Harv and Gurv Shira, formerly known as The Singh Brothers and The Bollywood Boyz in WWE recently appeared on Talk is Jericho. On the show, they talked about their unfortunate release from WWE and the massive response from fans following the events. They also talk about some of their favourite moments while working for WWE, their time teaming with Jinder Mahal and more. Some of the highlights can be found below:

On the awkward timing of their release:

Sunil: “Well it’s funny that you say 5 years because on Facebook the memories show up. I just shared this post of the Cruiserweight Classic tournament that we did 5 years ago. I was like oh cool it was 5 years ago to this day. Then later that week it all came crumbling down.”
Samir: “They probably saw that post [laughs]. It was the ultimate rib.”

On how they fell following the release:

Samir: “I think it was 4 massive rounds of cuts in a year. I don’t think that has ever happened. And so we were like how many can you keep escaping you know. I’m glad we made the last one.”
Sunil: “We were sitting at home for 8 months when the pandemic started. When that first set of cuts happened…”
Samir: “We were pretty much ready at that time.
Sunil: “Yeah but to your point, we were still sticking around and we still flew and came into work during the pandemic.”
Samir: “There was a bit of relief when the call came through, in a weird way. I feel like we never quite had a run or went for the tag titles. It wasn’t like something fell flat, I don’t think it was us. We were told that it wasn’t us, it was this overall picture thing that was happening.”
Sunil: “It wasn’t like we got blamed for anything. It was this big picture that the company is going through right now, a phase. We weren’t really told as to why we were just like cool, you know.”

On how the phone call for the release came to be:

Samir: “It’s funny because on our days off we go and train in the ring up in Vancouver. We literally had both just pulled up, boots in our hands and ready to break a sweat. Harv got a missed call, I got the call answered and it’s ‘Yeah we are letting you go, here’s your 90 days, OK cool.’
Sunil: “Our 5 years ends in 10 seconds. It’s kind of weird right.”
Samir: “But what a way to go out. Because we all work out on our days off, just to stay ready. There’s no live events, there’s no house shows right now. For us, breaking a sweat on our days off is the way we operate. So getting that call is OK, cool, we just put our boots on and broke a nice little sweat.”

On their run with Jinder Mahal:

Samir: “I think that was the thing that internationally [made us]. India right now, fans are consistently [contacting us]. We can’t wait until the restrictions are lifted because in India we are being bombarded with work. Because of that whole run we were able to be on that national platform.
Sunil: “That’s the love we are getting from fans. I am like the Bollywood Brad Pitt [laughs].”
Samir: “Even the show that they did in January [WWE Superstar Spectacle], I believe it was supposed to happen in India. But they ended up taping here in Tampa. Because of the pandemic, they couldn’t run the show there. They were meant to do try-outs and a whole bunch of other cool things. There were students from The Great Khali’s school I believe, but it all got postponed.”
Sunil: “The ratings for that show were ridiculous. I believe it was 24 million people in India. Our job in that match was to shine up The Indus Cher. We are great at that we can make them look like a million bucks. But to be put in that main event spot, all the higher ups were watching the show. For us, that was like a you guys are doing pretty good moment.”

On making The Indus Cher and others look good:

Samir: “We knew that we had to take the bumps that were going to get replayed. But at the same time, putting together a match, I think that it was their first match. We made a match that was easy to them, we would talk to them in Punjabi or Hindi. Plus with Drew being there, the spotlight, he is the WWE Champion it just calmed everything down.”
Sunil: “They know that it is a taped show but there is only one take. There’s no ‘OK, lets redo that.’ To my brother’s point, we were putting it together as simple as possible. It was as easy as possible for where they were at. And they did it really well. I had no trouble communicating and remembering everything we talked about. They were happy with it and the coaches were happy with it, which is the main thing. We got a pat on the back from Shawn [Michaels] and Hunter [Triple H]”
Samir: “To your point the Jinder run was the most TV time that we were having, but I think the last 9 months have been the most fun. Working every week on 205 Live, we had 15 minute matches. We were working a lot of the newer guys. We were being put in spots to carry them, which makes them step up. You got Shawn and Terry Taylor giving you feedback. I can’t say enough good things about Terry Taylor. I feel like as performers we turned a corner with Terry watching our matches. With his feedback, he would always tell the truth.”
Sunil: “If it was the sh*ts, he would tell you why it was the sh*ts. But to my brother’s point, those 8 months, our in-ring confidence with where we ware at, it was beautiful. We were told by 205 Live creative at the time to come down no matter what. We would film a promo, we’ll do whatever for that show. We were making up for time lost because we were at home for 9 months. They were even asking us ‘Are you sure?’ We said ‘You’re damn right we do because we want to make up for time lost. Our confidence is going through the roof and we are getting real time feedback.”

On a potential character they weren’t able to do:

Samir: “I think just The Bollywood character alone. I always felt that every character has been done in wrestling, but there’s never been 2 Indian actors. Bollywood is the biggest movie industry in the world. We are playing these characters and there’s so much you could do. The vignettes, the promos, the entrances. The entrance alone, you could get dancers and whatever. We pitched having extras who would wrestle for us. It was actually Indus Cher. We would come out and sit on our chairs, they would dress up like us and do our matches for us. Stuff like that.”
Sunil: “John Cena was really good at giving us feedback. [He would say] Talk about why Bollywood is better than Hollywood. Talk about why the Bollywood actors, talk about why you as Bollywood actors are better than the other 205 wrestlers, whoever is on that roster. We had all these ideas. I remember pitching Indus Cher beating up our opponents, and then we slide in and they would wear our tassels.
Samir: “We had a talking segment, I think we called it the casting couch. We started filming it on our own, but you can only do so much on social media. We went out and bought a green screen too. We tried but there’s only so much you can pitch until you are blue in the face.”

On if they can travel and their international support from fans:

Samir: “Yeah we can get into the United States. It was crazy when it happened. We were getting messages from Singapore, India, there’s show’s happening [over there]. I know India is opening up a lot of promotions, but you’ve got to be careful where you go. But the world is opening up, we are going to be OK.

Punjabi Prison:

Samir: “We had to do a rock, paper, scissors as to who falls off the top. As soon as we saw it [the prison structure] we were like one of us has to go off the top.”
Sunil: “I remember talking to Randy a couple of weeks before to pitch the idea and he was like yeah we will get it done. He didn’t want to do it. He wanted to put the spotlight on us when it didn’t need to be about us. He made those 10 seconds about us. I remember climbing up and as he is punching me I am climbing up even more. If I’m doing this… But it was a hard fall man. It hurts.”
Samir: “I think we were just trying to earn our keep. We wanted to prove that we belong. Randy was checking up on us and Mick Foley sent a message afterwards. Stuff like that really means a lot.”

On the overwhelming response from fans following the news of their release:

Samir: “We were so well hidden this past year, so many people welcomed us.”
Sunil: “Most of the fans enjoyed our work on 205 Live. And if you can get over in a gymnasium, you can get over anywhere.”
Samir: “The exciting part is the grind again. When you are in the system, the check is coming in and if you aren’t being used, OK I guess I’ll go home then. There’s not much you can do, but now our destiny is in our palms.”

Featured image: Wrestling Inc.