The Great Khali was introduced to WWE in 2006. Billed at 7-foot-1 and weighing over 340 pounds, he leaves a lasting impression on everyone who knows him. Before entering the wrestling scene, The Great Khali was a police officer in India. He was brought into wrestling to fight against the big names such as John Cena, The Undertaker, and Batista. He won the World Heavyweight Champion in two competing years.
His enormous size and signature move like the chokebomb helped him get chosen by the WWE as one of the inductees into their Hall of Fame in 2021.
He stepped down from his wrestling career in 2017. However, he left a huge impact on the wrestling world. In fact, wrestling is still one of the biggest sports for online betting in India with a number of popular sites to choose from such as this site here.
So, who is this king of wrestling and what is The Great Khali up to now?
More about The Great Khali
The Great Khali’s real name is Dalip Singh Rana, and he was born in Dhiraina, Himachal Pradesh, India in 1972. He was one of seven children, and he was born with a condition called acromegaly, causing him to develop gigantism at a young age. He worked odd jobs to make ends meet before working as a security guard in the early 1990s. Rana became a police officer in 1993 and he was there convinced to start training to get into wrestling. His big size made an impact straight away.
Rana first worked under the name ‘Giant Singh’ from 2000 to 2006. Before getting his big break in 2006, he worked with WCW, NJPW, APW, CMLL, and AJPW. Rana became the first person of Indian descent to receive such a huge deal with the company and he made his debut on television within three months. The Great Khali debuted on April 7th, 2006, fighting against The Undertaker. He spent the rest of his career destroying opponents everywhere, claiming the championship gold in 2007.
The Great Khali became the first person of Indian descent to win a world title in WWE. He held the belt for 61 days before losing to Batista at the Unforgiven event. Khali spent the next year trying to win against top starts for various world titles. However, he never won another title in WWE.
His final match was on October 31st, 2014. He lost to Rusev on an episode of Smackdown! And his contract expired a few weeks later.
Besides Wresting
Dalip Singh Rana took part in a number of prominent Hollywood movies. He made his cinematic debut in The Longest Yard in 2005 as Turley. He also had other roles in movies like Get Smart and MacGruber, along with other television roles.
He then made his way to Bollywood. Between 2010 and 2012, Rana appeared in Kushti and Ramaa: The Survivor.
Although The Great Khali was marketed as The Punjabi Playboy for a number of years, he had been off the market since 2002. His wife, Harminder Kaur, is an actress and together they had their first daughter called Alveen Rana in 2014. Rana loves spending time with his family. Rana and his family live a very comfortable lifestyle. His estimated net worth is of $6 million.
Rana did not quit wrestling after his exit from WWE in 2014. He opened his own wrestling school in Punjab called Continental Wrestling Entertainment. The company held its first event in 2015 and Khali won the CWE World Heavyweight Championship in 2016.
On March 24th, 2021, WWE announced that they will be placing The Great Khali into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2021.
The Great Khali will do down in history as a trailblazer for Indian professional wrestlers and one of the all-time giants in professional wrestling.
