Jinder Mahal rose to the fame, all of a sudden, last year. It was after Wrestlemania when he got a tremendous push that helped him to receive the WWE Championship from Randy Orton. The shocking title change garnered huge attention from the pro-wrestling universe. This was not a one-off title run, at all.
Going forward, he had a full-fledged feud with the Viper of the WWE and The Artist where he defended, successfully to retain his championships. This established his status as a dominant champion. Overall, he held the championship for over 150 days which is the longest reign after CM Punk in the modern era.
The Indian fans might have been upset after he lost the title to AJ Styles back in November, but they need to know that a big name is backing him up and promised him another title run, at least shortly. None other than Vince McMahon is the one who said the same to him.
In a recent interview with Sam Roberts’ Wrestling Podcast, The Modern-day Maharaja recalled his title reign and said that people think WWE pushed him. But, the reality is that he earned the push. In fact, he thinks that every superstar earns their push by working hard, throughout their career. Check out his words (courtesy popculture.com)
“I wasn’t worried at all. A lot of people say, ‘It’s disappointing you got the push.’ No, I didn’t get the push, I made the push. I believe that every WWE superstar is in charge 100 percent of his destiny. It’s up to me.
You know you drop the title, you win the title, but that’s part of the storyline. That match I had with AJ [Styles], even though I lost the title, it’s like I lost the match, I really did win. I had an awesome outing, awesome match, came back and got a big hug from Vince.”
As you can see Jinder Mahal also noted on the night, he lost the championship to AJ Styles just days before the Survivor Series. It might have been a devastating night for the young superstar like him. But, in reality, he received tremendous appreciation for an A-star match with Styles.
It turned out to be one of the highest rated episode of Smackdown Live in 2017 from the United Kingdom. He is not upset, at all, now that he has to go back to the mid-card title picture, i.e. United States Championship. He does not think that it is a demotion for him. So, the former WWE Champion concluded by saying,
“I’m still on SmackDown, on the live events I’m still in a main, main spot, and that’s up to me to maintain that level. You know, maintain that level of performance, and that’s 100 percent up to me. If you see me fall down the card, it’s my own fault. If I’m staying at this level, it’s because of the hard work that I’m doing and I ultimately will become WWE Champion again. I 100 percent believe that.”
