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Professional wrestling. Truly a melting pot for different cultures, customs, ethnicities and nationalities. We’ve seen wrestlers from all around the world in our favorite wrestling promotions, we’ve also seen wrestling promotions from everywhere pop on on the independent circuit.
Cultures and customs have been represented in the world of pro wrestling from all around the world, in many ways, the business has brought the world together.
The culture of the Sikhs is one that goes very well with the general image of professional wrestling. Amateur wrestling as a sport has been popular in Punjab for a very long time and the state has produced many wrestling champions in the past. However, pro wrestling has seen very few Sikh competitors.
Today, however, we are going to try and shed some light on a few Sikh wrestlers from Canada that have made their mark in pro wrestling. We’re going to go back in history, take a look at the very beginnings and travel to the present to see which Canadian Sikhs are representing today.
#1 Paul Singh Dhaliwal
Paul Dhaliwal might very well have been the first professional wrestler of Indian/Sikh origin to wrestle in the United States. Paul came to Canada from Chananwal, Punjab in 1905 and played a key role in the local Sikh community.
He was working on his business with lumber camps until he was spotted by a promoter, he was then trained in pro wrestling (he was already trained as an amateur wrestler from his time in Hong Kong) and started to tour territories as a wrestler from there on. Here’s an interview of Paul in Punjabi, commemorating his legacy as a pioneer:
Even though Mr. Dhaliwal passed away in 2014 at the age of 100, he was certainly the man that paved way for future Indians/Sikhs to be a part of the spectacle of professional wrestling. Known and revered as a pillar of the local community, he's still fondly remembered by his friends and peers as a gentle giant.
#2 Gama Singh/The Great Gama
Gadowar Singh Sahota’s family initially immigrated from India to Canada in 1963. He was subsequently trained in professional wrestling by Stu Hart (the father of Bret and Owen Hart) at Stampede Wrestling in Calgary, Canada. He took his name from the original Great Gama, (famous Indian/Pakistani wrestler in the early 20th century)
Wrestling with a Turban, Gama Singh was the first wrestler of Indian origin to wrestle in the WWF. He wrestled some famous names such as Bob Orton (Randy Orton’s father) and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper while on tour with the company. He also won several titles at Stampede Wrestling and at NWA.
Here’s a video of him having a match against Owen Hart at Stampede Wrestling:
Now 61, he still occasionally wrestles. He was a famous heel in his time and is truly a pro wrestling icon for all South east Asians.
#3 Tiger Jeet Singh
Any list about famous Canadian Sikhs would be incomplete without mentioning this man. Tiger Jeet Singh will always remain a legend in Pro wrestling for all his accomplishments and accolades that he has earned by wrestling all over the world. He is also one of the few wrestlers who never signed up for the WWF despite not having a language barrier.
Jagjeet Hans AKA Tiger Jeet Singh immigrated from Punjab to Canda in 1960 and almost immediately started training in wrestling. He was given the name “Tiger” because of his style of wrestling which was the equivalent of what strongstyle is today.
Tiger Jeet Singh is the most legendary pro wrestler of Indian origin ever. He wrestled Bruno Sammartino in the WWWF (Vince McMahon Sr.’s company) as well as Andre the Giant, The Iron Sheik etc in various independent wrestling promotions. He truly became a legend after moving to Japan, however.
In Japan, Tiger Jeet Singh started a feud with Japanese legend Antonio Inoki in what ended up becoming one of the most memorable feuds of all time. Singh and Inoki wrestled all over Japan and would get the better of each other on separate occasions.
Later, Tiger Jeet Singh would go on to defeat Ric Flair in singles competition at Toronto in the year of 1979 as well as Big Van Vader (Vader) in a tag team match. He also feuded with Giant Baba, Atsushi Onita (one of the most violent and bloodiest feuds of all time) and even helped Mick Foley (Cactus Jack) to defeat wrestling legend Terry Funk.
Following is a video of one of the many barbaric matches Tiger Jeet Singh fought against Atsushi Onita:
Even though he’s a wrestling icon in Japan and Canada, one has to admire the philanthropy that Tiger Jeet Singh has done over the years. He has made a lot of donations to his local community and has been an inspirational figure for the young Sikhs of Canada. Truly a legend in every sense of that word!
#4 Tiger Ali Singh
Son of the aforementioned wrestling legend Tiger Jeet Singh, Tiger Ali Singh (real name Gurjit Singh Hans) was a professional wrestler of the highest pedigree. He trained under his father and then in the New Japan Pro Wrestling dungeon. After a couple of years of wrestling in Japan, the WWF came calling.
Vince McMahon signed Tiger Ali Singh up and was certainly very vocal about the signing. The WWE at the time needed a star that they could market to the Indian market and Tiger Ali Singh slotted in wonderfully with those plans.
He won the Kuwait Cup Tournament to start things off with the WWF and actually managed to defeat some of the topmost names in the WWF at the time including Mankind (Mick Foley), Owen Hart as well as Al Snow. He was also heavily supported by Bret Hart (from Bret’s ties with his father).
He debuted in the WWF shortly thereafter with a gimmick that saw him boasting about his money and being accompanied by a servant called Babu.
The highlight of Tiger Ali Singh’s persona as a wrestler were his incredible mic skills. He could cut a great promo and it really showed. He also had a towering personality, being 6’5”, however, despite being an experienced wrestler, he really lacked in the wrestling skills department. Here’s a video of Tiger Ali Singh in the WWE:
Tiger Ali Singh was eventually phased out by the WWE and was later involved in a legal struggle against the company, accusing them of racism. He suffered, what was dubbed as a “career ending injury” and quit wrestling for good. He has since wrestled sporadically but doesn’t wrestle for a full-time career anymore.
Couldn’t live up to the name, but he was the first Sikh/Indian-origin male wrestler in the WWF and for that alone, he shall always be remembered.
#5 Jinder Mahal
Hailing from Calgary, Alberta in Canada, Yuvraj Singh Dhesi, better known as Jinder Mahal is probably the most popular Sikh wrestler of Canadian origin to have ever wrestled inside a ring. He’s signed on to the WWE at the time of writing and wrestles in the RAW brand.
He started his career as “Tiger Raj Singh”, a tribute to the aforementioned Tiger Jeet Singh and was actually trained by Gama Singh, alongside others, in becoming a pro wrestler. He was then signed on to WWE’s developmental territory FCW, before making his debut on Smackdown a year later.
Jinder Mahal has a towering personality himself, he’s 6’5” and sports a ripped physique. He showed some exemplary mic skills at FCW and was shipped to Smackdown due to him being the ‘complete package’ so to speak, Smackdown also, at the time, needed another Indian superstar.
The following is a video of one of the most memorable moments of Jinder Mahal’s program with Khali and Ranjin Singh.
He debuted as “Jinder Mahal” and was a part of a program with The Great Khali (Dalip Singh) and Ranjin Singh. He was subsequently put into several singles and tag team competitions (most notably the 3MB team) before being released by the WWE, he has since been re-signed but has failed to make any lasting impact as a professional wrestler.
While a gifted athlete, Jinder Mahal AKA Yuvraj Singh still hasn’t reached his full potential in the pro wrestling business. Let’s hope for the best for him!
Honourable mention: Rhonda Singh
Ronda Ann Sing, also known as Rhonda Singh or Bertha Faye, is the only woman wrestler of Sikh/Indian origin to have become a successful professional wrestler. Growing up in the wrestling hotbed of Calgary, Alberta, Rhonda would turn up to local wrestling shows accompanied by her mother from a very young age.
Her interest in professional wrestling piqued after she started watching Japanese wrestling, she subsequently wrote to and was contacted by legendary female wrestler Mildred Burke, who ended up training her in the art of professional wrestling.
Rhonda then went to Japan and wrestled in the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion as Monster Ripper, where she won the WWWA World Championship and became the Women’s champion. This was the top title in the world for women at the time and it could thus be said that Rhonda reached the very pinnacle of women’s wrestling in Japan.
She was also subsequently signed by the WWF, where she was repackaged as a comedic character known as Bertha Faye. Despite her less than desirable gimmick and limited growth potential with it, Rhonda kept her head down and worked hard during her time in the WWF and was subsequently rewarded with the WWF Women’s championship.
This made Rhonda the first person of Sikh origin to have competed in the WWF and also the first person of Sikh origin to have won a World title in the WWF. She was a true professional wrestler at heart and was always annoyed by the lack of real wrestling in the Women’s division.
Rhonda Singh’s match with Molly Holly (Mona) can be seen in this video:
She subsequently also went on to compete in WCW, where she was once again put into a comedic character. After leaving WCW, she stopped wrestling and took to other humanitarian projects to spend her time.
Unfortunately, Rhonda passed away in 2001 due to an overdose and that’s where her journey came to an end. She is a legend for the entire Sikh/Indian-origin community in Canada and will always remain one.
Please let us know your comments on this list. We would love to hear your thoughts, suggestions and feedback.
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