Jinder Mahal On Finding Out He Was Winning Six-Pack Challenge, Who He Thought Would Win, His Goals
Professional wrestling great Chris Jericho recently caught up with WWE Champion Jinder Mahal. Among other things, Mahal talked about not putting effort into his work as a member of 3MB, his quick ascension up the card on WWE SmackDown Live, being grouped with The Bollywood Boys, hitting "rock bottom" prior to his return to WWE, and his goals.
During the interview, Mahal admitted that he was not putting effort into his work while a member of 3MB. Mahal claimed that he started to be positive and positive things started to happen to him.
"When I was in 3MB, I wasn't putting effort in and it reflected where I was. I hear people say 'where you are in life is exactly where you deserve to be'. It's like, wherever you are is based on how much effort you put in, how much you care, who you surround yourself with, positive people, negative people, the influences in your life, because, honestly, it's the strangest thing ever. I started being positive, and I started thinking positive, and positive stuff started happening."
Mahal seemed amazed at how quickly his fortunes have changed, from getting squashed on RAW one week and becoming the number one contender for the WWE Championship on SmackDown Live soon thereafter. The unstalled Mahal said he found out he was going over in the Six-Pack Challenge the day before the match.
"It's crazy how things can change like that and, like, I would always hear Vince [McMahon] say, 'fans have a short memory span,' so let's see." Mahal continued, "it's all about momentum and that one big win. I had heard the day before [the Six-Pack Challenge match]. Coincidentally, they're like, 'oh, you're in a six-pack challenge match.' I was like, 'oh, who's in it?' I said, 'like, Corbin?' And they were like, 'no, Corbin's not in it.' I was like, 'really?' They were like, 'no, you're working Randy [Orton] next.' I was like, 'what? Really?' So I talked to Randy later and he was like, 'yeah, yeah.' But I was like, 'things can change like they always do,' so I was like, 'we'll see when we get there.'"
On the subject of The Bollywood Boys, Jericho mentioned that he gave them a bit of a pep talk when the duo found out they were being taken off of 205 Live and put in NXT, and Mahal noted that he provided them with similar thoughts. Mahal stated that he found out The Singh Brothers would be his sidekicks the day it happened and that the union "adds more depth to the character."
"Actually, I told them the same thing, like, 'it might be better. If you're in NXT, you guys can just be a normal tag team. Maybe something will open up in the tag team division.'"
According to Mahal, two months before his return to WWE, he was drinking heavily, working the indies, and not caring. When Mahal started getting in better shape, WWE contacted him about a coming back to the fold.
"Actually, when I came back, I wasn't in as good shape as I am in now. So just to backtrack a little bit, maybe about two months before I came back, like, I had hit rock bottom. I was drinking all the time and I was eating and not watching what I eat. I was actually like 260 lbs., just fat. I'm sure there are pictures of me just working the indies and not caring. And then, one day, I stopped drinking completely. I was like, 'that's it. I'm going to start getting in shape. I stopped drinking and I got the meal prep from Nutrition Solutions, so shout out to Nutrition Solutions! And I just started dieting and training hard, and, literally, I lost 20 lbs., I was about 240 from the 260 I started with. And, literally, with two months of me doing this, the WWE called me. It was the strangest thing ever of two years, no one called me. Nothing. I was just doing my own thing and not really caring. So it was weird."
Mahal shared that giving up booze was fairly easy once he made up his mind to get in better shape.
"I just stopped cold turkey, just one day, just 'naw'. No, honestly, I feel great! I didn't realize this until a month or two after I stopped drinking, it just made me feel terrible!"
Mahal admitted that his goals are to have the best physique in WWE and to be a champion with the company.
"As of the new year, I started a day planner and every day I write down my goals. One my of goals is to have [the] best body in WWE. Do you know what's funny? Actually, one of my goals, I write it down every day, 'become champion in WWE'. And it's weird how like, if you put it out there?"
Get the remedy for boredom. If you use any of the quotes that appear in this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with an H/T to WrestlingINC for the transcription.
Source: Talk Is Jericho