Philadelphia has some of the rowdiest crowds in America, or even in the world.
One time like 40 years ago, at an Eagles game, these people booed SANTA, for crying out loud.
And then there was the time when a certain "Big Dog" won the Royal Rumble, and everyone wanted a very different, more Daniel-Bryan-shaped wrestler to win, and the Philadelphia crowd tore the building in half with the sound of their booing.
That same building, the Wells Fargo Center, hosts Battleground this Sunday, and the main event of said PPV is a Punjabi Prison Match, between Champion Jinder Mahal and Challenger Randy Orton.
It is only the third Punjabi Prison Match in the history of WWE, because the first two were boring, nearly unwatchable slogs. It is yet another match in a feud that has lasted several months longer than it probably should, between a guy who hates America and a guy who pretty much hates everybody.
So to put a match of this type in front of this crowd is just begging for trouble.
Jinder Mahal doesn't mind, though. He thinks that because he'll be wrestling in front of the Philly fans, who have a tendency to go into business for themselves and cheer for things ironically, maybe he might not get booed for a change!
Maybe.
Speaking to PhillyVoice.com, Jinder said this:
"I love performing in Philly. The fans aren't scared to voice their opinions. Sometimes their opinions are split, sometimes half the crowd is chanting one thing, sometimes half the crowd is chanting the other. But, you know, I look forward to it. I really don't know how they're going to react. That's what's going to make the match exciting. I don't know if they're going to boo me out of the building or if they're going to boo Orton out of the building."
Sure, Jinder. Anything's possible.
I mean, you never can tell with Philly.
He then talked about the match stipulation itself, and revealed a crucial weakness in a match such as this:
He's afraid of heights.
"I do definitely know for sure they're going to enjoy the match. It's a Punjabi Prison match and it hasn't happened in 10 years, and the structure is truly a monstrosity. I brought the Punjabi Prison this week on SmackDown, and it's a spectacle. You've got to be there live just to appreciate the sheer size of it. It is a very risky match - for example, I went a little bit earlier and climbed the cage; it's high and I'm scared of heights - but I know the Philly crowd is going to be rocking that night and I gotta do what I gotta do. I'm going to take the risks that I have to take to retain the WWEChampionship."
Probably should have kept that a secret, Jinder. Randy Orton is a corpse-burning psychopath, and you tried to beat up his dad. I don't think he'd have any qualms about pushing you off the top of a cage.
You can read the entire interview at this link.