19. Jinder Mahal Talks About Hitting Rock Bottom Before His WWE Return, Getting Shocked When He Was Told He’s Working With Randy Orton Next
During a recent appearance on Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, WWE Champion Jinder Mahal talked about hitting Rock Bottom before his return to WWE in 2016, getting shocked when he was told he’s scheduled to become the #1 contender & more. Below are the highlights:
On hitting Rock Bottom before his return to WWE in 2016:
“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.”
On not giving his 100% during his time in 3MB:
“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.”
On finding out he’s winning the #1 contenders six-pack challenge on SmackDown Live:
“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. 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.'”
