Jinder Mahal: "Don't Hinder Jinder", WWE Championship Reign, AEW Tweet, 3MB

Jinder Mahal (@jindermahal) is a professional wrestler known for his time in WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet to talk about starting the year doing a segment with The Rock on Raw Day 1, his World Heavyweight Championship match against Seth Rollins, the Twitter exchange he had with Tony Khan about his title shot, being released from WWE in 2014 and coming back better than ever, being part of 3MB with Drew McIntyre and Heath Slater, beating Randy Orton for the WWE Championship at Backlash in 2017, being the first Indian WWE Champion, growing up in Canada and training to be a pro wrestler, his Modern Day Maharaja character, winning the US Championship and much more.

Quote I'm thinking about: "The fish don't just jump in the boat"

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On his January 1st segment with The Rock:

"So I kind of pieced it together. So I got a text from creative Hey, you guys have nothing this week. And then actually travel text says, Hey, you guys are not flying out. I'm in a group chat with Indus Sher and our travel department. And 20 minutes later, I get a separate text saying, Actually, you are going. And I thought it was a little weird that it was just me and not Indus Sher. But I don't think anything of it. And then like a few hours later, I saw the announcement on Twitter, former WWE Champion returns. I knew it wasn't going to be me but I figured I'm going to be a part of it. I texted Indus Sher, Hey, are you guys going to Raw? They said no, [so] it's just me going. So I'm like, okay, good chance I think it's me. And actually, it was Christmas week. I was with my family in Calgary. I was flying back on the 30th and when I was on my flight, I got a text from one of the writers. Hey, can you talk on the phone? I said I'm in the plane for a few more hours I'll call you when I land. One of the writers said, Yeah, so we got you in the segment with the Rock. Yes 100%. Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. So that's how I found out man one or two days before."

On speaking with The Rock before the segment:

"Oh, it was amazing. I met him at his hotel. And Brian Gewirtz was there, wrote an awesome promo. When he sent it to me [I said] can we say this? [Brian said] Yeah. Okay, I guess with The Rock anything goes. So no he just said have fun, let's do it. He was excited to work with me and I was obviously excited to work with him. And he's just a class act, The Rock is amazing for him to give me that moment. And especially Brian, telling me like we got time don't rush, because I was actually kind of shortchanging myself. I was like, maybe I will walk and talk to the ring. He said no enjoy it, have a full entrance, get some heat. We were allotted 20 minutes, so it was an awesome experience."

On what The Rock said afterwards:

"Yes, he actually kind of left a little bit of an Easter egg. He sent me a voice note like, Thank you appreciate, working with you, and I'll be seeing a lot more of you around now that I'm doing things all across the board with WWE and it didn't click in. After a few days later it did. I was like, oh, that's what he meant by doing things all across the board."

On improving his promos:

"I’ve gotten better with experience and time. There once was a time when I hated promos. I had to memorise every word. I remember being in FCW and every Wednesday we would have promos with Dusty Rhodes and I'd be so nervous because the hardest people to do promos in front of are other wrestlers. I feel like they are judging, especially in developmental every week matters so much, you're trying to get to the next level. I used to have to memorise promos word for word. The morning of I'd be stressing, trying to figure it out word for word. And then actually when I became WWE Champion is when I really started working on my promos. When I became number one contender, when I came back in Gorilla, I knew that I was gonna have to step up my promos. So that day in Gorilla right when I came back, I told Vince I said, Hey Vince on every live event Can I please get a promo? He called over Road Dogg [and said] Every live event from now on Jinder has a promo. So every live event after that open mic, do whatever before-the-match kind of promo. And through that just got more and more experienced, more and more comfortable. But had I not asked Hey, can I please do promos? You know, I don't think I would have progressed as much."

On when WWE higher-ups viewed him as a potential champion:

"So, Vince appreciates a good physique. Not just because it's a good physique, but he understands the discipline it takes and the hard work it takes, especially with the schedule at that time, the amount of live events we were doing. To maintain the single-digit body fat percentage while travelling that much is a sign of dedication. So WWE is a place that they reward hard work. But also that hard work and the right opportunity, at that time I had done the spot with Gronk at WrestleMania. And I remember WrestleMania week in Orlando, I'm at a hotel and I see Road Dogg in the hallway, and he's like, 'Hey, Jinder big things after WrestleMania coming for you.' I said okay, okay. I think maybe I move up to the IC level or US Championship level, a little bit more TV time, which is good. So the draft happened, I got drafted to SmackDown. And Rusev was actually supposed to work Randy at that pay-per-view. Rusev gets hurt. He has shoulder surgery and I guess I was just picked. We had a six-pack challenge Match. How I actually found out, the night before we were on a live event and I remember I was taping my wrist. It might have been Luke Harper. I saw on Twitter that the six-pack challenge was for the number one contender. I think it was Luke Harper, who told me like you're going over, you're gonna work Randy because I was thinking Harper is gonna work Randy. I looked at the list of guys, me, Sami Zayn, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, one other I can't remember, maybe Mojo? I can't remember who it was, I figured is gonna be Luke Harper. And Luke told me and then Randy came a little bit later [and said] I guess we're working. And then before the match, Randy told me, I think it’s just a one-off because I'm still supposed to work Rusev. I’m like okay, whatever, that's great. I get a number one contender match at Backlash in Chicago. Okay, great. Even if that's it, just one title shot. I was just released not even a year ago. And then I don't know what changed. I got some momentum leading up to Backlash. Cut a couple of promos Vince really liked. And I found out the day of, like the afternoon. Say maybe 5 pm I saw Road Dogg in the hallway. He said, Hey, you're going over. And I believe he told Randy Hey, go talk to Vince. Randy went and talked to Vince we put the finish together and yeah that was it."

Did they tell you it would be a lengthy reign?

"No, no idea, I have no idea, just week to week, pay-per-view to pay-per-view. No, I had no idea. And then even when I lost the title to AJ, Vince brought us to the office day told me that day because it was on a SmackDown we were in Manchester the match got made while we were already on the Europe tour. The first week of the Europe tour the match got announced while I'm already there. And Vince called us into the office. Hey, we're doing the title switch today. Jinder, you're now going to chase, that easy. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Let's go do it."

On Randy Orton:

"All credit to Randy. I would say Randy is in my opinion the greatest. If you look at longevity, look, his ability in the ring, he's pacing [as a] heel or babyface. Good babyface, even better heel. Amazing heel, an amazing babyface. Randy to me is the best and I really learned a lot. Actually, while I was number one contender we were also in Europe before the Backlash pay-per-view we were in Europe for two weeks and I got to have a triple threat match for the entire two-week tour with AJ and Randy. So like every night I got more and more relaxed in working the main event style. I never worked it, the WWE main event style is different. The pacing, Randy so over, AJ, these guys are so over, you don't need to rush, they do a big kick out and you can take your time to react. I don't know, just sometimes when you wrestle other guys lower on the card as I was myself, we got to do so much to like try to get a reaction and we kind of, I don't know, we plan too much of the match. But like with those guys is completely relaxed. Just like in the moment, listen to the crowd. Okay, here, here, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and the crowd is really into it. So yeah, there's definitely a big difference." 

On being the first Indian WWE Champion:

"It's amazing. You know, representation and diversity matters so much. When I was growing up, there was no one like me on television. We had Tiger Ali Singh for a short period of time, but times were different back then and foreign characters were treated differently. So it was a huge moment, man, everybody, the South Asian community, the diaspora, we got like, 2 billion people on earth like one in four people on Earth are South Asian, you know, from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, just south Asian in general. The population there is huge, but also the diaspora. America, England, UK all over Australia. The Indian population, South Asian population is very, very big. And it was a big moment for everyone the whole community. Everybody still talks about it like everywhere I go, I meet people that's it. Yeah. And then like, you know, respect like you did it."

On the disrespect that came with Jinder Mahal being WWE Champion:

"So you know, what's weird for a period of time there was disrespect. But now all of a sudden there's respect, it is weird. I had the same thing with 3MB, at that time 3MB sucks, what are these guys? Release 3MB. But now everywhere I go, people are like 3MB was awesome, we love 3MB. You know what it is? People think that I was just given it like, I've heard Oh, because of India. But I was the same when I got released. And if I didn't have that transformation, and really have that mindset change and apply myself fully I wouldn't have become WWE Champion. Yes, it's a business but so was every other champion. WWE is a business. So I think people believe I wasn’t deserving of it, I was just given it because of, oh, we want to expand in India. But India was there while I was released when I was in 3MB, when I debuted. The market has always been big since Great Khali."

On nearly beating Seth Rollins shortly before WrestleMania 40:

"It would have been amazing. It would have been a great moment right before WrestleMania, creating some buzz. Even if he wins it back a week later or something. I would like to see more surprises. When I became WWE Champion it was a big surprise. We get surprises but I think we need a little bit more. [Most of the champions have held the titles for a long time]. Yes, Seth, Damian Priest with the Money in the Bank and the tag team and of course yeah, Judgment Day. Been some time. Logan Paul US Championship Yeah, all the champions have been champions for a while. Yeah, I would love to see one of the titles switch really quick, keep things interesting. But I get it, the championships, when whatever superstars hold on for a long time, it does really elevate them to the next level. So I understand. I see it and it's kind of more old school where the champion is a champion for a long time. Yeah, I do like that." 

On going from WWE Champion to 24/7 Champion:

"Yeah, but at the same time I can become champion again. Like I don't know, maybe that's a unique thing with me like that's what I always kind of, like view myself as almost like a utility player. Whatever I need it for. I can do comedy stuff, I can do serious. I can do promos. I can do main event. You know I can and I think that's why maybe I've had some longevity in WWE, because you can put me in any position, I can do everything in a way." 

On how the segment with Gronk was put together: 

"I didn't know. So I didn't know it was gonna happen ahead of time. I had Access that morning, not it’s WWE World, I had like a signing. Usually, the guys who weren't doing anything on WrestleMania, the day of WrestleMania, they send them there for the meet and greet signings or whatnot. I’m at the signing and I don't have my phone on me. And I do like two hours of signing. I think I was gonna go to the hotel and then to the arena go a little bit later. I'm just in the Battle Royale, or whatever. It's all good. And I get to my phone. And I have like all these missed calls. Mark Caranno, Vince, like all these missed calls, what's going on? I call them, they say hey, get to the ring right now. Where are you? I'm like, I'm at Acess. Okay, hurry up, we got a van for you. So I get in the van and I go straight there. And I get there. Road Dogg says hey, you're doing this spot with Rob. We got rehearsal come right now to the ring. And it was pretty simple. We just had to map out how like, what was the spot with the beer or whatever what was going to bring him in? How are we going to get to the floor there? And then with the tackle, he asked me ahead of time, like hey, how do you work the tackle? I said just hit me. He hit me really hard. The back of my head or my neck hit the bottom rope was sore for like a few weeks after that."

On seeing the Tony Khan Tweet:

"I was at home. I think it was early in the day. I think I just did cardio. Drew had texted me. And I got like a bunch of texts in a row I was like what I got to see this. And I opened up to Twitter. And that's what I saw. Thank you, Tony you made that match with Seth more interesting. Yeah. People thought I was gonna win it just to spite Tony."

What is Jinder Mahal grateful for?

"This platform WWE has provided me, my health and the relationships I have with everybody."