Former WWE Superstar and WWE Champion Jinder Mahal recently explained why he thinks Randy Orton is the best he has ever shared the ring with. Mahal was part of the recently released group of WWE Superstars released in the past week. During his almost eight year tenure with WWE he was able to win the WWE and the United States Championship.
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In the last eight years he was in the WWE he had an opportunity to wrestle some of the best wrestlers in WWE. However, there is one who he considers the best he has ever been in the ring with. On a recent episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet, which was recorded before his recent WWE release, Jinder Mahal gave a heaping serving of praise to Randy Orton when discussing his feud with Orton.
“I would say Randy, in my opinion, is the greatest. If you look at longevity, look, his ability in the ring, his pacing, heel or babyface, good babyface, even better heel, amazing heel, amazing babyface. Randy to me is the best.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
Jinder Mahal Recalls His Return to WWE
When Mahal returned to WWE in 2016 he was a very different person. WWE pushed him, and he rose to the occasion. Within a year of his return to WWE, he was involved in a feud with the WWE Champion Randy Orton. He would eventually defeat Orton for the championship to become the first WWE champion of Indian descent.
Mahal went on to talk about how wrestling Orton is different. During a European tour, he wrestled Orton and AJ Styles every night. He saw how wrestling a main-event style with those two was different and learned how to listen to the crowd. Mahal stated the following on Orton:
“Sometimes when you wrestle other guys lower on the card as I was myself, we’ve got to do so much to try and get a reaction. We plan too much of the match, but with those guys [Styles and Orton] it’s completely relaxed. Just like in the moment, listen to the crowd … there’s definitely a big difference.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
Van Vliet revealed that whenever he interviews wrestlers, Orton’s name always comes up from other wrestlers on how easy he is to work with. He asked Mahal why Orton was so easy to wrestle. Mahal said it came down to simplicity.
Mahal revealed that Orton doesn’t overcomplicate things. Orton knows himself and listens to the crowd. He doesn’t have any wasted motion and will take a simple move and make it look perfect. Mahal said overall everything Orton does is just perfect and levels above everyone else.
Now that Mahal has been released from WWE he is free to take what he learned in WWE elsewhere. He proved that he can be a world champion and carry the pressure and responsibility. Wherever he goes he can be a world champion.
One possible place he may end up is in AEW. Tony Khan is already familiar with Mahal after he sent a tweet, critiquing Mahal’s record before receiving a World Heavyweight Title shot on WWE Raw against Seth Rollins. However, the comments went viral, and many fans actually showed their support for Jinder Mahal, a former WWE Champion, in response to Khan’s comments. You can view the initial tweet by Tony Khan that sparked the viral trend below:
Mahal was completely unaware this was going on. Eventually, his phone started blowing up with people telling him what was going on. All the extra press Khan gave him and his match with Rollins helped boost interest and support for the matchup. At the end of the day, he thanks Khan for posting the comments on social media, stating the following:
“Drew [McIntyre] had texted me and I got like a bunch of texts in a row. I was like, ‘What? I got to see this.’ Then I opened up Twitter and that’s when I saw it. Thank you Tony. You made that match with Seth more interesting and people watched it. People actually thought I was going to win it just to spite Tony … yeah I was surprised, everybody stuck up for me. It never happened before.”
H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
Maybe that little outburst from Khan could be a way to bring Jinder Mahal to AEW. He could come in as a way to spite the boss of AEW. He could start taking out the top guys in AEW to show Khan that no one hinders the Jinder.
Jinder Mahal was recently released from his WWE contract earlier this month, and he will become a free agent in about three months. Around that time, he will be free to be signed by companies such as AEW. Perhaps AEW could exploit the viral sensation and trend, along with Jinder Mahal’s comments regarding AEW wrestler Hook by having them feud with each other?
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Do you agree with Jinder Mahal that Randy Orton is “the greatest” and what makes him special? Do you think Mahal deserved another championship run in WWE? Where do you think he should end up? Do you think he will be a world champion there? Let us know on social media who in AEW you would like to see Mahal face.
SOURCE: Wrestling Inc., Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Wrestling Inc.
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