The Great Khali is headed to the WWE Hall of Fame. The news was announced on Wednesday’s edition of the WWE Now India digital series.
As seen in the player below, Khali’s manager and friend Ranjin Singh informed Khali of the honor.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CMzdtghAu7Y/
The Great Khali wrestled for WWE from 2006 to 2014 and 2017-2018. He is a former World Heavyweight Champion.
The 2021 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony takes place Tuesday, April 6th.
In addition to The Great Khali, this year’s class also includes two-time WWE Women’s Champion Molly Holly and former WCW President Eric Bischoff.
This year’s WWE Hall of Fame Induction ceremony will also feature inductions of the Class of 2020. Last year’s ceremony was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier this week, Class of 2020 headliner Batista announced he will not attend due to a ‘scheduling conflict.’ The rest of the 2020 lineup includes:
The Bella Twins
The New World Order (Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman)
WWE has signed Gurvinder Singh of Jagadhri and Sukhwinder Grewal, two students trained by the Great Khali. Both Singh and Grewal have reported to the WWE Performance Center. As was the case with their trainer, these two wrestlers stand above 7-feet tall.
“A pair of towering seven-footers are among a trio of recruits from India that have reported to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla,” a WWE press release for the signings reads.
WWE also signed Laxmi Kant Rajpoot, another Great Khali student. While Rajpoot doesn’t stand over 7-feet tall as the other recruits do, he has an athletic background that includes javelin and taekwondo.
Gurvinder Singh is listed at 7-feet tall and 310lbs. His background before being trained by Khali is in cricket and acting.
Sukhwinder Grewal is listed at 7-feet 2-inches and 340lbs. Before beginning his training with the Great Khali, Grewal played basketball.
Great Khali’s Wrestling School
Khali opened Continental Wrestling Entertainment in Punjab, India in late 2015. It is both a wrestling academy and a promotion. Khali himself is a former 2x Heavyweight Champion in the promotion.
In an interview with the New Indian Times from 2018, Khali said WWE failed in India.
“The WWE has failed in India. They thought they would use the Great Khali fully and then leave him. I [had] been trying hard for [a long time] to leave WWE, but they kept on offering me [a] contract. Finally in 2014, I decided I [would] leave once my contract [ended] and [would] not work with them ever again. Then I came back and opened CWE [Continental Wrestling Entertainment] in Punjab, which is doing well.”
Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion The Great Khali was recently interviewed by The New Indian Express to talk about several professional wrestling topics. During the interview Khali discussed his time with WWE and expressed his frustration with the company’s success in his native India. Khali said the WWE failed in India and it’s a key reason he decided to leave before starting his own promotion, Continental Wrestling Entertainment (CWE):
“The WWE has failed in India. They thought they would use the Great Khali fully and then leave him. I [had] been trying hard for [a long time] to leave WWE, but they kept on offering me [a] contract. Finally in 2014, I decided I [would] leave once my contract [ended] and [would] not work with them ever again. Then I came back and opened CWE [Continental Wrestling Entertainment] in Punjab, which is doing well.”
As it pertains to the state of professional wrestling in India as a whole, Khali explained how he wanted to change the mentality of how professional wrestling training is done:
“The future of wrestling is very bright and it can be better, if handled in a better way, if a coach is provided or [a better foundation] is given. The mentality of the Indian sportsmen is very weak. Many of them depend upon drugs. They feel that the consumption of drugs will help in enhancing their performance and will help them in clinching a medal. They receive too much of love after winning a medal that they forget to concentrate on sports.”
You can read Khali’s full interview with The New Indian Times by clicking this link here.
On July 23rd 2017, the 3rd ever Punjabi Prison match will take place at Battleground.
Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton will face each other for the 3rd straight PPV, but this time they will wrestle surrounded by steel-enforced bamboo.
History of Punjabi Prison Matches
The first Punjabi Prison match took place at the Great American Bash 2006. The event was held at the Canseco Field House in Indianapolis. Khali would be removed from the match however, as elevated liver enzymes resulted in him not being medically cleared to compete.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX_1Fkz_xQ0
Khali would be cleared to compete at No Mercy 2007 however, as he would take on Batista in the 2nd ever Punjabi Prison match. Unfortunately for Khali, Batista was a little quicker than him at escaping the structure.
Oddly enough, all Punjabi Prison matches have taken place on Smackdown exclusive PPVs. Battleground 2017 will be no different.
The Punjabi Prison match, similar to the “Kennel From Hell” match (Attitude Era reference), involves a cage on the outside of the ropes, and a cage that extends a few feet away from the ring. In order to win, a wrestler must escape both structures. There are no pins, DQs, count-outs, or submissions.
TNA was in India on Monday to announce an upcoming live events tour of India. The three shows will take place in December, including a “One Night Only” PPV taping from Mumbai on December 4.
Top stars advertised for the tour include Kurt Angle, Ethan Carter III, Bobby Lashley, Tag Champions The Wolves, Knockouts Champion Gail Kim and of course, Indian star Mahabali Shera.
Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion The Great Khali made a surprise appearance at the press conference and it was announced that Shera and Khali will be helping TNA search for a new Indian star to join the TNA roster.
BREAKING: TNA & @SonySIX announce 3 events in India this Dec, including historic ONO: Mumbai LIVE broadcast Dec 4. pic.twitter.com/ocnuAEzrpk
Former WWE Superstar The Great Khali was recently profiled by the Indian Express newspaper in a piece looking at this wrestling school, Continental Wrestling Entertainment (CWE) academy. Khali spoke about his WWE run, operating his school at a financial loss and more.
One of the more interesting items from the interview was that Khali discussed Randy Orton providing him strong pain pills early in his WWE career to help with his knee pain. Khali noted that the pills were so strong, he couldn’t feel his legs and fell down as a result. #Wellness
Here are the highlights of what he said about:
Working with John Cena and Vince McMahon’s reaction: “A good match is about the chemistry between opponents. I loved working with Cena. He was always receptive to my ideas, even if they weren’t good. Because he was ready to try things, we delivered a great match. When we got backstage, McMahon hugged me and said I had put on a great show.”
His Wrestling School: “I still want to keep some connection with this industry. This was something I was born to do. I was always meant to be Khali. I dream of wrestling all the time. And then I get up and I realise that I am not wrestling anymore. But I still keep my pants with me — both in India and in Houston. You never know.”
Randy Orton giving him strong pain pills early in his WWE career: “The pills were so strong that I couldn’t feel my legs. My foot kept slipping and I fell.”
Khali started with WWE back in 2006, so the incident he’s referencing likely took place around 2006-2007. Orton has been suspended from WWE 4 times over the years for violating WWE’s Wellness policy (2005, 2006, 2007, 2012)
As noted earlier, The Great Khali and WWE have officially parted ways. The speculation on Khali’s departure first came when his profile was moved to the alumni section of WWE’s official website. Since then, the rumors have been confirmed.
Update: Brad Maddox is still with WWE. His Superstar profile was moved to the Alumni section of WWE.com earlier this year when he was “fired” by The Authority. He’s been on the Alumni section of the website since May.
Maddox last appeared for WWE on a WWE App segment last month where he spoke about sitting home for months with no job.
WWE Superstar The Great Khali (Dalip Singh Rana) was moved to the WWE alumni section of the official company website tonight.
While no announcement has been made thus far, there has reportedly been talk within many wrestling circles that Khali was going to be exiting the profession in the near future.
We will update you whenever any additional details on this story become available.
– After initially keeping him out of the ring during live events to sell his storyline knee injury, WWE had Jey Uso return to action on Sunday night in Dayton, Ohio. Uso worked a six-man tag-team match with his brother Jimmy and The Great Khali, defeating all three members of The Wyatt Family. Jey had his knee heavily taped up and sold it throughout the majority of the match.
– NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte held a live Q&A on Twitter on Sunday night. She spoke about her pre-match ritual, which includes her saying a prayer to her brother Reid before heading out to the ring. She also noted that her first official WWE t-shirt will be released soon.
Following Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown, here is the updated list of official participants in the WWE Intercontinental Championship Battle Royal at the upcoming WWE Battleground pay-per-view:
– Cesaro
– Kofi Kingston
– Damien Sandow
– The Great Khali
– Rob Van Dam
– Dolph Ziggler
– Big E
– Ryback
– Curtis Axel
– Alberto Del Rio
– Bo Dallas
Below is the latest edition of “SmackDown Fallout,” which features WWE United States Champion Sheamus:
– As noted earlier this week, WWE.com published an article by Bill Apter about Sting’s legendary career. Titled, “Behind the paint of sports-entertainment icon Sting,” the article states that Sting was “Undeniably the Face of WCW.”
Teasing that his best days may still be yet to come, the article puts him over as a true legend in the sport that can still go in the ring:
“More than 25 years since he became a good guy, Sting is still a presence in the ring, as well as at numerous charity events. He’s a true legend with a constant drive to always be one step better than the day before. His best days may still be yet to come.”
WWE posted the following tweet promoting the article:
– There is a lot of heat on Ryback backstage in WWE. Ryback has ‘earned’ a reputation for being reckless in the ring – and he displayed that once again last night when he gave Dolph Ziggler a concussion. The two wrestled in a match that was taped for this week’s episode of Superstars. Ziggler went down hard after a stiff clothesline by Ryback and his concussion is being as “not a mild one.”
– The WWE contract of the original Sin Cara (formerly Mistico) is expiring soon and he’s not expected to be offered a new deal.
– Ranjin Singh made a return to WWE television on Monday’s Old School RAW, managing his former client, the Great Khali. Singh’s return was a one time deal and he’s not back with the company full time.
– Cody Rhodes appeared to injure his ankle on RAW, but he’s scheduled to wrestle at tonight’s SmackDown tapings.
– Brock Lesnar is also fine after his altercation with the Big Show on RAW. Lesnar was limping as he and Paul Heyman retreated from ringside, but he was just selling.
– We recently reported via Indian media outlets that a giant by the name of Rajesh Kumar said he was training in Japan to wrestle for WWE and was motivated after meeting WWE Superstar The Great Khali. People in Indian apparently refer to Kumar as “The New Khali,” however, WWE claims to have no affiliation with anyone with Kumar’s name.
– The latest WWE update on Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards is that there were no issues with their most recent tryout with the company. Richards and Edwards are scheduled to return for the next set of WWE NXT television tapings in January, but have not been offered official contracts as of yet.
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated the Q&A section JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
David Benoit Getting Into Pro Wrestling: “I don’t speak for WWE. Just expressed my personal opinion. Not sure the kid finds happiness in his dad’s old business plus over 90% of those that try out for wwe don’t make it no matter their name. I’d say same to my kids.”
Is Great Khali A Hall of Famer?“Strictly as a guess, I’d say not likely.”
Not Wanting to Run His Own Wrestling Promotion: “To invest my money and my time in a wrestling promotion isn’t something that I would ever consider. The lack of talent that’s available…TV production costs…dwenling crowds…the baby sitting that’s involved, etc isn’t something that interests me whatsoever. Plus, small promotions are challenged to even break even financially and I’m not a break even guy.”
WhoThe Undertaker Final Opponent Should Be: “Brock…Cena…Rock would be on my short list.”
His Favorite William Regal moment: “My favorite Regal moment was being able to help him salvage his career because of personal demons.”
As previously reported, WWE is putting added emphasis on larger Superstars in recent weeks. This is apparently the reason we’ve seen a push for Big Show to the main event level, as well as the reason behind his match with Randy Orton for the WWE Championship at the upcoming Survivor Series pay-per-view on November 24th. Additionally, the large-guy-push in WWE is the reason for the added television exposure of guys like Luke Harper and The Great Khali.
A lot of the blame, as far as WWE is concerned, belongs to the recent attempt to push Daniel Bryan to the top. Bryan is getting the blame by WWE management for the recent drop in pay-per-views, as they feel they gave him a shot in the top spot for the last few months-worth of pay-per-views, and they consider the buyrates dropping to be a direct result of trying to push a smaller guy as opposed to a larger guy, which WWE feels the fans want these days.
-WWE Hall Of Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch is offering fans a chance to talk to her on the phone. Fans wishing to talk to Sytch on the phone can do so for $4 per minute, with the minimum call length being three minutes (aka $12 a pop minimum). Sytch will talk to fans for up to 300 minutes ($1,200). For more information, visit VerifiedCall.com.
-According to The Times Of India, WWE prevented The Great Khali from accepting a featured role in the new Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger film, “Escape Plan.” Stallone apparently offered Khali a prominent role in the film, but due to the exclusivity of Khali’s deal with WWE, he could not accept it. For more information on this story, visit IndiaTimes.com.
-Independent pro wrestlers Craven Knyte, Ariya Daivari and Renny D. were among those portraying security guards on this week’s edition of WWE RAW.
Knyte and Daivari (younger brother of former WWE Superstar Shawn Daivari) also worked a dark match against The Great Khali at the SmackDown television taping on Tuesday night.
-The final rating for the 8/30 edition of WWE SmackDown came in at 1.93, up from last week’s 1.90.
-Roth Capitol has upgraded their WWE stock rating from “Neutral” to “Buy” based on the optimism over the new television deals for RAW and SmackDown. The stock also raised from $10 per share to $13. For more information, visit NASDAQ.com.
-According to one source, WWE is said to have interest in signing New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star Prince Devitt. The company has apparently had interest in Devitt for a while, as William Regal brought a tape of a Devitt vs. Pac match to Triple H, which resulted in Pac getting a job (he’s now known as Adrian Neville). WWE has apparently wanted to sign Devitt ever since, and his name keeps coming up in meetings when the company discusses bringing in new talent.
-WWE Hall Of Fame Sgt. Slaughter celebrates his 65th birthday today. Slaughter was born on August 27, 1948. Also celebrating birthdays today is current WWE Superstar The Great Khali (41) and former WWE Diva Jazz (40).
WWE has published a video of the Great Khali singing hit songs. Perhaps this is the “entertainment” in Sports Entertainment ?
“Let The Great Khali serenade you with your favorite chart-topping hits. The smooth sounds of the Punjabi Playboy are sure to tickle your senses, so sit back, relax, and treat your ears to the whimsical sounds of Khali Sings the Hits!”
WWE taped this week’s SmackDown on Tuesday night from Jacksonville, Florida. Here are the results:
* Big Show is shown arriving on his bus. He comes to the ring and talks about how Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez are suspended. Big Show says the recent events between he and Del Rio are Booker T’s fault, which brings out the SmackDown GM. Booker announcers Big Show vs. Kane for tonight.
* Cody Rhodes defeated Kofi Kingston.
* The Great Khali defeated Titus O’Neil.
* Mark Henry came out and destroys Khali, which the crowd loved. Henry announces the Hall of Pain is back and he wants a spot in the SmackDown brand’s Elimination Chamber match. Booker came out and announced Henry vs. Randy Orton.
* Big Show defeated Kane in a quick match.
* Alberto Del Rio is shown outside in the parking lot, where he’s taken the wheels off Show’s tour bus. Show ran out to the parking lot but gets a bunch of paint dropped on top of him from the roof. Del Rio laughed and drove off.
* Jack Swagger squashed Justin Gabriel.
* Tensai beat Drew McIntyre by DQ when 3MB attacked him. Brodus Clay made the save for Tensai.
* Antonio Cesaro beat Sin Cara.
* Mark Henry defeated Randy Orton to earn a spot in the Elimination Chamber match.
– WWE superstar Cody Rhodes and former WWE diva Eden Stiles (Brandi Reed) got engaged this week. Reed has launched her own swimwear collection at ConfectionSwimwear.com. Cody tweeted on Tuesday:
– NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal is still expected to wrestle the Big Show at WrestleMania 28. WWE is planning to hold a press conference in Miami to announce Shaq’s involvement at WrestleMania and Shaq is scheduled to appear on WWE television shortly after Elimination Chamber.
– WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels is scheduled to make an appearance at the February 13th RAW Super show from San Diego, CA. HBK has been rumored to be the special guest referee for the Triple H vs. Undertaker match at WrestleMania.
– Booker T was back in action this weekend at the SmackDown live event from Spokane, Washington. He lost to Cody Rhodes, but Hornswoggle helped him get revenge after the match. Booker T and Hornswoggle did spin-a-roonie’s to celebrate.
– The Great Khali also returned to live event action at the SmackDown show from Spokane, defeating Jinder Mahal.
The WWE website has posted an article about the Great Khali, who has reportedly suffered a fractured fibula at the hands Heavyweight champion Mark Henry on Friday’s SmackDown:
“Dr. Michael Sampson confirmed the devastating injury to The Punjabi Giant and that the fracture was very similar to the injuries suffered by both Big Show and Kane at the hands of The World’s Strongest Champion.”
“The injury occurred moments after Mark Henry impressively secured a victory against The Great Khali following the World’s Strongest Slam. Wrapping a steel chair around the Punjabi Superstar’s leg, Henry ascended the ropes and brought all of his weight down on his opponent’s leg. Writhing in pain and unable to stand on his own, the fallen giant was tended to by medical technicians and taken out of the arena on a cart.”
The storyline storyline injury will keep Khali off television for several weeks.
– Following the recent talk that WWE is considering unifying the WWE Championship & the World Heavyweight championship by WrestleMania, we’ve learned that there is a new silver WWE Championship belt being created that will be for sale early next year. No word if WWE plans on using this as a new Unified WWE championship or if it will simply be a merchandise item, but it’s an interesting development.
– WWE’s planned cable network is still in the works, according to an article on the company’s website. While “Setting The Record Straight” against the inaccuracies being reported by Democrats in Connecticut and various media outlets, the company revealed that it will be adding another 140 employees next year to work on the new cable network. WWE plans to shop the channel around to the national cable television providers next year.
– WWE superstar The Great Khali is getting paid big money to appear on the Indian reality TV show “Big Boss.” According to the Hindustan Times, Khali is getting paid Rs 40-50 lakh per week – significantly higher than the Rs 2 and Rs 25 lakh that the other castmates are getting. Khali received a Rs 50 lakh signing bonus when he agreed to be on the show.