What’s the story?
Canyon Ceman, the vice-president of WWE, has revealed that India’s double-Olympic medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar will not join the company as things did not work out, despite extensive talks with the wrestler.
Speaking to PTI, Ceman said:
“I was happy to meet with him. This clearly is a guy who commands respect. He is a national icon. But it was hard for us to convince him, from being a national icon of India to come to America where there are no guarantees that he is going to make it through this very competitive system.
In case you didn’t know…
Sushil Kumar, who won the bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and followed it up with a silver medal at the London Olympics four years later, was approached by the WWE back in October. However, as reported by Sportskeeda in December, a source close to the wrestler had revealed that he had apprehensions regarding joining the company. He was unwilling to leave his amateur wrestling career as of yet and was still hungry for more Olympic glory.
The heart of the matter
Ceman went on to say that both parties were eager to complete the deal and then explained why it didn’t work out:
“So it was hard for us to tell him that ‘you leave this amazing life in India and come and risk it all in America where we are not sure of anything’. The conversation was definitely of mutual interest but it did not work out eventually”
As things have turned out, the talks did not materialise. However, Ceman did indicate that they were looking to sign an Indian amateur wrestler of Sushil’s stature. This will be beneficial for the NYSE listed company and will allow them to make further inroads to the country’s market.
Since The Great Khali left the scene, no Indian has gone on to become a big name in the professional wrestling universe and it is high time that someone from the country makes it big. Ceman revealed that there was a female wrestler named Kavita who will be going to Dubai for tryouts.
In fact, the company is looking to incorporate a host of Indian stars in the near future. Ceman even went on to mention Satendar Dagar and Lovepreet Singh Sangha, the two Indians who have been at WWE’s Performance Centre for quite some time and revealed he had high hopes for both of them.
What’s next?
According to Ceman, we will get to see at least six to eight wrestlers from India in the WWE and at least one of them will be as big as The Great Khali, if not bigger. He also promised that there will be more promotional events in the country in the coming years.
Author’s take
India is one of the biggest markets for WWE outside the United States of America and it is only justified that they would be looking to include more Indian wrestlers.
As for Sushil Kumar, he still has a lot to offer in amateur wrestling and can win more medals for the country. As long as he has the hunger, he should stay and enjoy his time in the amateur circuit.
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