye Dillinger, Zack Sabre Jr and CM Punk. Jinder Mahal looked strong in the match, coming up better in the exchange he had with CM Punk towards the end of the match but ultimately failed to win. Jinder Mahal was then announced as the representative of Team Triple H in the main event of Halloween Havoc which was a triple threat barbed-wire match for the WWE Championship which featured Team Bella representative, Cesaro and Team Austin representative, Adam Cole. In the build for this match, Jinder Mahal continuously claimed that he was not being taken seriously as a threat to the WWE Championship and Cesaro was the true afterthought in the match. Two weeks before Halloween Havoc, The Singh Brothers made their WWE debut, assisting Jinder Mahal in his beatdown of his opponents, Adam Cole and Cesaro. The Singh Brothers would continuously play in a major factor in Jinder Mahal's matches as they would prevent Mahal from taking any damage from the barbed wires during the match and even tired the laces of Adam Cole's boot to the barbed wire which allowed Jinder Mahal to hit The Khallas on Cesaro, leading to his first WWE Championship.
WWE Champion (2017-present)[]
Jinder Mahal's WWE championship win was widely regarded as one of the most shocking WWE championships of all time as Jinder Mahal only made his WWE debut 98 days prior to Unforgiven. Also, Jinder Mahal had a record of 7-7 going into the match, one of the lowest win percentages in the history of WWE Champions. After his win, Adam Cole was not seen on TV and Jinder Mahal took full credit for that, claiming Adam Cole's body gave out on him as he could not handle the pressure of being WWE Champion.
His first match as WWE Champion came against fellow Team Triple H member, Dean Ambrose to decide the captain for Team Triple H. Jinder Mahal was unsuccessful in the match-up and claimed that he did not fight his best as he did not want to seriously hurt his 'best friend', Dean Ambrose. Over the upcoming weeks, leading to the Survivor Series 'Winner Takes All' match which involved Jinder Mahal defending his WWE Champion, Mahal interacted with numerous WWE superstars, creating allies and rivalries on the way. One Ally he gained was Dolph Ziggler who he made an agreement with that if he could keep Jinder Mahal champion until after New Years Revolution, he would give Dolph Ziggler a one-on-one WWE Championship match. This agreement was then changed to No Way Out after the 2018 PPV schedule was released. During their agreement, Jinder Mahal and Dolph Ziggler's relationship became more personal as it started out professionally as both superstars watched out for each other and were constantely high on each other's ability. For Ziggler, it became more about being at the top with Jinder than knocking Jinder off the top Due to their friendship, Dolph Ziggler was added to Team Triple H at Survivor Series.
Another ally he made on the way was with Dean Ambrose, who he claimed as his best friend. Their interactions would consistently be awkward as it seemed Dean Ambrose would never be interested in working with Mahal or understood anything he said. This was evident during Jinder Mahal's Punjabi Celebration promo as Dean Ambrose interrupted a song that was written and performed for him. Jinder Mahal was unhappy with Ambrose's interruption but for the sake of the team, beared with it for the sake of his team and his championship. Despite the odd couple, the duo seemed to be effective as team of Jinder Mahal and Dean Ambrose went 2-0 in their tag team encounters with Team Austin and Team Bella. Things finally dissolved at Survivor Series when Dean Ambrose turned on his team for his fiancee, Brie Bella. Triple H and Jinder Mahal were prepared for the situation as Triple H handed Ambrose a sledgehammer to knockout Ambrose before slumping The Miz on top of him, eliminating him in the process.
Jinder Mahal's main two enemies during his the build-up to Survivor Series were fellow Team Captains, Cesaro and The Miz. They had little interaction alone as it was usually with other people around but Jinder Mahal and Cesaro did have a heated exchange on the second edition of MaharajaTV which gained many positive reviews.
In his first official title defence, Jinder Mahal was the sole survivor for his team, Team Triple H. This not only meant he retained his WWE championship but due to the situation, Women's Champion Velvet Sky, and Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose who betrayed the team earlier in the night, retained their championships. Another stipulation of the match was Triple H would now gain control of RAW for the next two years, overthrowing Brie Bella as RAW General Manager after three years.
Post Survivor Series, Jinder Mahal seems to be the only member of Team Triple H who is strong allies with Triple H which was evident on the opening segment of the November 3, 2017, edition of RAW where Jinder Mahal introduced Triple H for his victory speech as the new owner of RAW. Due to his close relationship with Triple H who was viewed as The Corporate Machine, Jinder Mahal drew the ire of the anti-establishment rebel, CM Punk on Twitter. The two sparked nasty jabs at each other, Jinder Mahal threatening to get CM Punk's wife fired and CM Punk insisting Jinder Mahal and Stephanie McMahon were bound to have an affair due to Jinder Mahal's career path as a corporate favourite.
On December 9, 2017, Jinder Mahal defended his WWE Championship against The Big Show in a WWE Live Event in New Delhi, India.
Other Media[]
Jinder Mahal made his video game debut as WWE 2K18 DLC content, released in the 'Next Generation' pack.[]
Personal Life[]
Dhesi is of Punjabi Jat Sikh origin and speaks Punjabi, Hindi and English. He is the nephew of wrestler Gama Singh, who is considered a legendary villain in the original Stampede Wrestling. He wrestled around the globe and also briefly for the then WWE (World Wrestling Federation, also known as the WWF) in the 1980s.Dhesi also holds a business degree in communications and culture from the University of Calgary.
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Calgary-Shaw Graham Sucha tabled three documents before the Assembly, formally congratulating Mahal for winning the WWE Championship.
In Wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- The Khallas (Cobra Clutch Slam) - 2017 - Present
- Signature moves
- Running Jumping High Knee
- Pachāṛanā Kick (Side Kick)
- Scoop Slam Into Ropes/Barricade/Ring Apron
- Clothesline
- Forearm Smash
- Stalling Back Suplex
- Jumping Neckbreaker
- Death Valley Driver
- Jumping Big Boot to Kneeling Opponent
- Front Facelock w/ Knee Strikes
- Dragon Sleeper
- Middle Rope Knee Drop w/Theatrics
- Fallaway Slam
- Gorilla Press Slam
- Camel Clutch w/Ropes
- Nicknames
- The (Modern Day) Maharaja
- Managed By
- The Singh Brothers
- Dolph Ziggler
- Triple H
- Entrance Themes
- "Sher (Lion)" by Jim Johnston featuring Ali Kaz (July 16th, 2017 - Present)