INTERVIEW

The Indo- Canadian pro wrestler Yuvraj “Raj” Singh Dhesi battled his way right to the top rungs of WWE Championship, despite all the personal trials and tribulations. He performs for the SmackDown brand under the ring name, Jinder Mahal, and is the current WWE Champion in his first reign.

Yuvraj took a sabbatical from WWE and returned in 2016 renewed and restrengthened. With his evolved style of fighting and remarkable physical transformation, Yuvraj finished as the runner-up in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, defeating five of SmackDown LIVE’s finest to become the the top contender for a WWE Championship.

He speaks to Guardian 20 about the challenges he faced as a wrestler and why positivity is important in a fighter’s life.

Q. What were the major challenges initially when you wanted to be a WWE fighter?

A. The basic challenge was to get recognised by the WWE as there are millions of people who want to be a WWE superstar. There are thousands of people who are actually pursuing this dream. And after that, training is very intense. You not only train yourself in wrestling but in your mind too, and intense workout is very, very important. And you have to sacrifice a lot of your personal life because people of my age go on parties and vacations and spend time with their family. But I had to sacrifice a lot.

Q. Could you please tell us about your fitness regime? A.

So, every morning when I wake up, before I eat anything, I drink water or may be black coffee without sugar or any calories. And then for half an hour, I do intense cardio and then I eat. I eat oatmeal, white protein shake and bananas and lift weights. And also, every day since last year, I have been doing yoga, as stretching is very important for recovery and injury prevention. Most of my workouts are athletic-based alongside body-building workouts.

Q. Most WWE fighters have their signature steps. What is yours?