Professional wrestling is a popular sport in India. The country has a rich history of professional wrestling and many professional wrestlers from India have worked around the world in variouspromotions.International wrestling promotions such asWWE andTNA generate high television viewership and have a significant fan following in India.[1]
In early 20th century Baksh Butt, known asThe Great Gama, was a famous body builder,pehlwani wrestler and professional wrestler in India.[2] Originally from Punjab, he began wrestling in 1895 at the age of 17 and won the world championship in 1910. He retired in 1929 after competing against opponents from India, Europe and the US. Other Indian wrestlers at this time included Raheem Bakhsh Sultani Wala,Jatindra Charan Guho andTiger Daula.
Tiger Joginder Singh andArjan Singh Das were the best professional wrestlers from India in their time, and worked in promotions in Singapore, Japan, USA in 1940s and 1950s.[3][4]
Dara Singh was a notable Indian pro wrestler who won titles internationally. In the 1950s, he won the world championship against the world famousEmile Czaja, popularly known by hisring name King Kong. He also defeated world champion wrestlerLou Thesz of the US.[3] Singh participated in almost 500 professional matches and remained undefeated in all of them, wrestling againstGeorge Gordienko of Canada,John da Silva of New Zealand and others.In 2018 WWE honoured Dara Singh by inducting him into theWWE Hall of Fame Legacy.[5]
Gama Singh wrestled in the 1970s-1990s.[a] He then moved to Canada and opened a wrestling training school.
Indian wrestlerSangram Singh was signed with South African promotion.
Star Sports andTen Sports used to air matches from theTNA and WWE promotions respectively.[b]
Freak Fighter Wrestling (FFW) runs shows in Sampala,Haryana.[6][7][8][c]
TheWrestle Square promotion has established a pro wrestling school, Jeet Wrestle Square (JWS) academy, with Jeet Rama (Satendra Dagar) in Northern India.[9]
Continental Wrestling Entertainment is the largest promotion and training school in India. It was created by the Great Khali in 2015 and is inJalandhar, Punjab.
Due to the popularity of pro wrestling and India's vast market and economic potential, WWE often held tryouts in India to recruit wrestlers and train them at theirPerformance center in the US.[10]
Dalip Singh Rana, is widely known by his ring nameThe Great Khali. He was the first professional wrestler from India to be signed toWWE.
The Great Khali becameWWEWorld Heavyweight Champion in 2007.[d] In the 20-man battle royale match, he defeatedBatista,Kane and others. At the No Mercy 2007pay-per-view he wrestled against Batista in aPunjabi Prison Match.[e] During his WWE career, he defeated WWE legends such asThe Undertaker,John Cena andRey Mysterio in his WWE career. On April 7, 2021, WWE honoured him by inducting him into theWWE Hall of Fame, making him the first professional wrestler from India who to receive this honour.[11][f] After WWE, he moved back to India and opened a pro wrestling promotion,Continental Wrestling Entertainment (CWE) in Jalandhar, Punjab,[g] where he provided training to budding wrestlers and organised wrestling events.
Yuvraj Singh Dhesi (born July 19, 1986) is a Canadian professional wrestler of Punjabi descent. He is best known for his time in WWE, under the ring nameJinder Mahal, where he became the first WWE world champion of Indian descent in April 2017. He is the nephew ofGama Singh who helped to train him. He started his WWE in 2011 as thekayfabe brother-in-law of the Great Khali and they worked together as a tag team with managerRanjin Singh. In 2016, he also wrestled for The Great Khali's wrestling promotion Continental Wrestling Entertainment (CWE) in India.[12]
Indian wrestlers includingSaurav Gurjar,Rinku Singh,Shanky,Satendra Dagar,[h]Lovepreet Sangha, Giant Zanjeer,Guru Raaj andBadshah Khan have since worked with WWE.[14][i][15]
In 2017Kavita Devi from Haryana became the first female professional wrestler of Indian nationality to wrestle in WWE.[16]
Female MMA fighter Sanjana George fromKottayam worked for WWE for a year in 2021.[17]
Amanpreet Singh Randhawa (born 2 May 1990 in Firozpur, Punjab) known asMahabali Shera or simply Shera, is an Indian professional wrestler currently signed toOhio Valley Wrestling. He has held theOVW National Heavyweight Champion.[18][2][19] He also had a brief stint under contract with WWE from Sept 2018 to April 2019. In December 2011, under the ring name Mahabali Veera, Shera took part in the India projectRing Ka King.
In 2011,Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (later renamed Impact Wrestling) announced a project in India. The project was revealed to be an original televised wrestling program intended for the Indian market, titled Ring Ka King. The promotion was managed by Jeff Jarrett. Jeremy Borash, Dave Lagana andSonjay Dutt helped Jarrett with management.
Ring Ka King ran for 26 episodes, from December 2011 to April 2012. It was taped inPune, Maharashtra, India, and featured both Indian and non-Indian wrestlers performing on the show. A majority of the non-Indian wrestlers were under contract with TNA; this included Zema Ion, Scott Steiner, and Abyss, among others. Independent wrestlers Sonjay Dutt, Isaiah Cash and American Adonis were also featured on the show.
Ring Ka King had three singles Champions, Matt Morgan (US), Sir Brutus Magnus (UK) and Mahabali Veera (India). Mahabali was champion for three months until RKR came to an end. RKR also had three tag-teams as champions, Bulldog Hart and Chavo Guerro, Abyss and Scott Steiner and the Bollywood Boys,Gurv Sihra andHarva Shira. The Bollywood Boys were champions for three months until RKR came to an end.
Other Indian wrestlers involved in RKR wereAghori Saya,Deadley Danda, Jwala,Pagal Parinda,Pathani Pattha (three separate people),Romeo Rapta and Sonjay Dutt, withKubra Sait,Siddharth Kannan andHarbhajan Singh also on camera.
Sonjay Dutt is an American professional wrestler ofNew Delhi descent. He has worked with Impact, WWE and AEW and became the first TNA/Impact champion of Indian descent in 2015 when he won the X Division belt.
TheDesi Hit Squad was a tag team / stable in IMPACT Wrestling in 2018. It consisted of Mahabali Shera,Rohit Raju, Raj Singh and Bhupinder Singh with Gama Singh serving as manager.
Satnam Singh Bhamara (Punjabi: ਸਤਨਾਮ ਸਿੰਘ ਭੰਮਰਾ; born 10 December 1995 in Baloke, Punjab, India) is an Indian professional wrestler and former basketball player, signed to the American professional wrestling promotionAll Elite Wrestling (AEW) since April 2022. At 7 ft 2in (218 cm) he is billed as ‘one in a billion’ and on-screen he is aligned with Sonjay Dutt.
Following list contains TV shows created by multiple foreign wrestling promotions with India's professional wrestlers :
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