The reigning WWE Champion, Jinder Mahal, spoke with Al Arabiya English prior to his WWE Title defense at SummerSlam against Shinsuke Nakamura. Jinder touched on his relationship with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, his mindset following his WWE release & wanting to inspire other Indian wrestlers.
Here are the highlights:
Jinder On Wanting To Inspire Other Indian Wrestlers:
“Everybody is very excited. Every week I do Indian media, but also cities in North America have huge Indian populations. Last week, Smackdown Live was in Toronto, which has a huge Indian population and you can see the reception they gave me. Everywhere I go, I can go to the mall and see Indian people that are very excited and empowered about having an Indian WWE champion, but hopefully I’m not the last. I want to inspire the next generation of Indians to become WWE champions, or whatever their goals may be. I want to inspire the youth.”
Fans Booing The Indian National Anthem:
“It was a very small negative reaction but overall everyone was very happy. I think that’s the first time that the Indian national anthem has ever been sung on such a huge platform. I think everyone was very proud that our culture has been showed. I want to make sure that everything we do is authentic, is the real thing. Very few people are offended by it.”
Jinder On His WWE Release & Coming Back Stronger:
“I had mixed feelings about my release. Obviously I was very sad and disappointed because it was my goal to be a WWE Superstar my whole life and not only that, a WWE champion. I felt like I had let myself down. I was a disappointment to myself, I felt like I didn’t give it 100 percent. But also at the same time, I was kind of unhappy at the moment in 3MB. I wasn’t progressing the way I felt I should be, which was ultimately my fault because I wasn’t putting in the work. In order to succeed in WWE, you’re responsible. If you put in 100 percent, you get back 100 percent, a lot of it is mental, just my mental attitude has changed, I have a very positive outlook, I set goals for myself and I write down my goals. I read a lot of self-help books, I listen to a lot of podcasts and just thinking positive, positive things are starting to happen in my life. I’m a firm believer that you get back what you put in.”
His Relationship With Vince McMahon:
“My relationship with Vince is great. He’s actually the first person I talk to after any match or any promo, whereas before, my relationship with Vince wasn’t that great because I would just avoid him. Obviously Vince is very intimidating, but once you get to know him, he’s very friendly and very helpful, he wants to help you. He wants to see you succeed, because when you succeed, WWE succeeds. It’s his baby, it’s his business, it’s his brainchild and he wishes nothing but the best for it. I see a lot of change, characters in WWE are constantly evolving. I want to add more depth and layers to my character, maybe show a little more of my real personality. I’m kind of a funny guy, I’m fun to be around, but sometimes my character is very serious. I still have that side to show; you saw a little of that with 3MB, but I think we can find more balance between the two. I just turned 31 so I feel I haven’t even hit my prime yet.”
