WWE Champion Jinder Mahal recently spoke with Sports Illustrated. Here are some highlights:

His Poorly Received Shinsuke Nakamura Promo Some Considered Racist: “Every day in WWE is also an opportunity. I have to rise to the occasion every time I am given that opportunity, and that includes every promo on SmackDown, too.”

Becoming WWE Champion ‘Out Of Nowhere’: “There was originally no plan in place for me to become WWE champion. It felt like I became the number one contender out of nowhere. I call what I did forcing the results. I wasn’t happy with my position. I was putting in the work, but I wasn’t getting the results. I was going to force the result no matter what the cost.”

His Message to Rob Gronkowski: “Rob Gronkowski cost me the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, and I haven’t forgot that,” said Mahal. “There is definitely unfinished business between myself and Gronkowski, and I can guarantee he’ll be getting his receipt.”

Samir Singh’s Nasty Bump During the Punjabi Prison Match in July: “I kept watching him go higher and higher when he was fighting off Randy Orton, and when I thought he’d already went too high, he went one ring even higher. Then he hit the table real, real hard. Ultimately, they’ll tell you there is no price too high to pay for the Maharaja.”

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After his victory against Randy Orton at Sunday’s WWE Battleground event, WWE Champion Jinder Mahal spoke with Indian Express and talked about The Great Khali’s return to WWE.

“Not only on SmackDown live but also on the entire WWE, I run the show and call the shots. With the Great Khali behind me, I am truly unstoppable. I have a great relationship with Khali, he is like my older brother. As Indians, we stick together. He was the first person I contacted after announcing the Punjabi Prison Match. We are in contact all the time and he is one of my role models and I want to follow his footsteps. He has helped put India on the map of WWE and I hope he is happy with my performance at Battleground.”

As previously noted, WWE decided to bring Khali in to help give Jinder a rub. The feeling right now is that Jinder isn’t very popular in India, despite being WWE Champion. The belief is that aligning Jinder with Khali will help him in the long run in-terms of popularity in India.

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Welcome to WWE Battleground 2017!

The Punjabi Prison makes a (hopefully) triumphant return after a decade in a match that sees Randy Orton get one more shot at regaining the WWE Championship from Jinder Mahal. It’s no secret that the Punjabi Prison hasn’t had a good track record in WWE, particularly because it’s a weird match with silly rules, but tonight’s definitely has the chance to be the best ever! We’re hoping a decade will allow Randy and Jinder to learn from the mistakes of those before and build a pretty decent match. If nothing else the Prison is always a spectacle.

Also on tonight’s show, John Cena makes his triumphant return to the ring to face Rusev in a Flag Match. This match doesn’t feel all that important because we’ve seen this feud before and because flag matches are generally silly. Regardless, John Cena wrestling is always worth checking out because he’s become an attraction in WWE and here’s hoping his current run will last a while. Rusev’s return has been a very long time coming and fans were hoping that he would be given a strong run upon return and maybe that will be the case if he can eek a win tonight!

There’s a small truth in the women’s division that few people want to acknowledge: Naomi hasn’t had a real contender since winning the title at WrestleMania. Other than fighting Lana on a weekly basis, Naomi’s title run has been marred by a lack of competition. This has happened because the SmackDown ladies have been embroiled in a multi-woman feud for months and months. Tonight the company aims to end this long-running battle royal with a five-way match with the winner becoming the number one contender to Naomi. I don’t think there is a clear winner for this match because the two strongest challengers, Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair, are both babyfaces. The idea of Lana winning is painfully possible.

Also on tonight’s card, Shinsuke Nakamura takes on Baron Corbin, Sami Zayn looks for revenge against Mike Kanellis, The New Day get another shot at The Uso’s Tag Team Championships, and Kevin Owens will look to regain his US Championship from AJ Styles! Tonight’s Battleground is a pretty stacked card with some crazy match stipulations and it all starts with Tye Dillinger Vs. Aiden English on the Kick-Off Show at 7pm EST. And don’t forget, you can watch Talking Smack after Battleground! Download the free Ringside News app for all your wrasslin’ news, and the Ringside Talk app to join your fellow marks in conversing about the show. Enjoy!

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There is a rumor going around that former WWE Superstar The Great Khali is backstage in Philadelphia for tonight’s WWE Battleground event.

While Khali has not been confirmed to appear on camera tonight, it’s been speculated that he may appear in the main event match of Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship given his connection with the Punjabi Prison match. One of our readers also sent word that Khali posted photos of himself at the airport and on an airplane earlier this morning.

Khali last appeared for WWE on the October 31st, 2014 episode of SmackDown in a losing effort to Rusev. Khali left the company once his contract expired on November 13th, 2014th.

You can check out our full on-going coverage of tonight’s show at this link and also you can join us for our LIVE fan discussion on Ringsidetalk.net!

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Below are the final betting odds for tonight’s WWE Battleground event. It should be noted that there were several changes in odds from our post earlier today.

(Note: The lower the number, the more favorable they are of winning the match)

WWE Championship – Punjabi Prison Match
Jinder Mahal(c) -7500 vs Randy Orton +2500

WWE United States Championship
AJ Styles(c) -4950 vs Kevin Owens +1650

SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The New Day -5700 vs The Usos(c) +1900

Flag Match
John Cena -350 vs Rusev +250

Fatal 5 Way for the Smackdown Women’s Championship #1 Contendership
Natalya -1700 vs Charlotte +1100 vs Becky Lynch +5000 vs Lana +6500 vs Tamina +9500

Shinsuke Nakamura -2450 vs Baron Corbin +1150

Sami Zayn -3250 vs Mike Kanellis +1350

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WWE has announced Sami Zayn vs. Mike Kanellis for this Sunday’s WWE Battleground event. Here is the updated card for the show:

Punjabi Prison for the WWE Title
Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal

WWE United States Title Match
Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles

SmackDown Tag Team Title Match
The New Day vs. The Usos

Flag Match
Rusev vs. John Cena

Fatal 5 Way Elimination Match to Crown a New #1 Contender
Charlotte Flair vs. Lana vs. Becky Lynch vs. Tamina Snuka vs. Natalya

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin

Sami Zayn vs. Mike Kanellis

Kickoff
Aiden English vs. Tye Dillinger

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Shane McMahon announced on tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live that the winner of a 5-Way Elimination Match at WWE Battleground will earn a shot at the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Here is the updated card:

WWE Title: Punjabi Prison match
Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal

SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The New Day vs. The Usos

#1 Contendership for the SmackDown Women’s Championship: Fatal 5-Way
Charlotte vs. Natalya vs. Tamina vs. Becky Lynch vs. Lana

Flag match
Rusev vs. John Cena

Battleground takes place on July 23rd from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

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The following card is being rumored for the upcoming SmackDown-brand WWE Battleground event:

Punjabi Prison Match for the WWE Championship
Jinder Mahal (C) vs. Randy Orton

Tag Team match for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships
The New Day (C) vs. The Usos

WWE the United States Championship
Kevin Owens (C) vs. AJ Styles

SmackDown Women’s Championship
Lana vs. Naomi

Rusev vs. John Cena

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin

Sami Zayn vs. Mike Kanellis

WWE Battleground takes place on July 23rd from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. As always, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of the event.

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AJ Styles won the Independence Day Battle Royal on tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live to earn a shot at Kevin Owen’s United States Championship title at the upcoming WWE Battleground event. Here is the updated card:

WWE Title: Punjabi Prison match
Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal

WWE United States Championship
AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens

SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The New Day vs. The Usos

Flag match
Rusev vs. John Cena

Battleground takes place on July 23rd from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

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PWInsider has confirmed speculation that WWE is planning on bringing back the Punjabi Prison match for the upcoming WWE Battleground pay-per-view event.

PWI claims that their sources have informed them that the match will indeed taking place on the card. The match is expected to see Jinder Mahal defend his WWE Title against Randy Orton. This will be the 3rd Punjabi Prison match in WWE history.

The post Rumored Stipulation Confirmed for WWE Battleground appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.