Former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal recently shared his experience wrestling John Cena during an interview with MuscleMan Malcolm. Reflecting on their matches, Mahal spoke about Cena’s in-ring approach and an unexpected moment that challenged a well-known backstage directive.

“Yeah! It was so much fun. And with John, he doesn’t call a whole lot before. He just listens to the crowd and calls it in the ring," Mahal explained. He referenced one particular match that coincided with Baron Corbin’s Money in the Bank cash-in, an outcome they all knew was planned. However, it was an in-ring decision by Cena that caught Mahal off guard.

"I’ll tell you a funny story. I’ve always heard from producers etc., like, ‘Never do a test of strength.’ Vince [McMahon] hates it. He hates test of strength, he thinks it’s stupid," Mahal revealed. Despite that, Cena called for a test of strength early in their match. "So, I’m in the match, and Cena calls test of strength. And usually, when you do the test of strength, you kick him in the gut or whatever. So, I lock up with Cena. He doesn’t call anything, and we just go into the test of strength. And he goes all the way down and then comes up. And then I think finally said, ‘Kick me.’ I think."

Mahal pointed out how rare test-of-strength sequences are in modern WWE matches. "If you noticed, in the last decade, how many test of strengths have you seen in WWE? Unless it’s like maybe Lashley versus Braun Strowman. But just in a normal match, there is no test of strength."

Despite Vince McMahon’s supposed dislike of the spot, Mahal said there were no repercussions backstage. "So, when we came back, obviously, no one said anything. We got the thumbs up from Vince and yeah…"

He also reflected on his overall experience working with Cena and acknowledged the legend’s looming retirement. "Yeah, he mostly called it on the fly. It was so much fun. And he’s retiring soon. So, I’m glad I got to work him. We had some few more matches on live events, some tag matches, some dark matches. So, always a huge honor to be in there with John Cena."