Original Idea For Jinder Mahal's Character Squashed By Vince McMahon

05/17/2017 02:50 pm EDT

In a matter of months, Jinder Mahal has transformed from mid card foil to number one Championship contender. In that time, he has also shifted his character into an anti-American wrestling heel. On the latest episode of 'Talk is Jericho', Mahal revealed that the original idea for his character was much different. During the podcast, Jinder revealed that Vince McMahon made a last minute change that sent The Maharaja on a different course.

"So when I finished calling the match, one of the writers was like 'hey Vince changed your promo' and I was like 'okay, bring it to me' so they brought it to me and I had read the America comment and all that and I was like 'ugh I like the old promo better.' Like it was something like, 'I tried being peaceful but nobody was listening but now I have all you guys' attention, I just beat five of SmackDown's very best and I did it all alone.' Something like that, it was just a regular heel promo but the new one was like: 'You Americans, this and that' — I was like ugh I don't like it, but Vince wrote it, it's okay. But I did it and the reaction that I got I was like 'ah man, Vince is a genius.' He knows exactly what draws the most heat"

Vince also gave Mahal a tip on how to soak-in even more heat from the crowd.

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"It's weird, he knows what's going to draw the most heat. I didn't see it at first but as soon as I heard the reaction — actually when I came back to I sat with Vince and he was like, because we went over time already and he was like, 'forget about the time, let them boo even more before you start talking' so I was like, okay."

The former lower mid-carder is looking every bit the star WWE has pushed him to be. While it may seem Jinder was destined to be a jobber before he got his new ripped physique, WWE did initially have very high hopes for the Maharaja. Jinder was in the finals of the tournament to crown the first NXT Champion with Seth Rollins.

Jinder Mahal will get his first shot at the WWE Championship this Sunday when he takes on Randy Orton at WWE BackLash.

You can listen to the full podcast here. h/t Still Real to Us.

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