Welcome to another edition of
OFF-TRACK with A-TRAIN
where I report on the weird and the wacky
in the world of wrestling
in this episode
JINDER MAHAL WANTS A MATCH WITH GRONK
AND I WILL TELL YOU WHY THAT'S A GOOD THING
Jinder Mahal is still WWE Champion.
He has been WWE Champion for 135 days.
His current reign is longer than the total number of days that Ric Flair held the belt. Or Eddie Guerrero. Or Chris Jericho. Or even "The Guy" and "Large Canine" Roman Reigns. Jinder's current reign is over twice as long Daniel Bryan's.
Jinder Mahal has just been announced for the RAW Live Events in New Delhi India on December 8 and 9. It is nearly impossible to believe that he won't still be WWE Champion for those dates.
Which means he's winning on Sunday at Hell in a Cell. Sorry, Nakamura fans.
It also means that his reign will extend to 200 days, surpassing the total combined reigns of Edge, AJ Styles, The Miz and Sheamus.
Seems legit.
No telling who he'll beat at those two WWE India events, but there is a light on the horizon for those of us who have found Jinder's run with the strap so unbearable that they're almost ready to swear off SmackDown for good.
On Sunday, December 17, there is a SmackDown exclusive PPV: Clash of Champions in Boston, Massachusetts. He will have fulfilled his duties, having sold all of those tickets to Indian fans on those two dates, and it will then be possible for him to lose the WWE title.
If you're pessimistic, I don't blame you. It's a damn abomination that Jinder's title reign lasted this long with the only storyline being "you people are racist, pay no attention to the fact that I can't win a match without my Men's Wearhouse Mini-Me's interfering on my behalf, wow you people are really racist!" The top brass in WWE evidently hasn't figured that out yet, so you would be forgiven for thinking he might keep the WWE title all the way till the Royal Rumble, or god forbid, WrestleMania.
But I'm here to give you some good news, and it comes in the form of a quote from The Modern Day Maharrrrrrrrrrrraja himself, speaking to Sports Illustrated.
“Rob Gronkowski cost me the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, and I haven’t forgot that. There is definitely unfinished business between myself and Gronkowski, and I can guarantee he’ll be getting his receipt.”
Hey remember that?
Remember six months ago, when Jinder was still a jobber, being elevated for one day into being the last guy eliminated from "The 'Dre" so that the WWE could give a mini-push to Mojo Rawley, the buddy of the NFL's biggest frat bro? And that frat bro technically won the match for Mojo and Jinder got all pissy about it for like two weeks before somebody went into a creative meeting and started their presentation by saying "Okay guys. Hear me out..... INDIA."
If you don't remember that Mania moment, you can watch it in the video at the top of the page.
Well, Jinder Mahal remembers.
Or at least, he's been told by creative that he's supposed to start remembering. Which means, they have plans to actually do this match. Jinder vs Gronk. One on One.
And the only place a match that big can happen is WrestleMania.
And they'd never have the WWE Championship go undefended at WrestleMania. It's not like it's The Intercontinental Championship or the SmackDown Tag Titles. That would be insane.
So unless the WWE plans on giving Rob Gronkowski a WWE Title shot, Jinder won't be the champ anymore.
