The Great Kali is the nickname of Dalip Singh Rana, who is an American professional fighter, actor and promoter of Indian descent. He is currently affiliated with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). During his 17-year career, he used several names, the most famous being the Great Kali.
Before becoming an officer in the Punjab State Police, he performed various unskilled jobs. In his free time, he began to engage in a local gym, honed his wrestling skills. He went to the USA for specialized training in wrestling. His strong figure and huge growth (2.16 meters) soon attracted attention.
He was initially trained at the California All Pro Wrestling (APW) promotion and gained further experience at the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). His WWE television debut took place in 2006, making him the first ever professional fighter of Indian descent. He fought and defeated raslers such as Undertaker, Big Show and John Cena.
Childhood and youth
Dalip Singh (photo) was born on August 27, 1972 in Dhirain, a small village in the Sirmur district in the state of Himachal Pradesh (India), at Jwal Rama and Tandi Devi. In the family, besides him, there were six more children.
He had to support his family from an early age. For some time he was a roadside worker, and then moved to Shimla to serve as a guard. Here he was spotted by the former Punjab police chief Mahal Singh Bhullar, who is known for helping several Punjab police athletes gain international recognition. In parallel, Dalip Singh was engaged in wrestling.
Wrestling career
Dalip Singh Rana immigrated to the United States in 1999. There, he joined the All Pro Wrestling (APW) training camp as an intern. Presented as Giant Singh, he made his debut on October 7, 2000, teaming up with Tony Jones in a match against Westside Playaz.
On May 28, 2001, Singh trained with Brian Ong. As a result of an unsuccessful fall and an undiagnosed shock, Ong died.
After moving to San Francisco, Rana signed a contract with WCW in 2001. However, Vince McMahon, the owner of WWE, soon bought the shares.
Rana also performed as Giant Singh in NJPW. Under the leadership of Masahiro Chono, he and Giant Silva formed Club 7, the highest team in wrestling history. On October 8, 2001, they won an easy victory over Yutaka Yoshi, Kenzo Suzuki, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Wataru Inoue in their debut match. The couple eventually split up, and Silva defeated Dalip Singh in a singles match in August 2002.
In January 2006, he signed with WWE and they sent him to Deep South Wrestling (DSW). Speaking under his real name, he worked with Tommy Dreamer, The Slaughter Guys, and Palmer Canon.
After much thought about which name to use for the ring, Dalip Singh and WWE management finally settled on Great Kali. A name inspired by the Hindu goddess Kali.
With Sean Daivari, his acting manager, he made his debut under this name on April 7 in an episode of SmackDown, interfering in the Undertaker and Mark Henry match. For some time he also worked in the ECW brand.
On May 21, 2006, the Great Kali defeated the Undertaker. Over the next few months, there was a constant feud between him, Undertaker, John Cena, Sean Michaels, Edge, Kane and Randy Orton.
2007 was perhaps the most successful in his entire career. He won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Since 2008, he has become a character in Punjab Playboy.
In May 2011, he returned to the ring, but suffered a series of defeats. His contract with WWE expired on November 13, 2014.
In February 2015, in Jalandhar, Dalip Singh created his own Academy of Continental Wrestling Entertainment (CWE). They held their first event on December 12, 2015.
He returned to WWE at the SmackDown Battlefield event on July 23, 2017 to help reigning WWE champion Jinder Mahal, with whom he had previously worked, in the Punjab Prison match against Orton. It is clear that the promotion has long-term plans for him, as he was mentioned in the next episode of SmackDown on July 25th.
He has appeared in various films and television shows such as The Longest Yard (2005), Get Smart (2008), Kushti (2010), Outsourcing (2011), and A Pair of Kings (2012). In 2010, he took fourth place in the season of the Indian reality show Big Boss.
Personal life
Dalip Singh married Harminder Kaur on February 27, 2002. Their daughter Avlin was born on February 26, 2014. February 20, 2014 he received US citizenship.
On July 26, 2012, he underwent an operation to remove a pituitary tumor, which caused acromegaly.
The Great Kali is a devout Hindu, he is a follower of the Indian spiritual leader Ashutosh Maharaj. He does not smoke or drink alcohol.