The Bollywood Boyz

Last updated

The Bollywood Boyz
Singh brothers.jpg
Gurv (left) and Harv (right) in November 2017
Statistics
MembersGurvinder "Gurv" Sihra / Sunil Singh
Harvinder "Harv" Sihra / Samir Singh
Name(s)The Bollywood Boyz
The Bollywood Lions
The Bollywood Brothers
The Sihra Brothers
The Singh Brothers
Billed heightsGurv:
5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Harv:
5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Combined
billed weight		303 lb (137 kg)
Hometown Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Billed fromBurnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Punjab, India
DebutOctober 2005 (Gurv)
May 2006 (Harv)
Years active2006–present
Trainer Rip Rogers
Harley Race
Hart Dungeon
Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling

The Bollywood Boyz are a Canadian professional wrestling tag team composed of brothers Gurvinder "Gurv" Sihra (born November 13, 1984) and Harvinder "Harv" Sihra (born November 2, 1987). They are best known for their time in WWE, where Gurvinder and Harvinder performed under the ring names Sunil Singh and Samir Singh, respectively.

Contents

They made their main roster debut on SmackDown in April 2017, repackaged as The Singh Brothers and the managers of Jinder Mahal. They managed Mahal to his reign as WWE Champion and continued to accompany him until 2019, when the duo began wrestling on 205 Live . In October 2020, both men reverted to The Bollywood Boyz team name and gimmick. They were released from WWE in June 2021.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2005–2015)

Gurv began training in 2004 with Rip Rogers at Ohio Valley Wrestling, Harley Race, and in the Hart Dungeon. [1] [2] Gurv debuted in Ohio Valley Wrestling in October 2005, and Harv followed suit. [1] [2] The brothers wrestled for a short time as singles wrestlers: Harv as "Bollywood Don" and Gurv as "Golden Lion". [2] As a tag team, The Bollywood Boyz (originally The Bollywood Lions) [2] won the ECCW Tag Team Championship five times between 2011 and 2015. Early in their careers, the brothers also wrestled on Tony Condello's "Death Tour" of Manitoba, a tour known for its rough conditions. [1] [2]

In 2011, The Bollywood Boyz wrestled in India as part of the TNA-sponsored Ring Ka King promotion. [3] On December 19, 2011, they took part of a tournament to crown the inaugural RKK Tag Team Champions defeating The Mumbai Cats (Leopard and Puma) in the quarterfinals. [4] The following night they were eliminated from the tournament by RDX (Sir Brutus Magnus and Sonjay Dutt) in the semifinals. [5] On January 22, 2012, The Bollywood Boyz defeated RDX (Abyss and Scott Steiner) to become the RKK Tag Team Champions. [6] On April 23, 2012, they vacated the championships after the promotion closed.

On July 24, 2015, The Bollywood Boyz made their debut for Jeff Jarrett's promotion Global Force Wrestling (GFW), where they participated in a tournament to crown the inaugural GFW Tag Team Champions. They defeated The Akbars (Ali and Omar) in the quarterfinals of the tournament. [7] On October 23, 2015, at Global Force Wrestling's TV tapings, The Bollywood Boyz defeated Reno Scum to become the first ever GFW Tag Team Champions. [8]

WWE (2016-2021)

NXT and 205 Live (2016–2017)

On June 13, 2016, Gurv and Harv were announced as participants in WWE's Cruiserweight Classic tournament. [9] On June 23, both Sihras were eliminated from the tournament in their first round matches, with Gurv losing to Noam Dar and Harv losing to Drew Gulak. The Bollywood Boyz debuted in the WWE developmental territory NXT at the September 15 tapings. They also took part in the second annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic; however, they were eliminated by The Authors of Pain in the first round. [10] On the premiere episode of 205 Live in November 2016, The Bollywood Boyz defeated Tony Nese and Drew Gulak in their debut tag team match. [11]

Managing Jinder Mahal (2017–2019)

The Singh Brothers helped Jinder Mahal to retain the WWE Championship during his reign Jinder Mahal and Singh Bro (cropped).jpg
The Singh Brothers helped Jinder Mahal to retain the WWE Championship during his reign

On the April 18, 2017, episode of SmackDown Live , they made their main roster debut as The Singh Brothers; Gurv was renamed Sunil Singh, while Harv was renamed Samir Singh. They interfered in a six-pack challenge match to determine the number one contender for Randy Orton's WWE Championship at Backlash, helping Jinder Mahal win the match, turning heel in the process. [12] During Mahal's reign as champion, they usually interfered during his title defences. [13] [14] [15] On the January 16, 2018, episode of SmackDown Live, Samir suffered a torn ACL during a ringside brawl with Bobby Roode. On April 16, The Singh Brothers moved to Raw brand as part of the Superstar Shake-up alongside Jinder Mahal. On the October 15 episode of Raw , Samir returned after his injury to unite with his brother and Mahal. Sunil and Samir wrestled their first match on the January 1, 2019, episode of Raw when they teamed up with Mahal to defeat Heath Slater and Rhyno, in a 2-on-3 handicap match.

Return to 205 Live and 24/7 Champions (2019–2021)

During the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up, the Singh Brothers and Jinder Mahal were drafted back to SmackDown. The following week, the Singh Brothers were drafted over to 205 Live, separating them from Mahal. Since then, they have changed their gimmicks, very similar to their previous gimmick of The Bollywood Boyz and have been competing in tag team matches regularly. On October 21, 2019, Sunil – after a distraction from Samir – pinned R-Truth backstage during Raw to win the WWE 24/7 Championship, marking the first title for either of the Singh Brothers in WWE. 10 days later at Crown Jewel, Sunil lost the title to Truth after they both were eliminated from a battle royal, but later in the evening Samir pinned Truth backstage to win the title for the first time in his own right. 18 days later, Samir lost the title backstage on an episode of Raw to Truth, who was disguised as a doctor. Since then, both brothers have regained and lost the championship at various house shows. On the October 9, 2020, edition of 205 Live, it was announced that The Singh Brothers would return to the brand, going back to The Bollywood Boyz gimmick. On June 25, 2021, they were released from their WWE contracts. [16]

All Elite Wrestling (2022-present)

On the October 17, 2022, episode of AEW Dark: Elevation , The Bollywood Boyz made their debut in a losing effort against the Gunn Club. [17]

Other media

Gurv and Harv, as The Singh Brothers, appear in WWE 2K19 and WWE 2K20 as non-playable managers for Jinder Mahal. [18]

Personal lives

The brothers are originally from Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. [1] They both graduated from Moscrop Secondary School. [2] Gurv graduated from Douglas College in British Columbia, where he studied criminology. [1] He has also worked in loss prevention and has a third degree black belt in Taekwondo. [1] [19] He and his wife have one son, named Gurveer, who was born on December 13, 2019. [20] Harv also attended Douglas College, studying history. [19] He has also worked as a model and actor. [19] Harv appeared in the 2015 movie Brothers . [21] Both brothers appeared in the movie Russell Madness, which also starred fellow professional wrestler John Morrison. [19] Gurv and Harv are both Sikhs. [22]

Championships and accomplishments

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Hardy</span> American professional wrestler (born 1974)

Matthew Moore Hardy is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is one-half of the reigning TNA World Tag Team Champions in his third reign. He is best known for his tenures in WWE and All Elite Wrestling (AEW). With his brother Jeff, Hardy gained prominence in WWF's tag team division during the 2000s due to his participation in TLC matches. He is a 15-time world tag team champion, having held the WWE World Tag Team Championship six times, the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship three times, the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship, ROH World Tag Team Championship, and WCW Tag Team Championship once each, and the TNA World Tag Team Championships three times. They are considered one of the major teams that revived tag team wrestling during the Attitude Era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Great Khali</span> Indian-American professional wrestler (born 1972)

Dalip Singh Rana is an Indian-born American 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. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xavier Woods</span> American professional wrestler

Austin Watson is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Xavier Woods and is part of The New Day. Watson also makes public appearances outside of wrestling under the name Austin Creed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jinder Mahal</span> Canadian professional wrestler (born 1986)

Yuvraj Singh Dhesi is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is performing on the independent circuit under his real name, stylized as Raj Dhesi. He works for various promotions such as Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), where he is one-half of the current AAA World Tag Team Champions in his first reign, and International Wrestling Association. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Jinder Mahal and is a former 1-time WWE Champion, WWE United States Champion, and 2-time WWE 24/7 Champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drew Gulak</span> American professional wrestler

Drew Gulak is an American professional wrestler. He is currently performing on the independent circuit. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he was a former one-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion and eight-time WWE 24/7 Champion.

Matthew Nebeker is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Ethan H. D..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Jordan</span> American professional wrestler

Nathan Everhart is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Jason Jordan. He is signed to WWE, where he works as the lead producer for Raw and SmackDown. He has not wrestled since suffering a neck injury in January 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Money in the Bank (2017)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

The 2017 Money in the Bank was the eighth annual Money in the Bank professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's SmackDown brand division. The event took place on June 18, 2017, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the first event to feature a women's Money in the Bank ladder match, and was also the only brand-exclusive Money in the Bank event to be held during either of WWE's brand extension periods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killian Dain</span> Northern Irish professional wrestler

Damian Mackle is an Irish professional wrestler. He is known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Killian Dain. Since his departure from WWE, he has reverted back to his ring name on the independent circuit, Big Damo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SummerSlam (2017)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

The 2017 SummerSlam was the 30th annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on August 20, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York for the third consecutive year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Survivor Series (2017)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

The 2017 Survivor Series was the 31st annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on November 19, 2017, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. After the 2016 event had several interpromotional matches between the two brands, the theme of the 2017 event became brand supremacy, and every match of the main card involved wrestlers of the Raw brand facing wrestlers of the SmackDown brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Backlash (2017)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

The 2017 Backlash was the 13th Backlash professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's SmackDown brand division. The event took place on May 21, 2017, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. It was only the second Backlash event to be held in the Allstate Arena, after the 2001 event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battleground (2017)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

The 2017 Battleground was the fifth annual Battleground professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's SmackDown brand division. The event took place on July 23, 2017, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This was the final Battleground held until 2023, as Battleground was expected to return as a Raw event in 2018, but following WrestleMania 34 in April that year, brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued, resulting in WWE reducing the amount of yearly PPVs produced. In 2023, the Battleground event was revived for WWE's developmental territory, NXT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up</span> WWEs intra-brand draft

The 2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up was the eleventh WWE draft – and the first to be rebranded as the Superstar Shake-up – produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between the Raw and SmackDown brands. Instead of a traditional draft, changes between the brands were made behind the scenes, with moving wrestlers simply appearing on a brand's show or announced via WWE's website or social medias. It was a two-day event that took place on the April 10 and 11 episodes of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live, respectively, on the USA Network in the United States. Raw was broadcast from Uniondale, New York at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, while SmackDown was broadcast from Boston, Massachusetts at TD Garden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clash of Champions (2017)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

The 2017 Clash of Champions was the second Clash of Champions professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's SmackDown brand division. The event took place on December 17, 2017, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. As per the theme of the event, all championships exclusive to SmackDown at the time were defended. The event was replaced by Evolution in 2018, but returned in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hell in a Cell (2017)</span> WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event

The 2017 Hell in a Cell was the ninth annual Hell in a Cell professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from the promotion's SmackDown brand division. The event took place on October 8, 2017, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WWE Superstar Spectacle</span> Professional wrestling event series

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Brawling Brutes</span> Professional wrestling stable in WWE

The Brawling Brutes were a professional wrestling stable in WWE. The stable was led by Sheamus and also contained Ridge Holland and Butch. The group started in November 2021. In August 2023, Sheamus suffered a shoulder injury and three months later in November, Holland walked out on Butch during a tag team match, ending the group in the process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Professional wrestling in India</span>

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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kamchen, Richard (March 17, 2008). "Wrestling Lion Sihra never sleeps". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on July 23, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Beddall, Justin (September 9, 2015). "Bollywood Boyz primed for the big time". Burnaby Now. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  3. ↑ Basso, Corey (April 29, 2013). "The Bollywood Boyz get "Grilled"". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on July 23, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Ring Ka King #6 Results". CageMatch.
  5. ↑ "Ring Ka King #7 Results". CageMatch.
  6. ↑ "Ring Ka King #23 Results". CageMatch.
  7. ↑ "GFW Amped TV Tapings results". CageMatch.
  8. 1 2 3 Alvarez, Bryan (October 24, 2015). "New champions crowned at Global Force Wrestling TV tapings". Wrestling Observer Newsletter . Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Interview of Bollywood Boyz by Renjith Ravindran for The Fan Garage". The Fan Garage. July 11, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
  10. ↑ Paglino, Nick (September 15, 2016). "Complete WWE NXT TV Taping Results for September and October *Spoilers*". WrestleZone.
  11. ↑ "The Bollywood Boyz vs. Tony Nese & Drew Gulak: WWE 205 Live". WWE. November 29, 2016.
  12. ↑ "WWE SmackDown LIVE results, April 18, 2017: Styles squeaks out victory over Corbin with Owens watching on". WWE. April 18, 2017.
  13. ↑ "WWE Backlash 2017 results".
  14. ↑ "WWE Backlash 2017 results, grades: Jinder Mahal wins title, Owens-Styles rocks". May 22, 2017.
  15. ↑ "SummerSlam 2017 results: Jinder Mahal, Brock Lesnar retain titles - Times of India". The Times of India . August 21, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Complete List Of Today'S Wwe Releases". PWInsider.com. June 25, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2022.
  17. ↑ "AEW Dark: Elevation #85".
  18. ↑ Cole, Caitlin (December 19, 2018). "Complete WWE 2K19 Roster". Rumble Ramble. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Oliver, Greg (June 25, 2014). "Bollywood Boyz hope TigerFest leads to bigger and better things". SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on July 22, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  20. ↑ gurvsihra_wwe. "On December 13th, 2019, my wife and I welcomed our son, Gurveer Singh Sihra into this world". Instagram.com. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
  21. ↑ "The Bollywood Boyz". Global Force Wrestling. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  22. ↑ WWE (February 11, 2017). "The Bollywood Boyz visit a Sikh temple". WWE – via YouTube.
  23. ↑ ASW Tag Team Championship, cagematch.net, Retrieved 2021-01-24
  24. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip (November 17, 2021). "CanAm Tag Team Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
  25. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip (February 13, 2022). "Defy Wrestling Tag Team Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved February 14, 2022.
  26. ↑ "ECCW Tag Team Championship history".
  27. ↑ HWE Tag Team Championship, cagematch.net, Retrieved 2024-01-24
  28. 1 2 "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2017". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  29. 1 2 "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2019 - the Internet Wrestling Database".
  30. ↑ "RCW Showdown 2016 results".
  31. ↑ "RKK Tag Team Championship history".
  32. ↑ "Our new Thrash Wrestling tag team champions The Bollywood Boyz!!!". Facebook .

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.