Drew McIntyre On Jinder Mahal’s WWE Championship Reign: “He Started Taking It Seriously Again”

Drew McIntyre, despite his young age, has seen the ups and downs of pro wrestling — namely in the WWE.

As McIntyre has, so has his former 3MB partner Jinder Mahal. After signing with WWE in a move that puzzled many, Mahal has risen to the top of the company, capturing the WWE Championship. When speaking to the UK Mirror, the NXT talent McIntyre said it's been a long road for his friend.

I made the loudest noise in the world backstage when he won that title! I think I almost punched the roof I jumped and punched the air so much. Just to watch his turnaround is the biggest thing for me. I remember about a year and a half ago having a conversation with him. The second I was gone from the WWE, as you know, I started to write my mission statement, I just kept going, there was nothing else I was going to do. I had a clear vision and thankfully it just came out. With Jinder he went out, he wasn’t too sure what he wanted to do, and he talked about this on Chris Jericho’s podcast so I’m not speaking out of turn. He got himself out of shape, not wrestling so much. He wasn’t really sure what to do and we had a conversation when he wasn’t too sure about his future and was talking about opening I think it was a Subway franchise he was leaning towards and he’s got a couple of houses and real estate. Wrestling was pretty much off the table. Then one day he made a decision, ‘no, I’m going to get back in shape’. He started taking it seriously again, got back in shape, got the call from WWE, continued his path, worked hard, gave up alcohol, made these positive changes in his life and just started working his arse off. To watch him go from that conversation when he was out of shape to where he is today, the most in-shape guy on the roster and one of the hardest working guys, I’m very proud of my brother for earning that. That was a big moment for him and I couldn’t be prouder of him. 

McIntyre is quickly ascending through the ranks of NXT after successful runs in both TNA and EVOLVE during his WWE release.

You can see the full interview with McIntyre at this link.