_(cropped).jpg) Tiger Jeet Singh in 2018 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jagjeet Singh Hans (1944-04-03)April 3, 1944 (age 81) |
Spouse | Sukhjit Hans (m. 1970) |
| Children | 3, includingTiger Ali Singh |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name | Tiger Jeet Singh |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 265 lb (120 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Punjab, India |
| Trained by | Fred Atkins[2] |
| Debut | 1965 |
| Retired | 2012 |
Jagjeet Singh Hans[3] (born April 3, 1944) is a Canadian retiredprofessional wrestler, known better by hisring nameTiger Jeet Singh. He was known for his elaborate ring entrances, and generally performed as aheel. He wrestled in Japan and was the first professional wrestler in Japan to defeat sumo wrestlerWajima Hiroshi. He heldFrontier Martial-Arts Wrestling'sWorld Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship and headlined the company's flagship eventAnniversary Show in1992.[citation needed]
In the 1960s, Hans began wrestling and emigrated from his hometown inPunjab to Canada, arriving with $6 in his pocket.[3][4] Hans trained inToronto under Fred Atkins and eventually signed withFrank Tunney, a Toronto wrestling promoter.[2] Atkins dubbed Hans "Tiger" after witnessing his ferocious style of fighting.[4] Tiger made hisMaple Leaf Gardens debut in 1965, wrestling as a heel. His first main event in Toronto was atag team match late that year, teaming with Professor Hiro to take on the team ofJohnny Powers andSweet Daddy Siki. He began teaming with Fred Atkins in 1966. They became the top team in Toronto by defeatingWhipper Billy Watson and Bulldog Brower for the international tag title in July 1966. Singh and Atkins wrestled at or near the top of the card through 1966 and 1967.
Singh also competed on the US wrestling circuits, grappling with opponents like Sweet Daddy Siki,André the Giant,Hans Schmidt, Whipper Billy Watson and "Bulldog" Dick Brower. He defeatedJohnny Valentine for the Toronto version of the US title and wrestledGene Kiniski for theNWA World Heavyweight Championship in the summer of 1967 and, in the fall, twice challengedBruno Sammartino for theWWWF Championship. WithWild Bull Curry, again defeated Watson and Brower to win the international tag title in 1968.
In February 1971, Singh wrestledThe Sheik in the main event of the first wrestling show in Maple Leaf Gardens history to attract a sell-out crowd of over 18,000.
While visiting Japan in 1972, Singh got into a brawl withAntonio Inoki in a shopping center.[4] He immediately began wrestling inNew Japan Pro-Wrestling in 1973 and would feud with Inoki as a result of the incident. Inoki broke Singh's arm in a 1974 match, but Tiger defeated Inoki to win the NWF world title in 1975 only to lose it to Inoki three months later.
He defeatedSeiji Sakaguchi in 1976 to win the NWF Asian title and remained champion until making a jump toAll-Japan Pro Wrestling in 1981. Singh wrestled in the main event of the joint New Japan-All Japan card in Tokyo in 1978 withAbdullah the Butcher to take on the Japanese dream team of Inoki andGiant Baba. Singh would later team with Abdullah frequently.
Singh defeatedEl Canek to win the UWA World Heavyweight Championship in Mexico in 1980 and lost the title to Inoki months later. Singh regained it but then dropped it back to Canek in 1981. In Toronto Singh had one final match forFrank Tunney against Sheik in 1977, when he subbed for no-showDusty Rhodes. Singh defeatedRic Flair in Toronto in 1979, and unsuccessfully challengingNick Bockwinkel for theAWA title at the Gardens.
Singh continued to wrestle in Japan into the 1990s and make occasional appearances on indie shows in Toronto. In 1990, he teamed with Inoki to defeatBig Van Vader andAnimal Hamaguchi in the main event of Inoki's 30th anniversary show in Yokohama.
In the early 1990s, Singh wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. On December 18, 1991, Singh lost toHiroshi Hase in match held in the island of Ganryū-jima.
He ventured to Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in 1992, and had a bloody feud with Atsushi Onita. Whilst in FMW Singh teamed with a young Sabu, who also accompanied him to the ring. Singh also wrestled in the main event of the first Heisei Ishingun card in Tokyo in 1994, losing to Shiro Koshinaka in a bout refereed by Inoki.
Singh was a prominent participant in the IWA-Japan 1995 King of the Death Matches Tournament. In the opening contest of the quarter-finals round, he forced Mr. Gannosuke into submission while Gannosuke was inside a bed of barbed wire. Singh advanced to the semi-finals where he lost to Terry Funk. Even after dominating the match and throwing Funk into broken glass,Cactus Jack came out of nowhere and miscalculated an attack with Singh's signature sword on Funk and hit Singh instead. In the finals Singh interfered briefly and joined Cactus Jack in attacking Terry Funk.
Singh occasionally wrestled for Japanese promotionHustle during the 2000s. In July 2008 Singh participated in Hustle's Grand Prix tournament. He represented India and facedBob Sapp who represented the USA.
In 1997, Singh's sonTiger Ali Singh was signed by the WWF and Singh would manage him. He appeared at ringside at WWF's United Kingdom-exclusive pay-per-view eventOne Night Only on September 20, 1997. Singh left WWF that November when his son was taken off WWF TV.
After leaving Hustle, Singh returned to IWA Japan. Singh wrestled his last match onCanada Day 2012 for SCW TigerFest 2012 in Brampton, Ontario where he teamed withTatanka andSonjay Dutt defeatingViscera, Darkko, andSteve Corino.
Singh and his wife have three sons.[3] One of his sons is formerWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) wrestlerTiger Ali Singh.
A documentary entitledTiger! chronicles his life story from his life in India to his work as a wrestler.[3][4]
The Tiger Jeet Singh Public School, an elementary school inMilton, Ontario that opened in September 2010, was named after Singh despite some community concerns about the appropriateness of naming a public school after a professional wrestler. Local author and historian John Challinor II made a presentation to the Halton Board of Education and stressed that the honour should be made based on Tiger Jeet Singh's philanthropy and humanitarian works. Area Trustee Donna Danielli addressed the decision, which has been met with some controversy given the violent content of professional wrestling, stating: "He definitely makes a difference in the community and I believe that he will be a very positive role model and mentor at that school -- he plans to be very involved."[5]
In 2012, Singh was one of the recipients of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards presented byCanadian Immigrant Magazine.[6]
