In this world we live in, this is about as inconsequential a story as you will ever read, but I thought I would talk about it today anyway.
It appears the Great Khali was released by the WWE yesterday.
Those are the reports, and if true, it is kind of sad.
Yes, the WWE creates its own world, and a lot of people are into this male soap opera things, a lot of people could care less.
But the Great Khali appears to be history, and to me, that is really too bad.
When this guy burst onto the scene several years ago, he was really something to behold.
He was almost the second coming of Andre the Giant.
Khali was absolutely huge, well over 7 feet tall, and they promoted him by showing you how he could crunch a basketball to bits with his bare hand--yes, hand. One hand was all he needed to squeeze the life out of a basketball, and presumably, another wrestler's head.
Yes, he was a villain at first, a villain that you really were in awe of.
There were problems with Khali right from the beginning.
In real life, the wrestler was, believe it or not, a police officer in India by the name of Dalip Singh Rana. He had a wife and family back home, but was urged to try pro wrestling because of his size.
First off, his English was unintelligible, and mic skills are crucial in the WWE.They even paired him with a manager, at first, one who could enunciate well better than Khali could.
His English became a running joke for his entire WWE tenure.
However, if you can't get your point across verbally, well, it is almost as if you can't wrestle, either.
And that leads to the next problem ...
He couldn't wrestle. At all.
He would basically stomp his opponents, and then put his huge foot on them, and the match was over.
He won the heavyweight championship briefly with this style, but to real pro wrestling fans, it was phony.
He became almost a laughing stock, and after a while, the WWE writers really didn't know what to do with his character, and they relegated him to substandard matches and roles while he learned to wrestle.
He never really did learn to wrestle, but he did learn a few moves.
It didn't help.
Because of his size, he became a comedy player in this wrestling troupe, nicknamed "The Punjabi Prince" and some other names, and his segments most assuredly led to comedy, not much else.
He was even paired with the WWE's resident midget, Hornswoggle, in a sort of "Mutt and Jeff" teaming, but it simply did not work.
Now, he is history, evidently, and it really is too bad.
The guy had no talent, but just to look at this guy, well, if you had to wrestle him, it probably sent shivers up your spine.
Andre the Giant knew how to wrestle; this guy simply did not, but they both shared one thing: the fans loved both of them.
I will be sorry to see him go. He was a presence, if nothing else.
But in the world of the WWE, nothing is final, so maybe he will return at some point in time.
Who knows.
But the long and short of it is that I will personally miss the Great Khali, and I am sure millions of wrestling fans around the world will too.
Goodbye, Shalom, Sayonara.
He is done, and that is too bad.
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