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Former WWE star Ricardo Rodriguez likened The Great Khali's presence in India to The Beatles' popularity during a recent interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling's Riju Dasgupta.
The Great Khali is a widely-recognized figure due to his past exploits in the WWE, and Ricardo Rodriguez briefly lived in Punjab working with the Hall of Famer. Alberto Del Rio's former manager helped The Great Khali establish his wrestling school and conduct shows under the Continental Wrestling Entertainment (CWE) banner.
Rodriguez experienced the fandom in India for The Great Khali in all its glory, and he compared it to fans swarming the Beatles in the '60s and '70s.
"I tell this to anybody in the US and even in Mexico or Europe; Khali had this presence. First of all, he is a giant, but he has this presence where the only way I can actually explain it to anybody is like whenever you see a video of like the Beatles back in like the '60s and '70s when they would come out of a plane and like everybody would be going crazy," said Rodriguez.
The car would just be swarmed: Ricardo Rodriguez on traveling with The Great Khali
The former WWE personality said people gravitated towards The Great Khali wherever he went, and that it was an extraordinary sight to see the love showered upon the former world champion.
Ricardo Rodriguez trained aspiring wrestlers at The Great Khali's school and witnessed the superstar at packed shows in India. Rodriguez admitted that he had never seen someone with such an incredible presence.
"That was like Khali," Rodriguez continued, "and I swear to you if you watch any videos of when Khali would be out in public and how everybody would just run to him. That was just the presence that he had. There were so many times where we would do like an appearance, and we would be in the car, and the car would just be swarmed.
"It was unreal, and that was something I've never seen in the US. At least not in person; I've seen it in videos, as with celebrities, but I've never seen it in person. And like I said, there aren't necessarily funny stories of Khali, but there are stories of Khali about the power that he has and the presence. As I said, the closest I can explain to somebody is like when you watch videos from back during the Beatles coming out of a plane and everybody just going crazy."
Ricardo Rodriguez delved deeper into various other topics during his interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling. He spoke about the AEW-CM Punk rumors, spending time in India, reuniting with Del Rio, not paying at Indian restaurants, and much more.
Fans can catch Alberto and Ricardo's reunion at 'Hecho En Mexico,' Saturday, July 31st at Payne Arena in Hidalgo, Texas. Tickets are available on Ticketmaster.
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