Interview: Jinder Mahal wants to defeat John Cena and other WWE legends after Backlash win
Jinder Mahal won the WWE Championship for the first time at Backlash on Sunday when he beat the 13-time world champion, Randy Orton. Mahal’s win took the entire WWE Universe by surprise as he was the underdog coming into the match.
Post his victory, The Maharaja expressed his delight at winning the title and thanked the Indian fans for supporting him:
Q: Moments after your big win at Backlash. Tell us how you feel right now as the new WWE Champion?
JM: This is, honestly, the best day of my life. I feel very proud, very proud of representing India in the WWE Universe. India is a huge part of the WWE Universe and I’m very happy to bring the title back home and hope to defend this title and make everybody proud.
Q: Describe to the fans, the moment you realised your dream had come true and you had won the match? What was that moment like?
JM: Honestly, the moment hasn’t happened, it has quite set in yet, fully. This is already the best day of my life. This is right after the match, and the adrenaline is still pumping, but tonight when I have my alone time when I can reflect on my full journey of how I started in wrestling and all the steps and road bumps that I took to get to this part. This is a very emotional moment. This is 15 years of my hard work and dedication – half of my life. My childhood dream has finally come true.
Q: What do you think this means to your fans in India? What has it been like to have the support of these fans?
JM: I think it’s a very big moment. There hasn’t been an Indian WWE Champion since The Great Khali. So, it’s a big moment. The fans are very passionate, and hopefully, more fans will support after they see me as champion. And I want to thank the ones that already support me; they support very, very much and I want to say thank you very much. Without your support, I wouldn’t be able to get to this level. So, please, keep on supporting me and watch WWE programming.
Q: As you mentioned, there hasn’t been a WWE Champion since 2007. So, with that being said, what can fans from India and all around the world look forward to from Jinder Mahal as WWE Champion?
JM: I want to make everybody proud, just like everybody is proud of The Great Khali for being the champion, I want to be a great champion. I want to represent you guys (fans) in a good way and put on good matches. I just defeated Randy Orton, who is legendary in the business, so I want to beat guys like John Cena, more and more legends, and establish my name as one of the top names of all time in wrestling.
Q: Do you have a message for the fans in India right now?
JM: Yeah, I want to thank you all very much. You have supported me and the Singh Brothers a lot and please keep supporting us. I’m very proud of representing you and please keep on supporting. Thank You!