Drew McIntyre Recalls Jinder Mahal’s Mindset After Mahal’s 2014 WWE Release

– Drew McIntyre appeared on Lilian Garcia’s Chasing Glory podcast and discussed Jinder Mahal’s 2014 release from WWE and more. Highlights are below, via WZ:

On Jinder Mahal’s mindset after his 2014 release from WWE: “I’d been doing all my stuff. I’d really made a name for myself and things were going fantastic. I’d met with Jinder at MacDinton’s in Tampa, where we used to go for years with my wife….we were with Jinder and at the time he’d gone up to 260 and not necessarily a good 260 and he was talking about giving up the wrestling and looking into perhaps a franchise, like a Subway or something. He’s very smart. He was gonna do well no matter what he did; but, it was depressing to hear he was gonna give up on the wrestling because it’s all he’s ever done. After that, I was like, ‘Damn, I wish I could get something going for him.’ Not long after that he started training, giving himself a kick up the arse, and just started changing his life around, cut out the drinking, and really started getting better in how he looked. Right after that he got a call from WWE.”

On his love of conspiracy theories as a kid: “I used to write to the FBI and get documents from them. I remember I used to get a subscription to this magazine, the X-Factor, which had random stuff. It would talk about dangerous animals, or ghost stories, or conspiracy theories. It gave a sample letter to write to the FBI, if you wanted information under the Freedom of Information Act. So, I sent away to American and I got about three documents and a big dossier. My Dad was waiting for me when I got home holding this asking me, ‘Son why are the FBI sending you things in the mail?’ I was like, ‘Oh, because I asked them for it Dad.’ He was like, ‘Let me put this to you again, Why are the FBI in America sending you letters in the mail?’ I was like, ‘Again Dad, I asked for it under the Freedom of Information Act.’ He was like, ‘You’re 10, what’s wrong with you?’ Yeah, I was a strange kid. I was into wrestling and was into strange things for a kid that age.”

On if he ever found out anything noteworthy in the documents he received: “You’re only gonna find out so much. If you find out too much, they’re probably gonna off you anyway, so just live your life and enjoy it. I realized that by the time I was 12 and got on with the wrestling dream. I remember how many things were blacked out. I was frustrated by them being blacked out; but, they didn’t give anymore than I knew already, so I was frustrated. I was out there wrestling and playing soccer; but, I was also doing that behind closed doors. That’s one thing I didn’t talk to my friends about. That was my private thing.”