Jinder Mahal completed one of the most shocking ascensions to stardom WWE has ever seen. After years of being a jobber, getting released, and returning to be a jobber yet again, Mahal has flipped things around dramatically.
He won a number one contender’s battle royal on SmackDown Live six weeks ago, and since then, it’s been full speed ahead for The Maharaja. No one in WWE history has ever gone from a joke to a champion so quickly. Don’t bother pinching yourselves, because this is the reality. We’re in the era of Jinder Mahal.
We’ll have to wait and see what lies ahead for Mahal. But right now, he and WWE fans should relish the fact that there’s a fresh new champion. Regardless of what you may think of Mahal, he’s worked extremely hard to get to this point and could actually turn out to be a pretty solid champion.
Sportskeeda had a chance to speak with Mahal both before and after his shocking championship win. He spoke about his career milestones, his rise to stardom, and his championship win among other things.
Here are the five biggest highlights of what Mahal had to say.
#5 His WWE hiatus made all the difference
As we mentioned earlier, Mahal’s first run in WWE wasn’t exactly stellar. He made it to the finals of the inaugural NXT Championship tournament against Seth Rollins, but after losing that, things went downhill fast.
Mahal was put into a bunch of meaningless feuds before joining 3MB, which essentially meant his career was given a death sentence and was released in June of 2014. But Mahal did not sulk during his time away from WWE. Rather, he took it as an opportunity to improve as an all-around performer.
“I was just floating near the mid card and the bottom of the card so it was good that I got to go away to find myself as a performer and improve upon myself, improve my body, improve my promo skills and in-ring skills,” Mahal said.
That improvement has not gone unnoticed. Clearly, Mahal has gotten better in the ring and on the mic, but perhaps the most noticeable improvement is his physique. Part of being considered a credible talent is looking like one, and Mahal certainly used his time away from WWE to get better in that aspect.
But how did he do it?
#4 He feels at home on SmackDown LIVE and believes it’s the land of opportunity
SmackDown has been considered the land of opportunity since the brand split was initially implemented last summer. And it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to argue with that moniker. Just last night, the Fashion Police had a tag team title shot.
But more importantly, Jinder Mahal, someone who was the definition of a jobber just a few weeks ago, is now WWE champion. And Mahal himself realises that SmackDown is indeed the land of opportunity, and he believes he’s proven that.
“Raw is also a great show but I feel, for me, SmackDown is a better opportunity and I’ve run with the opportunity so far on the blue brand,” Mahal said.
It’s hard to dispute that considering what Mahal was doing on Raw before moving to SmackDown in the superstar shakeup. He was re-introduced to the WWE Universe by Heath Slater and since then had lost essentially every match he was in on Raw. Then he moved to SmackDown and suddenly he’s a main-event talent.
This has been a meteoric rise for Mahal, so it’s no surprise he’s appreciative of the opportunity presented to him on SmackDown.
#3 The secret to his diet and physique is consistency
Before Mahal won the WWE championship, he already had people talking about him. Why? Because his body type went from Sami Zayn to Batista in the matter of a few months.
This led to some people questioning the methods through which Mahal obtained this physique; in simpler terms, people have been relentlessly accusing him of using steroids. And it’s hard to blame them given the drastic and sudden change, but it may also be unfair to Mahal.
According to The Maharaja himself, his physical development has been all natural.
“The secret is consistency. I literally haven’t had a cheat meal in 3-4 months. I haven’t eaten anything I shouldn’t have. Even now, on the tour, I have my cooling bag with me and I carry 5 meals with me so that I eat every two hours,” Mahal said.
Sticking to such a strict diet is impressive, to say the least, and it has clearly yielded results. With Mahal now looking jacked up, he finally feels like a credible superstar. Well, that and winning the WWE championship have both contributed to his newfound credibility.
#2 He found out he was winning the WWE championship the day of Backlash
WWE has been criticised for changing their plans over and over before finally coming to a decision. And it’s a fair criticism. After all, if the on-screen product is going to be good, WWE should have creative plans in place well in advance. Changing match results the day of the event indicates that is not the case.
Even something as serious as last summer’s brand split wasn’t finalised until the night of the draft. They still hadn’t decided where some superstars would go, which is crazy considering the implications of having certain superstars on one roster or another.
But perhaps the most jarring case of WWE indecision is when they hadn’t decided who will be WWE Champion at the end of a given night. That’s what happened with Mahal at Backlash, as even he didn’t know the result until he got to the arena.
“I found out the day of,” Mahal said.
This is interesting on a few levels. First, it means that superstars may not know they’re about to realise their dream until a few hours before they do so, which is mind-boggling. But also, WWE truly does just go day by day.
So any plans or rumours you may have read online, don’t take them as absolute fact. For all we know, Vince will change his mind while fans are filing into the arena.
#1 He thanked India and offered his advice
Jinder Mahal may be an undisputed heel in WWE, but to many of his fans in India, he’s a hero. They feel that Mahal represents their country and seeing him with the WWE Championship around his shoulder has to be a proud feeling for them.
Mahal is very appreciative of his fans in India. Despite him being a heel, he openly thanked his fans in India and encouraged them to tune into SmackDown Live every week to watch him become, in his words, one of the greatest champions of all time.
Mahal also had some words of advice for the children of India, encouraging them to make good decisions and follow their dreams.
“I also want to send a message to India’s youth. Anything is possible. Especially in Punjab, there’s a huge drug problem right now. Stay away from that, take care of your body and respect yourself. Play sports, do exercise, stay healthy, get a good education and better your life. Anything is possible as long as you’re willing to put in the work,” Mahal said.
Nobody knows that’s true more than Mahal. The Maharaja became WWE champion strictly through hard work and dedication. It’s great to see him encouraging the youth of India to follow similar steps to achieve their own dreams.
