WWE Champion Jinder Mahal was recently a guest on Roz & Mocha on Kiss 92.5 to promote this past Tuesday’s SmackDown Live. During the interview, Mahal discussed a number of professional wrestling topics including his journey back to WWE in 2014, when he was notified that he was going to win the WWE Championship, and fans’ reaction to him on social media. You can check out some highlights here below:
Journeying back to WWE following his 2014 release:
“I came back motivated, it was my second time coming back I was fortunate enough – WWE gave me an opportunity to return about a little over a year ago and I was going to take full advantage of that. I’m the hardest working WWE Superstar, I’m constantly working on my physique, my promos, my in ring abilities. I knocked off one of the all time greats, Randy Orton, a 13 time World Champion. But John Cena and Ric Flair have the record right now at 16 times, it’s my goal to beat them. I want to be the most winningest WWE champion of all time.”
When he found out he would be winning the WWE Championship:
“This one was king of sprung on my last minute. A lot of times it’s planned. I knew I was going to be a champion in WWE but not this soon. I thought I was working towards Intercontinental Champion or U.S. Champion and then work my way up, but they I was given the opportunity and I was ready. They gave me the opportunity and I had time, I was like “Oh I need a month or two to get ready.”
“So I was ready, I was ready to rock, I was ready to be the WWE Champion, I was ready to be the face of the WWE. It is a lot of pressure but I enjoy everything. I enjoy the media, doing what I’m doing right now, I enjoy the appearances, I enjoy main eventing the show, there’s pressure in that – and I perform better under pressure, that pressure is what motivates me.”
Fans’ reaction to him on social media:
“Yeah it’s very cool because either you love me or hate me. It’s nice to have some fresh faces in the title picture scene cause a lot of times it is the same guys, the franchise guys like Cena and Orton, and now like AJ Styles, he’s a big time player. So it’s great that my name is in the mix too cause just to be in the same level as guys like AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, and Shinsuke Nakamura who’s my opponent at SummerSlam August 20th, it’s truly an honor.
“It’s not something I take lightly so that motivates me every day so I’m going to continue to work hard and make Canada proud, make India proud, make everybody proud, make myself proud, my family proud. It’s awesome, I look forward to what the future brings, I still haven’t even hit my prime. I have a long long career ahead of me.”
You can listen to Mahal’s full interview with Roz & Mocha on Kiss 92.5 at this link.
H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions
