Here is the latest edition of my Q&A video series. You can submit questions for future videos on my Twitter page and make sure to use the hashtag #RoadToNoDQ1000.
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WWE Champion Jinder Mahal recently had an interview with NBC News, where he talked about his personal life, how he was shy talking in front of people and how he was made fun of for wearing a turban when he was young. Mahal told NBC how he prepared himself by training, gave attention to his diet, to get ready for the opportunity.
“I’m very down to earth, quiet. I’m kind of a homebody. I have a little dog. She keeps me company,” Mahal told NBC. “I just like to train and diet and get my rest so my body can recover so I can wrestle.”
“It’s an entertainment industry, and I know you have to turn up the volume, which I’m now comfortable doing,” he added. ”At first I was very shy to talk into the mic and to talk in front of people.”
Mahal became the 50th WWE Champion by defeating Randy Orton two months ago at Backlash. Soon after becoming the champion, Mahal has gone on to ask the WWE Universe to denounce racism.
“People would always make fun of me,” he said. “But it’s important to always stay true to yourself and not let that get to you.”
“Our fans there are very passionate,” he added. “WWE Universe India is one of our most special places. … I’m very proud of my heritage and hope to make everybody proud.”
Mahal said that he wants to make an impact on the youth. Mahal is a part of WWE’s Be A STAR anti-bullying campaign and Make-A-Wish Foundation. He plans to set up a wrestling school, and help the community.
“I was fortunate enough to have great trainers growing up,” Dhesi said. “I just want to give the youth the same opportunities that I had. I want to pass it forward. Often the kids are neglected and they find themselves getting into trouble.”
You can check out the full article here.
Steve Austin made the following remarks on the latest installment of his podcast about the big angle storyline involving Kurt Angle with Jason Jordan being revealed as Angle’s son:
“I like the fact that they are shooting a hell of a big angle. They got a lot of negative responses but hey man, it was a big-time response seemingly from everybody. Big time angle, lot of rub for the kid. He’s a good-looking guy, read about him when I was coming over here to talk to you on the podcast. Outstanding credentials as an amateur, could possibly have a bright future ahead of him and if it is done off the back of this angle, more power to the kid, good luck to him. Is this leading to a betrayal of Kurt’s trust or somebody trying to set him up to oust him from his position? And will it result in Kurt Angle returning to the ring to wrestle at a big-time Pay-Per-View?”
You can listen to the full podcast at this link.
Buddy Murphy may have suffered some sort of ankle or leg injury at Thursday’s NXT Live Event in Cocoa, Florida.
Our correspondent at the event mentioned that Murphy went down after a bad landing on his ankle in the main event tag match match. A WWE trainer came out and talked to Murphy for a few minutes. Murphy looked as if he wanted to continue the match but Referee Drake Wuertz came down shortly after and talked Murphy into going to the back to get checked out. Murphy left his partner shortly before the half-way point of the match, forcing Ohno to work the match by himself against Hideo Itami & The Velveteen Dream.
Here is a photo of Murphy before he headed to the back:
WWE Champion Jinder Mahal recently spoke to PhillyVoice where he talked about his upcoming Punjabi Prison title match with Randy Orton at this Sunday on WWE Battleground. He also talked about the hardships he faced in his career, and how he overcame them.
Speaking of his upcoming Punjabi Prison match in Philadelphia, he said:
“I love performing in Philly. The fans aren’t scared to voice their opinions. Sometimes their opinions are split, sometimes half the crowd is chanting one thing, sometimes half the crowd is chanting the other. But, you know, I look forward to it. I really don’t know how they’re going to react. That’s what’s going to make the match exciting. I don’t know if they’re going to boo me out of the building or if they’re going to boo Orton out of the building.
I do definitely know for sure they’re going to enjoy the match. It’s a Punjabi Prison match and it hasn’t happened in 10 years, and the structure is truly a monstrosity. I brought the Punjabi Prison this week on SmackDown, and it’s a spectacle. You’ve got to be there live just to appreciate the sheer size of it. It is a very risky match – for example, I went a little bit earlier and climbed the cage; it’s high and I’m scared of heights – but I know the Philly crowd is going to be rocking that night and I gotta do what I gotta do. I’m going to take the risks that I have to take to retain the WWE Championship.”
Mahal said that he was focused on improving even before his return and that he has not even “hit his prime yet”. He also added that he sees he has more title runs coming up for him in the future and how he aspires to be a future WWE Hall of Famer. He also talked about his role on NXT and how Triple H worked hard to promote NXT as its own separate brand rather than just a developmental brand.
When asked where he sees himself in a year:
“In one year, I see myself as already main eventing WrestleMania, still WWE Champion, and you know what, I see Drew McIntyre being on SmackDown. I think that Drew McIntyre will be challenging me for my WWE Championship. That’s where I see myself in one year.”
When asked about his run as part of 3MB and what he thinks of Drew McIntyre’s journey so far:
Drew’s one of my best friends. We’re always texting back and forth. Just to think a couple years ago, we were considered a joke and failures. I’ll be frank about it. I considered myself a failure when I got released from WWE after 3MB just because I didn’t live up to my potential. I didn’t live up to the expectations that I set for myself. I was going to come back with redemption and that’s exactly what I did.
And I know that’s what Drew’s doing. He took [being released] very personally and when he was on the independents, he was the hardest-working man on the independents and the most-traveled man on the independents. And you know, now he has a shot at Bobby Roode for the NXT Championship on SummerSlam weekend. I know he’s gonna do great. He’s going to become the NXT Champion. He’s going to become WWE Champion. And, you know, there’s always peaks and valleys. Three years ago, that was a valley. Now we’re at the peak and we’re still on the rise.
You can check out the full interview here.
While appearing at the San Diego Comic Con, Brie Bella participated in a panel that featured other female WWE Superstars and talked about the birth of her daughter Birdie. Brie also spoke briefly about making her return to WWE.
Brie mentioned that she will start training soon and Daniel Bryan will be her coach as she prepares to make her WWE comeback. She said that they plan on having a ring build at their house and her target in-ring return will be sometime next year.
You can listen to her comments in the video embedded below:
As previously noted, there are currently rumors about Nikki Bella making her return for next month’s SummerSlam event. You can read that rumor here.
Russo is joined on today’s show by his co-host Jeff Lane.
To open today’s show, Lane plays a clip of Dave Meltzer who’s discussing Jason Jordan’s upcoming push. Meltzer says that while having the spotlight on you is good, WWE is a tricky spot to receive a big push because if Vince McMahon decides you don’t get over during your big push, you have a black mark on you for the rest of your career.
Russo says that this can be said about any profession because if you have an opportunity at your workplace and you don’t succeed, you’re going to be taken out of that spot. Meltzer and these other dirt sheet writers mightn’t understand this because they’ve never worked in the real world. He also says that if you don’t want to have the spotlight on you in the biggest promotion in the world, you’re in the wrong business.
A clip of Wade Keller presents him discussing the Brock Lesnar/Samoa Joe angle. Keller says that Joe came off as someone that could kick Lesnar’s ass during the entire program, and we haven’t really seen that before. There were a couple times when Keller thought Joe might get in trouble, specifically when he told Lesnar to ‘look at me when I’m talking to you’, because that wasn’t scripted.
Dave Metlzer discussed Adam Cole’s status in the latest installment of Wrestling Observer Live and indicated that he could be arriving to the company any time now.
Meltzer speculates that Cole will head to the NXT brand and could possibly debut at the upcoming NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III event. Cole has been rumored to debut for the company ever since he let his contract with Ring of Honor run out on May 1st.
There is a new policy within WWE were talents from ROH are not allowed to debut for the company until a 90-period runs out. With Takeover taking place on August 19th, this would meet the required waiting period for his debut.
We will keep you updated if we receive any other information on Cole’s status.
