Jinder Mahal is jacked. But did his new physique help push him all the way to the WWE Championship.
Perhaps no one understands what Vince McMahon looks for in his top stars other than Stone Cold Steve Austin. During an interview with Shane Helms on the latest edition of The Steve Austin Show, Austin discussed how Jinder’s size definitely helped him get to the top of the card.
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“He’s got a great look, a great body.” Austin continued, “oh dude, [the ‘Maharaja’ nickname] has cool factor written all over it. Plus, if you play that with arrogance, it works for you. But, dude, down the road, I think that it spells money. I think the kid [has] got a great look. Like [Helms] said, he’s got the great facials. And [Helms] know[s], dude, you’ve got to bring a few things to the table, whether it’s appearance or size, looks, handsome, ugly, are you a flat-out bad ass worker, just unbelievable talker? This kid has bits and pieces of the things [one needs to be successful]. And all of these things can be graded on a scale of one to 10 on what you’re bringing to the table. But, at first, one of the big things you’ve got to bring, dude, for Vince to get in that big spot, size helps and it just does.”
In regards to the match with Orton, Stone Cold said he was a big fan of how it went down.
“I thought it was pretty well done. I didn’t know which way they were going and that’s what I love about [pro] wrestling. I love when I can’t predict who the winner is going to be.”
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During the interview, Helms revealed that Mahal met with Impact Wrestling officials prior to re-signing with WWE.
“I like Jinder, man. I can tell he’s working hard. I liked him back in the day and actually before he signed with WWE, he came down to TNA for a visit and I tried to talk him. Not that we had a deep discussion, but I went and endorsed him to the higher-ups and I thought that he was a good guy to bring in. But then, the WWE offer came right away and he made probably what was a better decision financially, especially considering now. I thought it was good.”
Helms also revealed what he thought Jinder could improve on to stay on top of the card.
“I mean, his work is good, but there are definitely things that can be improved upon. But I think, if you watch him, you can see there’s something there. There’s an energy to him. His promos need to get a little bit better. His facials are good, but he goes to that angry face entirely too fast.”
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[H/T WrestlingInc]
