The Great Khali (@thegreatkhali) is an actor and WWE Hall of Famer. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Houston, TX to discuss being one of the most famous people in India, how he got signed by WWE, debuting with The Undertaker, transitioning from a giant into a comedy character, starring in movies “The Longest Yard” and “Get Smart”, the origin of The Punjabi Prison match, winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, getting inducted into the Hall of Fame, whether he has retired, and more!
Quotes have been edited for clarity.
What does life look like for you when you’re this tall? How do you fly on an aeroplane?
“Yeah, man, this is very hard, especially when I go international. Very tough, because the flight is business class, very small, so my legs. I can sleep, very hard, not easy.”
What about when you rent a car?
“Rental car is a little problem, but still there.”
Are you officially retired in wrestling?
“Yeah.”
Do you think there would ever be a chance you’d come back for a Royal Rumble spot or something like that?
“You never know. Maybe WWE will ask me one day if I can go. Just 1-2 days, not full-time, never, because of my knee, so I can’t go full time.”
How are your knees right now?
“Still here, I just want to take a break for a little bit. Then I want surgery, but I’m just busy every day.”
Are you in pain right now?
“I’m sitting in no pain. But when I especially take the stairs there’s pain, and when I stand for a long time, there’s pain. Otherwise, I’m fine. This is okay. I can do exercise, I can do anything, only when I walk and take stairs, there is pain.”
How did you get discovered by WWE?
“I started bodybuilding, so my coach, everybody says, ‘Oh man, he looks like Kane. Oh my god, man, he looks like Big Show.’ Because I’m very big, very strong. So everybody says ‘Oh man, you look like a WWE guy. So me and my coach email different schools. So one school responds back, a school from California San Francisco. I send a resume; my arms are 24 [inch] my legs are 35 my chest is a 64. He said okay, if you had that kind of guy, then you can make lots of money per year, so then I start. I will make money, man. I work a police job, but not have that much money. Police job, Punjab police, but little money. So if you have this size guy, you can make a lot of money. So then I come here.”
Did you speak any English when you moved to the United States?
“I might not understand, but I can speak.”
I feel like The Longest Yard changed your life. How did you get cast for that movie?
“I work in Japan, so they are casting the movie. He needs a big guy for the big guys. Goldberg, Stone Cold, Kevin Nash… So he finds me and says, ‘Hey, come over, I want to check how you are. So I just come, he says this is the perfect guy. So speaking English doesn’t matter. You are my guy, you are my man!’ Then he selected me.”
Is it safe to say you’re one of the most famous people in India?
“Yeah, there is a different culture. But I’m the only wrestler, and I think as a top wrestler, and famous, Indian people love me.”
How was the plan for you to debut against The Undertaker? Because what a shot! Undertaker is huge, and then you come out and you’re bigger than him, so how did that plan come together for you to work with the Undertaker in your debut?
“This was the idea of Vince McMahon. I want to say thank you to Vince McMahon. So many guys say bad things about Vince, I say he is a real man. He’s a very hardcore businessman; he never lied to me. He made me a star. I never forget that. Very excited and I’m so happy when I debuted. So Mark Henry had the Undertaker match, then I go out. So first face to face, he started giving two or three chops, I give you this big chop, Great Khali chop, then he’s down. This moment was an emotional moment because when I start wrestling, that’s my dream come true to work for WWE. Undertaker is a huge name, so I chop him, so that’s a very big thing for me.”
Who was your favorite opponent to work with?
“I think John Cena and Triple H. I’m very excited. They never complain, never say, ‘You hit hard. Why do you do this? Why not do this?’ John Cena never complained, Triple H never complained, other guys, some small complaints.”
You went from being serious to being a comedy wrestler. When did that change happen?
“After WWE finds out Khali wants to leave, so then he made me a comedy wrestler, because he wants to kill my character. When I start wrestling in WWE, all of India watches wrestling. Everyone, kids, women, men, young and old. So he’s thinking he wants to leave, so he made me a comedy wrestler.”
Vince McMahon thought you wanted to leave?
“I think so, because I wanted to work on my own thing.”
When you left WWE in 2014, were you done?
“Yeah, I wanted to work on my own things.”
You are loved by the fans. Why do think that is?
“I have some commandment, then I deliver this thing. You know, I have almost 200 commercials. So I make more money now than I made in WWE. I do so many commercials. Every week I shoot a commercial.”
Can you tell me about the Punjabi prison match? How did this become a thing?
“Punjabi prison match. First, when I had the Punjabi prison match set up for me and Undertaker. They called me. ‘You can’t work this one.’ I said, man, come on, man. I think 2 days before [he called me]. Oh, you can’t work Undertaker. I said, come on, why? ‘You have something wrong with your blood.’ I’m so sad. I don’t know what happened. So I was there. So Undertaker and Big Show in that ring are practising. You can’t work, Big Show and Undertaker work in this Prison match. I said this is a bad decision. All the things build, then 2 days before they say you can’t work. Some health issue.”
WWE made it seem like you came up with the Punjabi prison match. Did you have any idea what this match would look like?
“My character is Punjabi. Everybody say he worked in the Punjab police, so the idea came from there. It’s bamboo or something.”
How did you become The Great Khali?
“Vince McMahon. Vince said Great Gandhi or Great Khali. I said I can choose Gandhi, but Gandhi is a peaceful guy.”
You remember dressing up as the tooth fairy with that segment with The Rock?
“Oh man, that’s so bad. Well, you know, whatever. I feel a little embarrassed, tried to kill my character.”
If you had it your way, you would have continued to be just like a monster, a bad guy, not the comedy character?
“I think so, I don’t know, maybe a couple more years.”
What keeps you busy now? You own restaurants, you own hotels. What other businesses are you doing in India?
“I do property business, real estate, and shoot commercials.”
It looked so real when you crushed Rey Mysterio’s head!
“That match, I remember it was in San Antonio. Khali and Rey went face to face, they are booing me, cheering Rey Mysterio. I squeeze him, vice grip, he goes down. After, I go in the parking lot and people are throwing rocks, ‘You motherf*cker!’ So many people. All the guys, ‘You motherf*cker! You suck!’ I remember one time Dominik was backstage, I said, ‘You like me?’ He nodded. Somebody then said, ‘He doesn’t.’That was funny.”
What is Great Khali grateful for?
“My life, my wife and kids.”
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