Jinder Mahal
Jinder Mahal returned to WWE tonight and will be a roster member on the RAW brand.
Mahal and free agent Heath Slater appeared and talked about starting the band back up, but Mick Foley interrupted them and said they’d have a match on the spot, with the winner getting a spot on the show. Slater downplayed it, but Mahal took the opportunity and kicked Slater, then slammed him down and made the cover to win the impromptu match.
Mahal had been one of the rumored names that would return to WWE and was spotted earlier today in the Atlanta area.
Who knew the ultimate test of friendship was a #RAW contract?! @HeathSlaterOMRB @JinderMahal #RAW https://t.co/ZKaAK5oXeK
— WWE (@WWE) August 2, 2016
Related: Updates On The Returns Of Several Former WWE Superstars
Pat Patterson
WWE.com shared a new excerpt from Pat Patterson’s new biography “Accepted: How the First Gay Superstar Changed WWE” detailing how the Royal Rumble match came to fruition. Patterson talks about how he came up with the match and how he presented the idea to Vince McMahon.
The more I kept running the idea over in my mind, the more it took shape and I was sure I was on to something. I felt it: every instinct in my body told me it would work. So I finally brought the idea to Vince. He laughed at the concept at first, saying that an hour was way too long to keep fans interested.
I didn’t get upset; I knew sometimes he needed time for ideas to sink in. But I made sure to say, “All right, but keep it in mind, will you? Because I know this can work.”
Sometime later, we had a meeting with the USA Network about doing a special. We worked on the special with Dick Ebersol, who did the Saturday Night Main Event shows with us for NBC. It was going to be a three-hour live show, but it needed something to take it to the level of a WrestleMania or Survivor Series. In desperation, Vince threw my idea out there.
“Pat, tell Dick about your stupid idea for that battle royal.”
“First, it’s not stupid. I think it’s a good idea. G****** it, I think it’s a great idea.”
Ebersol loved the concept right away. He immediately imagined the drama of the clock ticking down onscreen and the audience’s anxious anticipation of who was going enter the ring next being played out every two minutes.
“Vince, it’s great TV,” he said.
Vince told me to start putting it together, and I programmed the first Rumble all by myself. The final touches were completed at the arena on the morning of the show because I kept expecting Vince to give me some direction on where he wanted things to go. But he never did.
“It’s your match,” he told me when we got to the building.
We didn’t want to simply call it a battle royal. We had people at the office who came up with names and they submitted something like fifty of them to us. As soon as we read “Royal Rumble,” we knew we had the name. Personally, though, I didn’t care what it was called: I just wanted to see my idea to come to life.
The talent was freaking out on the morning of the show because of all of my detailed instructions. None of them had ever done a match quite like this before. When it was all said and done, I think they loved it. I was happy, too.
The first Royal Rumble was a success, but until it was over, we didn’t really know if it would work. I knew it was a unique idea, but until a crowd responds, it’s hard to know for sure.
Click here to read the rest of the excerpt, including Patterson’s idea for another addition he’d like to see for the match.
