Former WWE Star Jinder Mahal Says This Former Champ Is 'Levels Above'

If there is one man who can make the claim of having the most unpredictable run in WWE, it's Jinder Mahal. The now former WWE star worked as a lower-midcard talent for many years, before being catapulted into the main event scene and becoming WWE Champion in 2017 by defeating Randy Orton. During a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet for "Insight," Mahal opened up about what it was like working with Orton and how he believes that "The Viper" is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.

"I would say Randy, in my opinion, is the greatest," Mahal said. "If you look at longevity, look, his ability in the ring, his pacing, heel or babyface, good babyface, even better heel ... Randy to me is the best." Mahal explained that he learned a lot from Orton while he was number one contender to the WWE Championship in 2017, where he got to wrestle a main event style match against both Orton and AJ Styles on a European tour before his title shot. During this tour, Mahal revealed that he became more relaxed working the main event style, as he began to understand where and when he was meant to take his time to allow reactions to build. 

"Sometimes when you wrestle other guys lower on the card as I was myself, we've got to do so much to try and get a reaction. We plan too much of the match, but with those guys it's completely relaxed. Just like in the moment, listen to the crowd ... there's definitely a big difference." Mahal went on to say that Orton being able to master the art of simplicity in order to get a reaction from the crowd is why he is levels above most wrestlers.

Please credit "Insight" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.