Mahal’s win was tainted with controversy.
Indo-Canadian wrestler Jinder Mahal, who recently won the WWE Championship, retained his title on Monday by winning WWE Money in the Bank match, once again beating Randy Orton.
The 30-year-old Mahal said that his second win against Orton whom he previously defeated to clinch the coveted title is sweeter as St. Louis, Missouri, is the hometown of his adversary.
“It (the win) feels great, obviously, I retained my championship and it was extra special because I got to defeat Randy Orton in his hometown,” said Mahal after the match.
“Everything was stacked against me, everybody booed me, but I stayed focussed and my goal was to retain the WWE championship which I did,” he added.
Mahal’s win was tainted with controversy after the Singh brothers (Sunil and Samir) beat up Orton’s father who was present among the audience, to distract the latter, who is a 13-time winner of WWE Championship. In his speech after the victory, Mahal thanked the Singh brothers for watching his back and helping him retain the title.
“Will do whatever it takes to win; lucky I have the Singh brothers watching my back and my goal still remains the same, to be one of the greatest champions of all time,” said Mahal.
With the win against Orton who faced humiliation in front of his home crowd and family, Mahal can now walk into SummerSlam pay-per-view to be held in August as the WWE Champion to wrestle with the new Money in the Bank contract winner, Baron Corbin.
“I am very proud to be representing India. I look forward to keeping making you guys proud be it on American soil, Indian soil, in Japan, in China or all over the world, it doesn’t matter, because in my heart I represent India all the time and I am very proud to be WWE champion,” added Mahal after the fierce battle for retaining the title.
Mahal is the second wrestler of Indian descent, after the Great Khali, to win a world championship in the WWE. Khali had won the World Heavyweight Championship in 2007.
Mahal is the nephew of Indian professional wrestler Gama Singh and holds a business degree in communications and culture from the University of Calgary.
The official WWE website said, “The Indian Superstar is the very definition of a self-made man, having battled his way to the WWE Championship despite suffering trials and tribulations that would have sent a lesser person running for the hills.”
“Mahal made it his business to target the biggest dog in the yard from his first days in WWE when he confronted the towering Great Khali. And even when Mahal found himself set back by his own ambitions, The Maharaja continued to press for the peak, forming unusual alliances and adopting new styles to improve his game and approach the mountaintop from a different path,” it added.