Ex-WWE Champion Enters Legal Battle With The Company

A former WWE Champion is not happy with the company and has launched a legal fight against it.

When Vince McMahon was forced to resign from WWE once and for all, Triple H assumed creative control of the company. Since then, WWE has continued to make cuts to its roster intermittently, and Jinder Mahal was a victim of one of these rounds of roster cuts in April 2024.

Previously speaking to Inside The Ropes, Mahal noted that he saw the writing on the wall when his travel would be cancelled at the last minute, and he admitted that not having a strong relationship with Triple H is what likely led to his exit from the company:

It’s great being paid, but it’s a terrible feeling when you’re not earning your money. You know like, hey, this is not going to be forever. There’s just a certain shelf life. I can only do this for so long until either I get used again—or they tell me, ‘Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.’

There was a very big difference for me in my personal experience between Vince and Triple H. I just never really built that relationship with Triple H. It could’ve been one of the reasons because I never really pitched anything. I just kind of said hi and that was it.

Jinder Mahal Files Petition Against WWE

Now competing as Raj Dhesi on the independent scene, the former WWE Champion has been forced to take legal action against his former employer so he can trademark his nickname of “The Maharaja.”

The USPTO previously rejected Dhesi’s attempts to trademark the phrase, noting that doing so could cause confusion with WWE’s own trademark of the phrase.

Dhesi has filed a petition to cancel WWE’s own trademark of the phrase, claiming that “WWE didn’t file to trademark ‘The Maharajah’ until April 2017” and that he had used the name years previously. WWE has until February 3rd, 2026, to respond to Dhesi’s petition.