WWE fans will remember The Great Khali, a real-life giant who dawned on fellow fighters in 2006.
Standing at an impressive 7 foot 1 and weighing in at over 154kg, the wrestler became an iconic part of the company for over 10 years. Check out his first fight here:
Born Dalip Singh Rana, the former police officer from India was introduced to face-off with WWE idols like John Cena, The Undertaker and Batista, but ended up winning the World Heavyweight Champion in just two years inside the ring - becoming the first person of Indian descent to win a world title in WWE.
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It was his well-known moves like the choke bomb, head chop and vice-grip which would lead him to put some of the biggest wrestling stars firmly in the ground when they encountered The Great Khali.
The wrestler ended up departing from the ring in 2017, but where is he now?
While his stint in WWE has come to an end, The Great Khali has since found new ways to keep his career going.
In 2008, WWE opted to give Rana a new wrestling character, ‘The Punjabi Playboy’, who was an undeniably popular flirt with women in the audience, as well as fellow WWE superstars.
One year later until 2014, Khali became involved in a few short-lived spats in the ring and didn’t compete for as much as before due to injuries which followed his massive fame in the ring, and the superstar decided he wanted to spend more time with his family.
His final feature in a WWE match arrived to audience members on 31 October 2014 in an episode of Smackdown! Where his opponent Rusev claimed the victory. His contract ended just weeks later.
Rana made WWE fans happy by returning to the company for a few featuring moments in 2017 and 2018, even appearing in The Greatest Royal Rumble that year - but he’s not wrestled for the company since.
However, the icon has kept his foot firmly in the door of the wrestling industry, having opened his own wrestling school in Punjab, India, in January 2015 which puts on a wrestling show every Saturday night.
It’ll hardly be surprising to learn that WWE also nominated the star into their Hall of Fame last year, marking him as one officially one of the icons of the company.
Meanwhile, in his personal life, Rana married actress Harminder Kaur in 2002 and welcomed a daughter Alveen Rana in 2014.
Gabriella Ferlita