Jinder Mahal Discusses Being Released From WWE, Winning The Championship, More

Jinder Mahal was recently interviewed by Corey Graves on his After The Bell podcast, where he discussed a number of topics. Among them was his release from WWE, being re-hired and winning the WWE Championship, Indus Sher, and more.

Below are some highlights from the interview:

Mahal on being released and then becoming WWE Champion:

“Ten months before I became WWE Champion, I was an independent wrestler. I got released from WWE in 2014. I wasn’t even with WWE. I had came back during the brand split. They had reintroduced the separate rosters for Raw And SmackDown, and actually, I had just come back to kind of fill a roster space. I was ready for television. I was a guy that I can throw on and make the other guys look good. But just knowing what I had gone through with being released and having all those regrets and knowing that if I ever had another opportunity, I was gonna knock it out of the ballpark. I was gonna give it my all. I wasn’t gonna compromise with myself, with my training, with my discipline, with my self-belief, so I just gave it my all and became WWE Champion 10 months later. I don’t think that’s ever happened before where someone was released and came back and within that short of a timespan, completely changed and reinvented myself. Just the confidence, the swagger, the Singh Brothers, the entire package, the presentation, yeah, I really transformed myself into a champion and that’s what you have to do. You have to become the champion before you become the champion.”

“A lot of it was just working on the mental aspects of the game. I never had done this before where I read motivation books and listened to podcasts on YouTube. When I trained, I would have CT Fletcher in my headphones. I just really worked on my mental space. It’s not mentioned enough. You know, a lot of people think like, ‘WWE, I’m just gonna work really hard.’ When things aren’t going your way unless you really work on your mental headspace, you’re going to get down, and when you’re down, you become unmotivated. I just learned that no one stays down forever. You work hard and you believe in yourself, and that’s the main thing. If you believe in yourself, anything is possible. Unless you believe in yourself and you see yourself as a champion, you’re not going to become a champion in WWE. People can see right through it. You want to have that confidence. That’s the major part of the game. I think what’s neglected is the mental training.”

Mahal on Indus Sher:

“It’s an ancient civilization. It’s one of the earliest civilizations ever in the Indus Valley. That’s where the word India comes from, from Indus. It’s an ancient civilization of warriors, slowly transforming into what is modern-day India. Modern-day India is so diverse and just rich in culture, but also at the same time, it’s very modern. It’s an incredible place. Sher means lions, so lions of Indus, and Indus itself, India itself represents many different cultures, many different people, different religions, and it’s an incredible honor.”

[h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription]

 

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