On a recent edition of Edge & Christian's podcast, The E&C Pod of Awesomeness, the two friends discussed Jinder Mahal's WWE Title win and the controversy surrounding his sudden push.
Christian, for one, thinks it's good for the business to have a new champion materialize seemingly out of nowhere.
“I think it’s good. I think it’s a good surprise. ... It’s hard to shock people, especially when people want to know spoilers and stuff like that. People seem to want to know stuff that’s going to happen before it happens sometimes instead of just enjoying it and following the ride and just seeing where it takes you. So it just was legitimately one of those ones where you didn’t know which way they were going to go on it and I like it. I think it’s different and I think it’s one of those ones too, even speaking from personal experience, that you sometimes you’ve just got to throw that person in that spot and see if they can sink or swim, if they have it in them to step up and be believable in that spot.”
Edge put in his two cents as well, asking fans to give Jinder a chance and wait and see what happens.
“Put the person in the situation and see how they do. Jinder’s a good dude. He’s a nice guy and the only way to prove and get to that next level is to be given a shot. Now, people always complain they want something different, they want something new, and when it happens, they complain about what is different and new. Now, these are broad paint strokes, but it generally seems to be the case where Kevin Owens becomes champion and they complain about how he’s used as champion. But you were complaining he wasn’t champion. Now he’s champion, you want to complain about how he’s used as champion? I get it. You’re passionate about the product. I’m passionate about it too, but I like to let things play out, having been in the industry. From being inside the industry, I understand you need patience to see things play out. And that’s what I would advise all of the folks who might be worked up about this. Let’s see how it plays out. I think he’s going to do good. I think he’s going to step up. And guess what. If he doesn’t, it’s not going to happen for long. I know the knee-jerk reaction from a lot of wrestling fans is, ‘huh? Why?’ Settle down. Relax. I’m going to be Uncle Edge here and try and talk you off the ledge. Here’s how I’m looking at this. You can say it’s a business decision because WWE is breaking ground in India. Well, okay. Then, it’s a good business decision. If you want a billion people to latch onto the product, then maybe put the 6’5″, 240 lbs. Indian dude as your world heavyweight champion. Just saying. The thing is too, they’ve surrounded him. They put an entourage with him, which is great. It gives him a little bit more of a presence, a little bit more of an aura. So yeah, I mean, give the guy a chance. And he’s either going to make it or he’s not and it’s on him.”
Edge also related the story of when he met the Singh Brothers (aka Harv & Gurv Sihra, The Bollywood Boyz).
"Shout out to the entourage, The Singh Brothers. We’ll have them on the show at some point, but really, really good guys. I go back with them a little bit, back when they were out in (British Columbia, Canada) and I was out there filming some stuff. They got in touch with me through Paul Lazenby ... and they found out I was in town, so they just wanted to pick my brain, so we went and hiked this mountain called The Chief and they just picked my brain the entire time. I was like, ‘Okay, I like these guys.’ They went out of their way to try to find out if they could just get into contact with me and get some ideas. So from that point, I’ve stayed in contact with them and just tried to give them advice along the way. They’re great guys, good head on their shoulders, and it’s great to see them being put in that mix. And again, sink or swim. Yeah, so it's been nice to see and it’s different and it’s fun and I always liked that.”
You can listen to the entire podcast in the audio player below.
