WWE veteran speculates on why Jinder Mahal left (Exclusive)

Jinder Mahal recently announced his departure from WWE after 12 years with the company across two spells. Vince Russo, WWE's head writer in the late 1990s, believes the "vindictive" nature of the wrestling business might have played a part in his exit.

Mahal initially worked for WWE between 2010 and 2014 before receiving his release. Within a year of his 2016 return, The Modern Day Maharaja stunned the wrestling world by winning the WWE Championship.

Russo appeared on the latest episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's The Wrestling Outlaws show with Dr. Chris Featherstone and EC3. He speculated that one person's opinion could have resulted in Mahal being released from the company.

"There's some very vindictive people in professional wrestling, bro," Russo said. "And, bro, your career is in the hands of these people. So, bro, [a wrestler's career can be impacted] if somebody doesn't like you." [3:29 – 3:45]

Having worked in the wrestling business for more than two decades, Russo has witnessed people lose their jobs over small issues in the past.

"If somebody's got it out for you, and that's the thing, your career is in the hands of these people. Bro, somebody could have not liked Jinder Mahal because he was of Indian descent. You don't know that. You just don't know. All it takes is one person, and, bro, that's the thing that s*cks about professional wrestling," said Russo. [5:28 – 5:53]

Watch the video above to hear Russo's story about Nick Aldis receiving backstage heat after he failed to look a WWE legend in the eye.

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Vince Russo on Jinder Mahal and other wrestlers' lack of control

In 2022, EC3 founded the Control Your Narrative (CYN) wrestling promotion. He also began working for the NWA, where he currently holds the Worlds Heavyweight Championship.

Excluding EC3, Vince Russo added that other people dictate most wrestlers' career paths:

"Somebody like EC3, unless EC3 does what he's doing now, do you know how much is out of your control, bro? There is so much out of your control and out of your hands, and not a darn thing you can do about it, bro," lamented Russo. [5:53 – 6:09]

Jinder Mahal's final WWE match ended in defeat in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the April 5 episode of SmackDown.

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Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling's The Wrestling Outlaws and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.