What happened between Jinder Mahal and AEW star Hook? Know the incident that spread like wild fire

Jinder Mahal has left WWE, but fans perhaps shouldn't expect to see him join rival promotion AEW after the social media hailstorm that ensued between him and Hook. The duo were placed into the two promotions' world title pictures, leading to a heated debate about their credentials.

AEW President Tony Khan took a dig at Jinder Mahal on X/Twitter in January. He alluded to Hook's credibility to challenge Samoa Joe for the World Championship being criticized.

"A double standard: (Hook) 28-1 career record, on winning streak calls out the Champ, a logical challenge sparks online outrage. Jinder has literally lost every single match he's in for the past year, immediately gets title shot, where is the rage #AEWDynamite TOMORROW on TBS."

Jinder Mahal had challenged Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. This was despite the Canadian star rarely appearing on TV other than receiving a rock bottom from The Rock the week before.

Meanwhile, Hook was a prominent figure on AEW TV and went on an impressive winning run as Khan touched on. He's viewed as one of pro wrestling's most promising young talents.

Jinder Mahal responded to Tony Khan's comments on X by mocking Hook's notoriety with a now-deleted post:

"Who tf is Hook? WATCH MONDAY NIGHT RAW ON @USANETWORK MONDAY 8PM EST!!!"

The war of words ultimately didn't matter, as neither Mahal nor Hook won their respective world title matches. The former has left WWE for the second time in his career.

His second run with the Stamford-based company could not replicate the heights of winning the WWE Championship seven years ago.

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AEW star Hook's father, Taz, claimed Jinder Mahal was better than The Great Khali

Jinder Mahal shocked the pro wrestling world in May 2017 when he defeated Randy Orton to win the WWE Championship. He headed into that match as the major underdog, given he was up against one of the all-time greats.

There was similarly a debate regarding his resume to be challenging for the world title at the time. He was also amid a losing streak and got his opportunity by winning a six-way No.1 contenders match.

Hook's father, Taz, ironically described Mahal as a credible world title challenger. He compared him to The Great Khali, who was his sidekick around the time:

"He’s better. He’s a better worker. He’s better on the microphone. He can get a connectivity, whether negative or positive, with the audience. No disrespect to Khali, but I don’t think he’s anywhere physically or verbally that Jinder is." [H/T Fightful].

The Maharaja's world title reign lasted around six months before he dropped it to AJ Styles on an episode of SmackDown. It will be interesting to see where he ends up, but his social media rivalry with Tony Khan over Hook could rule AEW out.