"I showed him the way" – Jinder Mahal claims Drew McIntyre wouldn't have been WWE Champion without him

Former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal declared that he paved the way for Drew McIntyre to become WWE Champion.

Jinder Mahal was in conversation with Fightful, where he spoke about laying out the blueprints that Drew McIntyre followed to win the WWE Championship. Mahal stated that Drew would have never become the champion if he hadn't shown the path to the Scottish Warrior.

Here's what The Modern Day Maharaja said about Drew McIntyre's success:

"I came to WWE before Drew. Came back. Became WWE Champion before Drew. Main evented all over the world before Drew. Did all this media before Drew. Now Drew touts himself as this great media machine and everything. Doesn’t stop talking about how much media he does. Guess what? We all do it. I was there. We all do it. We all have our turn. I’m still doing it. I just don’t advertise it," said Jinder Mahal.

Mahal doubled down on his claim of showing McIntyre the way and further expanded on his reasoning for believing so:

"You see Drew McIntyre wearing this suit. Where do you think he got his style from? The Maharaja, right? All the swagger, all this confidence. If there was no Modern Day Maharaja as WWE Champion, there would be no Drew McIntyre. I showed him the way. I showed him it was possible. I gave him the belief in himself," added Jinder Mahal.

Jinder Mahal will be on RAW next week for the semi-finals of the King of the Ring tournament. He will face Xavier Woods, a man many have touted as a favorite to win the tournament.

Earlier this week on SmackDown, Finn Balor defeated Sami Zayn to book his place in the finals. The winner of the Mahal-Woods encounter will face Balor in the Finals at WWE's high-profile event, Crown Jewel, in Saudi Arabia on October 21.

Drew McIntyre will face Big E at Crown Jewel

The Scottish Warrior will have one last opportunity to grab the WWE Championship before his imminent move to SmackDown. McIntyre is slated to take on Big E for the WWE Championship at Crown Jewel in one of the most anticipated matches of the high-profile event.

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Do you agree that Jinder Mahal laid out the blueprint for Drew McIntyre in the WWE? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.