Jinder Mahal just finished up a crazy media tour in India to promote WWE’s upcoming shows in New Delhi. Mahal will be facing Kevin Owens during the tour but he is already looking ahead to 2018.

During a recent Q&A session, one fan asked him who he would like to face at WrestleMania. Mahal laid down an “official challenge” to John Cena. Mahal said, “At WrestleMania 34, I would like to face John Cena for my WWE Championship. It could happen because I fully intend on being WWE Champion come WrestleMania and even after WrestleMania. So, John Cena, let’s say that this is an official challenge to you.”

It sounded like he was serious and Cena is expected to be at Mania in New Orleans so this match is a possibility. Currently, Cena is tied with Ric Flair for the official record (as recognized by WWE) for most title reigns. Cena has already indicated that he will be cutting down on his wrestling schedule so the window for WWE to get another title reign out of him is closing. Also, I am sure that the goal is for Cena to break Flair’s record since the company has been pushing Cena as the “greatest of all-time” on commentary. If they want Cena to break the record then WrestleMania in New Orleans would be the right time for him to do it.

The official @WWEIndia account tweeted the clip of Mahal issuing the challenge:

Several wrestlers reportedly seeking advice from Cody Rhodes as they plan their exit from WWE

Joe Lanza, who has connections in the wrestling business and a good track record with backstage news, talked about the departures of Neville and Jimmy Jacobs on the VOW Flagship Podcast.

He talked about how people like Cody Rhodes were able to leave the company and do very well financially on the independent scene. The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, and Cody Rhodes are just a few examples of names that have been able to make a nice living without the WWE machine pushing them and people that are currently with WWE have taken notice. Lanza said, “[Cody] doesn’t have any plans on going to WWE anytime soon. There’s wrestlers in WWE going to him and getting advice on their own exit plans from the company. I know this for a fact. I can’t give you the names. I know that’s a bit of a dick tease [but] I can’t say the names but there’s wrestlers that go to him for advice on how to leave the company.”

Lanza also had an interesting note on the 205 Live wrestlers and the money that they are not getting for the WWE 2K18 game. The 2K video game checks are usually the biggest checks of the year for talent so you could imagine the frustration from the 205 Live talent not getting the same pay as the rest of the roster. Lanza said, “From what we are told, the 205 Live talent that made their way onto the 2K video game this year are not getting a piece of the sales like everybody else. They’re getting a flat fee. Why? I don’t know.”

Lanza said that most of the 205 Live roster is not happy to be there because they are not making a lot of money. The wrestlers on that show are considered to be at the “kids table” and are getting scraps. Neville, according to Lanza, was promised a real push on Raw and it never happened. A real push would mean better pay and being treated as more than just a cruiserweight sideshow. But, he was passed over for Enzo Amore and was booked to lose to him again last Monday. So, you could imagine his frustration because he’s done everything to get himself over this year.

We’ve said it before on this site that the roster is huge between the main roster (Raw/Smackdown), 205 Live, NXT and the people at the Performance Center that are getting ready to move into NXT. It would be smart for every lower or mid-card wrestler to have an exit plan because, at some point, there will be a time when management will decide to release a bunch of wrestlers.

Brock Lesnar vs. Jinder Mahal planned for WWE Survivor Series

WWE has big plans for next month’s dual-branded Survivor Series pay-per-view.

As first reported by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer daily update, the current plan is for Brock Lesnar vs. Jinder Mahal in a non-title match. This might be the first time that they’ve wrestled each other. It’s certainly the first time that they’ve wrestled each other since Mahal returned to the company last year.

It’s no surprise that no titles will be on the line for this show because there are long-term plans for Lesnar heading into WrestleMania and the plans are for Mahal to be champion when WWE tours India in December and he will be the babyface. For those of you that missed it, click here to read who Mahal’s opponent will be for the shows in India.

So far, there is no word yet what other matches are planned for the show. It will be a big weekend for WWE as they will run 4 shows from the Toyota Center in Houston, TX on consecutive days with NXT Takeover: War Games on 11/19, Survivor Series on 11/20, Raw on 11/21, and Smackdown Live on 11/22.

As of today, Lesnar is scheduled to appear on Raw on 10/23 in Green Bay and the Survivor Series go-home show on 11/13 in Atlanta so it’s very likely that we’ll see Mahal on Raw to hype the match with Lesnar.

WWE Hall Of Famer rips Shane McMahon for jumping off the Hell in a Cell

The insane bump from the top of the Hell in a Cell has gotten a mixed reaction from fans. Some loved the stunt while others showed concern and wished that he would never do anything like that again. There’s one WWE Hall Of Famer that wasn’t happy with McMahon’s jump from the cell.

The always outspoken former WWWF Champion and Hall Of Famer “Superstar” Billy Graham took to Facebook to rip on McMahon and WWE for the stunt. He started off by referring to him as Shane “Idiot” McMahon. Graham continued, “As always, the WWE will first lie to us, then when they get caught they tell the fans the truth. I consider Shane McMahon to be nothing more than a rich man’s foolish son.”

Graham also referred to WWE’s statement that claimed that McMahon was taken to a local medical facility following the pay-per-view. Graham continued, “In a deliberate attempt to deceive us, the WWE released a statement that daddy’s little son was just fine after this leap below and now they have told us that he really is hurt. Disgusting and I have no sympathy for this spoiled brat and maybe he won’t try to defy gravity ever again for a worthless, meaningless, and dumb as Hell cheap pop.”

Make no mistake that McMahon was hurt during the match. In fact, he was hurting after the coast-to-coast dropkick long before the big jump from the top of the cell. Even People.com had a story up about McMahon being rushed to the hospital. We don’t actually know if he was actually rushed to the hospital because WWE’s medical update was a mixture of real and fiction but the fact is that he was pretty banged up after the show and, at 47 years old, he might want to consider slowing down and not doing these type of crazy stunts.

Graham isn’t the only person bothered by McMahon’s stunts at big shows. Many wrestlers have privately grumbled about McMahon because he can get away with doing these big stunts and then taking off whenever he wants to recover while the rest of the roster is working 4-5 nights per week. Don’t get me wrong because wrestlers like him but there is some resentment from wrestlers that feel that McMahon is able to position himself as being superhuman for one or two matches per year and taking a spot (and a big payday) from someone else.

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