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There was a time when The Great Khali was the only Superstar of Indian descent associated with the World Wrestling Entertainment. But now, the number of Superstars in the WWE roster who are of Indian origin has increased rapidly over the past few years.
There are talented male and female Superstars who compete in WWE's main roster as well as the NXT and NXT UK brands in 2019.
There has also been an increase of viewership of WWE in India and WWE has noticed it. This is the reason why WWE has been producing live shows in India annually for the past few years. They also held a talent tryout in the country for the first time in March 2019.
Here we take a look at 5 notable WWE Superstars of Indian origin who are a part of the active roster in 2019.
#1 Jinder Mahal
Jinder Mahal's rise to main-event stardom came suddenly after he returned to WWE with an improved physique and persona and aligned himself with Sunil and Samir Singh (The Singh Brothers). After winning a #1 contender's match for the WWE Championship, Jinder went on to face then-champion Randy Orton for the coveted title at WWE Backlash 2017.
In his first opportunity to win the WWE Championship, Jinder defeated Orton at the aforementioned event with the help of outside interference from The Singh Brothers and was thereby recognized by WWE as their 50th WWE Champion and the first of Indian origin.
He would go on to defend the title against Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Tye Dillinger before ultimately dropping it to AJ Styles on the November 7 episode of SmackDown Live which took place in Manchester, England. This made Styles the first World Champion to be crowned outside of North America.
During Mahal's reign as a WWE Champion, he was a credible heel character who drew a lot of heat from the fans, a sight which is not seen in WWE nowadays.
After losing the WWE Championship, The Modern Day Maharaja got involved in a segment for the United States Championship after then-champion Dolph Ziggler vacated the title. After various attempts, Mahal finally won the title at WrestleMania 34 in a Fatal 4-Way match by defeating former champion Bobby Roode, Randy Orton, and Rusev.
After he was drafted to RAW in the 2018 WWE Superstar Shake-up, Mahal took the US title with him and lost the title to Jeff Hardy on that night.
After going through various unsuccessful attempts to win the Unites States title, he was inserted into the 24/7 Championship picture after getting drafted back to SmackDown Live. He would then go on to become a two-time 24/7 Champion.
As of now, The Modern Day Maharaja is sidelined with a knee injury.
#2 Kavita Devi
Kavita Devi is currently the first female WWE Superstar of Indian origin. She became a part of the active roster when she took part in the first-ever Mae Young Classic tournament in 2017. Even though she was eliminated from the tournament in the first round by Dakota Kai, she was praised for her intimidating physical prowess inside the ring. Her debut also became one of the most-watched matches on YouTube.
She made her professional wrestling career debut in 2016 for The Great Khali's promotion, Continental Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name of Hard KD.
Devi made her WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania 34 as a participant of the first-ever WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal where she got eliminated by Sarah Logan.
She made her non-televised debut for WWE NXT in a live event as a heel teaming up with Aliyah in a losing effort against Dakota Kai and Steffanie Newell.She also took part in the 2018 Mae Young Classic but was eliminated by Kaitlyn.
#3 Jinny
Jinny is one of the most talented female Superstars in the WWE NXT UK roster. Born as Jinny Sandhu in London, England she grew up watching matches of Jushin Liger, Lita and Trish Stratus from the early age of nine.
After competing in various independent promotions all over Europe, Jinny took part in a WrestleMania 33 Axxess in April 2017 in a losing effort against Toni Storm.
The next year in 2018 she was signed to a contract with WWE. Later that year she was slated to compete in a Fatal 4-Way match to determine the #1 contender for the NXT Women's Championship on day one of the United Kingdom Championship Tournament but was unfortunately injured midway into the match and got pulled out of it.
In July 2018, The Fashionista took part in the second Mae Young Classic tournament. She was defeated in the first round by Toni Storm.
Jinny made her televised debut on November 7, 2018 episode of NXT UK in a losing effort against her nemesis Toni Storm. She is currently embroiled in a feud with Piper Niven and Xia Brookside.
#4 Saurav Gurjar
Hailing from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, Saurav Gurjar was a popular face as an actor in Indian television before shifting to professional wrestling.
Gurjar is also a talented kickboxer and won the gold medal in National Kickboxing.
After getting selected in the first-ever WWE Tryout held in India in 2017, Gurjar was signed to a contract with WWE on January 14, 2018.
He made his non-televised debut at a live event of NXT teaming up with fellow Indian Superstar Rinku Singh against Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan in a losing effort.
Since March 21, 2019, the two of them started having Robert Stone as their manager. Gurjar made his TV debut as a participant in the World's Collide men's battle royal tournament on May 1, 2019.
Gurjar will be making his feature film debut in the upcoming Indian movie Brahmastra in a non-disclosed negative role.
#5 Rinku Singh
Before signing with WWE, Rinku Singh was a well-known figure in the world of professional baseball when he played as a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was the first Indian to play professional baseball in the minor leagues in the United States.
His life story is also the basis for the 2014 biographical sports drama film Million Dollar Arm produced by Walt Disney Pictures. After retiring from baseball, Singh signed with WWE on January 13, 2018, and made his debut at an NXT live event on May 31, 2018, against Kassius Ohno but lost the match.
From March 21, 2019, he started teaming up with Saurav Gurjar with Robert Stone acting as their manager.
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