3 hours ago
6 ARTICLE AD


Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
It's now nearly been eight years since Raj Dhesi, then known as Jinder Mahal, defeated Randy Orton to win the WWE Championship at Backlash, in one of the most shocking title changes in wrestling history. Now, outside of the WWE bubble and working the independent circuit, Dhesi is taking a look back at the moment. At a "Monopoly Events" Q&A, Dhesi described what it was like being champion when asked by a fan.
"It's a dream come true," Dhesi said. "Just growing up, idolizing Bret Hart, who was the WWE Champion [when I was] growing up, just knowing the history, the lineage of so many great champions, it's an amazing feeling. But it's also very, very stressful, cause as you guys know, I went from bottom of middle card, to WWE Champion fairly quickly.
"Those are big, big shoes to fill, because as WWE Champion, the main event style is very, very different than when you're opening match or second match, or when you're really not that well established and you've got to work for reactions. But when you're WWE Champion in the main events, you have a certain confidence, you have a certain swagger. Everything is very different."
Dhesi credited Orton for helping prepare him for taking up the mantle as champion. Still, as supportive and helpful as Orton was, it's not hard to wonder if some of Dhesi's other co-workers were jealous of his success. To his recollection though, that wasn't the case.
"I think everybody knew my journey, everybody knew my story," Dhesi said. "And I think it was inspiring. It showed the rest of the locker room that any of us can rise up and become WWE Champion. Our destiny is really, really in our hands."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Monopoly Events" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription

