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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 various promotions. International wrestling promotions such as WWE and Impact Wrestling generate high television viewership and have a significant fan following in India. [1]
In early 20th century Baksh Butt, known as The 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 and Tiger Daula.
Tiger Joginder Singh and Arjan 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 famous Emile Czaja, popularly known by his ring name King Kong. He also defeated world champion wrestler Lou Thesz of the US. [3] Singh participated in almost 500 professional matches and remained undefeated in all of them, wrestling against George Gordienko of Canada, John da Silva of New Zealand and others. In 2018 WWE honoured Dara Singh by inducting him into the WWE Hall of Fame Legacy. [5]
Gama Singh wrestled in the 1970s-1990s. [lower-alpha 1] He then moved to Canada and opened a wrestling training school.
Indian wrestler Sangram Singh was signed with South African promotion.
Star Sports and Ten Sports used to air matches from the TNA and WWE promotions respectively. [lower-alpha 2]
Freak Fighter Wrestling (FFW) runs shows in Sampala, Haryana. [6] [7] [8] [lower-alpha 3]
The Wrestle 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 in Jalandhar, 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 their Performance center in the US. [10]
Dalip Singh Rana, is widely known by his ring name The Great Khali. He was the first professional wrestler from India to be signed to WWE.
The Great Khali became WWE World Heavyweight Champion in 2007. [lower-alpha 4] In the 20-man battle royale match, he defeated Batista, Kane and others. At the No Mercy 2007 pay-per-view he wrestled against Batista in a Punjabi Prison Match. [lower-alpha 5] During his WWE career, he defeated WWE legends such as The Undertaker, John Cena and Rey Mysterio in his WWE career. On April 7, 2021, WWE honoured him by inducting him into the WWE Hall of Fame, making him the first professional wrestler from India who to receive this honour. [11] [lower-alpha 6] After WWE, he moved back to India and opened a pro wrestling promotion, Continental Wrestling Entertainment (CWE) in Jalandhar, Punjab [lower-alpha 7] , 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 currently signed to WWE, under the ring name Jinder Mahal, and became the first WWE world champion of Indian descent in April 2017. He is the nephew of Gama Singh who helped to train him. He started his WWE in 2011 as (kayfabe) the brother-in-law of the Great Khali and they worked together as a tag team with manager Ranjin Singh. In 2016, he also wrestled for The Great Khali's wrestling promotion Continental Wrestling Entertainment (CWE) in India. [12]
Indian wrestlers including Saurav Gurjar, Rinku Singh, Shanky, Satendra Dagar [lower-alpha 8] , Lovepreet Sangha, Giant Zanjeer, Guru Raaj and Badshah Khan have since worked with WWE. [14] [lower-alpha 9] [15]
In 2017 Kavita Devi from Haryana became the first female professional wrestler of Indian nationality to wrestle in WWE. [16]
Female MMA fighter Sanjana George from Kottayam worked for WWE for a year in 2021. [17]
Amanpreet Singh Randhawa (born 2 May 1990 in Firozpur, Punjab) known as Mahabali Shera or simply Shera, is an Indian professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling. He has held the OVW 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 project Ring Ka King.
In 2011, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, now 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 and Sonjay Dutt helped Jarrett with management.
Ring Ka King ran for 26 episodes, from December 2011 to April 2012. It was taped in Pune, 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 3 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 and Harva Shira. The Bollywood Boys were champions for 3 months until RKR came to an end.
Other Indian wrestlers involved in RKR were Aghori Saya, Deadley Danda, Jwala, Pagal Parinda, Pathani Pattha (3 separate people), Romeo Rapta and Sonjay Dutt, with Kubra Sait, Siddharth Kannan and Harbhajan Singh also on camera.
Sonjay Dutt is an American professional wrestler of New 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.
The Desi 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 promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) since April 2022. At 7ft 2in (218cm) 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 :
Retesh Bhalla is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a producer and manager. He is best known for his time with Total Nonstop Action / Impact Wrestling under the ring name Sonjay Dutt. He also worked for WWE as a producer from 2019 to 2021.
Nuufolau Joel "Joe" Seanoa, better known by the ring name Samoa Joe, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the AEW World Champion in his first reign.
Dara Shawn Daivari is an Iranian-American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Shawn Daivari. He is currently signed to WWE as a producer. He is also known for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling where he is a former TNA X Division Champion and has also made appearances in Ring of Honor and Lucha Underground.
Dalip Singh Rana is an Indian retired professional wrestler and wrestling promoter better known by his ring name The Great Khali. He is best known for his tenure in WWE where he became the first Indian-born World Heavyweight Champion in history. Khali was inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021.
Championship unification is the act of combining two or more separate professional wrestling championships into a single title.
Jamar Shipman, better known by the ring name Jay Lethal, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his time with Ring of Honor (ROH). He is also well known for his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
Gadowar Singh Sahota ; born December 8, 1954) is an Indo-Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler known as Gama Singh and Great Gama Sahota was a villainous mainstay and top attraction in Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling in Calgary for much of the 1970s and 1980s. Sahota also wrestled internationally in Japan, South Africa, Germany, Kuwait, Dubai, Oman, Australia, the United States and the Caribbean. He also worked sporadically, mostly on overseas tours, for Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1980 to 1986. His nephew is former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal. Singh made a brief comeback of sorts in 2018, when he signed with Impact Wrestling as the manager for a stable of Indian wrestlers known as the Desi Hit Squad, but quietly left in 2020.
Gregory "Greg" Marasciulo, better known by the ring name Trent Beretta, is an American professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Best Friends stable. He is also known for his time with WWE as Trent Barreta and New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Ring of Honor under the ring name Beretta. As part of Roppongi Vice alongside Rocky Romero, Beretta is a former four-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. He is also known for his tenures with Pro Wrestling Guerilla and various independent promotions.
Yuvraj Singh Dhesi is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Jinder Mahal and is the leader of the Indus Sher stable.
Ring Ka King was an Indian professional wrestling brand of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Filming for the promotion's television product began in December 2011 with the backing of Endemol and debuted on India's The Colors Network on 28 January 2012. The first season of 26 episodes concluded on 22 April.
Thomas Sylvester La Ruffa is a French professional wrestler currently wrestling under the ring name Tom LaRuffa. He is best known for his time in WWE, in their developmental territory NXT as Sylvester Lefort, and for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Basile Baraka.
Santana Garrett is an American professional wrestler, valet and model. She is currently signed to WWE, where she works as a coach at the Performance Center. During her career, Garrett has wrestled in many independent promotions. She is best known for her time in Impact Wrestling under the ring name Brittany and her first full time stint in WWE, performing for NXT under her real name. She has won many titles, national and international, such as the Shine Championship, the Shine Tag Team Championship and the Wonder of Stardom Championship.
Amanpreet Singh Randhawa is an Indian professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling where he performs under the ring name Mahabali Shera or simply Shera. He also had a brief stint under contract with WWE in 2018.
The Bollywood Boyz are a Canadian professional wrestling tag team composed of brothers Gurvinder "Gurv" Sihra and Harvinder "Harv" Sihra. They are best known for their time in WWE, where Gurvinder and Harvinder performed under the ring names Sunil Singh and Samir Singh, respectively.
Satender Dagar is an Indian professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenures with WWE, where he competed in their developmental territory NXT under the ring name Jeet Rama.
Saurav Gurjar is an Indian professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Sanga, as a member of Indus Sher, alongside Veer Mahaan and Jinder Mahal. He is best known for his role as Bhima in the TV show Mahabharat. He is a former National Kickboxing Gold Medalist.
The Tribunal was a professional wrestling tag team, which consisted of Basile Baraka and Baron Dax. They spent time in WWE, in the developmental territory NXT and TNA Wrestling.
Kevin Matthew McDonald is an American professional wrestler, He is best known for his time in Impact Wrestling, under the ring name KM. He is currently a backstage coach/producer for All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Gurvinder Singh Malhotra is an Indian professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with WWE, where he performed under the ring name Shanky. He is also known for his tenure in Continental Wrestling Entertainment (CWE).
WWE Superstar Spectacle is a series of professional wrestling events produced by the American company WWE. The events have primarily targeted the promotion's Indian market, and have showcased talent of Indian heritage.
