Jinder Mahal breaks his silence on the rumor that Brock Lesnar refused to face him

The former WWE champion, Jinder Mahal, offered an unfiltered perspective on his historic reign in 2017 and addressed the persistent rumors alleging that Brock Lesnar had refused to face him at Survivor Series. In an interview with Inside The Ropes, Mahal defended Lesnar, refuting the narrative that the change of plans was due to a lack of willingness from "The Beast Incarnate".

Mahal recalled that the original planned match was a Champion vs. Champion encounter, with no title on the line, against Universal Champion Brock Lesnar. However, the plan changed just before the event during a European tour, when Mahal lost the WWE Championship to AJ Styles in Manchester. According to Mahal, Vince McMahon justified the change citing a marketing mistake that had advertised the match as title bout when it shouldn't have been, so he decided to give the title to Styles for the match with Lesnar.

Years after the event, reports emerged in the specialized press claiming that Lesnar had rejected working with Mahal. The wrestler refuted this version, stating that Lesnar always showed him "the utmost respect" and that nobody from the company informed him of such refusal. Mahal believes that the truth is simpler: management considered a match between AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar would be "better" due to the heel vs. babyface dynamic and the size difference, a decision he agreed with.

Mahal praised the final decision, highlighting that the resulting match between Styles and Lesnar was "fantastic, much better than what he and Brock would have had." Finally, the former champion concluded that the rumor of Lesnar's refusal is a false narrative that emerged years after the event, and not at the time of the change. In this way, Jinder Mahal offered his version and put an end to the mystery surrounding one of the most controversial moments of his WWE Champion career.