WWE Hall of Famer The Great Khali was involved in a match that resulted in the death of another wrestler after he botched a wrestling move.
Dalip Singh Rana who is famously known as The Great Khali grew up in a poor village in Himachal Pradesh in India. Fighting out of destitute, Khali was offered a job in the Indian Police department by an officer. During his tenure in the department, he also spent time training to be a professional wrestler.
Khali was famous for his large frame. Standing in the neighborhood of 7 feet, Khali had a medical condition called Acromegaly. He was soon chosen to travel to the United States to broaden his horizon in the field of pro wrestling. Despite his size, which is a huge advantage in wrestling, Khali’s athleticism in the ring left a lot to be desired.
However, he still had a successful few years in the WWE before he was turned into a complete joke of a Giant. He held the prestigious world heavyweight title for 61 days. Not everybody was a fan of the Indian Giant as he was uncoordinated in the ring and was considered to be an unsafe worker.
Before he was signed with the WWE, Khali wrestled for many other promotions. During his time with All-Pro Wrestling, Khali found himself in a pickle. On 28 May 2001, Khali was in a match with a wrestler that went by the name of Brian Ong.
Reportedly, Khali botched a flapjack during the match that culminated in Bryan’s death. Brian already suffered from a concussion but his trainers had approved him to continue wrestling. So during the match, Brian got hit by two flapjacks which led to him collapsing in the ring.
A flapjack is when one wrestler throws another up in the air and the latter ends up falling front-first. The second flapjack’s impact may have jolted Brian’s neck causing his head to bounce off the mat worsening his situation. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died eventually.
Ong made the mistake of grabbing Khali’s shirt during the move that resulted in the botch. However, Ong’s family pursued to sue APW following his death. His family was paid restitution of $1.3 million for the loss of the wrestler on grounds of recklessness. Fortunately for Khali, he was vindicated of the blame but the stain that he was an unsafe worker was indelible. Time went by and Khali continued to wrestle for other promotions in Japan and Mexico before he was hired by the WWE.
His stint in the WWE
Dalip made his debut in the WWE as The Great Khali in 2006. He was immediately pushed to compete with the biggest name in the business, The Undertaker. After making quick work out of Taker at the PPV event of Judgement Day, Khali was glorified as the new dominant giant of the WWE.
He then moved up to face other huge personalities like Kane, Big Show, and John Cena. His reign as a fierce giant was short-lived as WWE soon turned him into a jobber. Khali’s career lasted 8 years with the company after which he hung his boots and returned home.
The Indian Giant was later inducted into the Hall of Fame in the year 2021.
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