AEW Star Has Nothing But Love For Jinder Mahal

One AEW star won’t be hindering Jinder Mahal.

After finding himself lost in the WWE wilderness in recent years, Jinder Mahal was thrown back into the spotlight on the January 1st episode of Raw. On the show, Mahal was confronted and promptly laid out by The Rock, but this segued into a short feud with World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins.

The situation caused much consternation among WWE’s fanbase, with even AEW boss Tony Khan getting involved in the online scrum.

However, there has been some support for the former WWE Champion. Speaking on his Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, Hardy said Mahal delivered an excellent heel performance.

“I like Jinder as a person and I also liked him as a performer, too. I thought he was an excellent heel. I thought he was good. I thought he really had the ability to piss people off in the most authentic way possible… I am not a Jinder hinderer.”

Hardy added that he believes wrestling is more about the story than “athlete’s records.”

“I thought he was getting steam as a heel. I’m not huge on the win/loss thing. I feel like wrestling is more about the story than the actual athlete’s records. That’s me though. I know not everybody’s like that. It is important to win, there’s times that people should win because they’re in a scenario and they’re in a story where it’s time for them to win and the blowoff to happen.

But even when that happened, I do remember hearing his reaction at some of the events and he was very booed and people wanted to see him get beat up. So I get why they tried it…. I didn’t have an issue with it.”

Seth Rollins’ WrestleMania Plans In Doubt After Jinder Mahal Clash

While the World Title match would prove to be a big moment for Mahal, Rollins was much less fortunate.

It’s been reported that Seth Rollins suffered a knee injury during the match, and there are now fears he could even miss WrestleMania. It’s been announced that Rollins will address his current status on the January 22nd episode of Raw, but things might not be as bad as first feared.

According to a recent report, Rollins sustained a torn MCL and a partially torn meniscus, but crucially, his recovery period would see him back in action for WrestleMania 40.

H/t to Wrestle Talk