Former World Champion and WWE Hall of Famer The Great Khali has reflected on his debut, the Punjabi Prison match, and squeezing the life out of Rey Mysterio.
On the SmackDown after WrestleMania 22, Khali made his debut in WWE. Interrupting a match between The Undertaker and Mark Henry, the future World Champion and Hall of Famer took down The Phenom to signal his arrival in the company. At over 7 feet tall and weighing over 400 pounds, Khali was one of the most imposing figures on the roster at that point in time.
In an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Khali admitted the moment was a dream come true and was honoured to be in the ring with a star like The Undertaker:
“Very excited and I’m so happy when I debuted. So Mark Henry had the Undertaker match, then I go out. So first face to face, he started giving two or three chops, I give you this big chop, Great Khali chop, then he’s down. This moment was an emotional moment because when I start wrestling, that’s my dream come true to work for WWE. Undertaker is a huge name, so I chop him, so that’s a very big thing for me.”
Later that year, the giant was set to go one-on-one with The Undertaker in what was deemed to be his speciality match, the infamous Punjabi Prison. However, due to reported elevated liver enzymes, he was not cleared to compete. Instead, The Big Show replaced Khali and faced Undertaker at The Great American Bash. Recalling the build-up to the match, Khali recalled being told that he couldn’t work the match, much to his annoyance:
“Punjabi prison match. First, when I had the Punjabi prison match set up for me and Undertaker. They called me. ‘You can’t work this one.’ I said, man, come on, man. I think 2 days before [he called me]. Oh, you can’t work Undertaker. I said, come on, why? ‘You have something wrong with your blood.’ I’m so sad. I don’t know what happened. So I was there. So Undertaker and Big Show in that ring are practising. You can’t work, Big Show and Undertaker work in this Prison match. I said this is a bad decision. All the things build, then 2 days before they say you can’t work. Some health issue.”
The Great Khali Angered Fans With Infamous Rey Mysterio Moment
In a true David vs. Goliath match, Khali was booked to face Rey Mysterio on SmackDown. In one of the most memorable endings to a SmackDown match, the giant crushed Mysterio’s skull to the point that the masked star was bleeding from the mouth. Looking back on the match, the Hall of Famer admitted fans were not happy with how things played out that night:
“That match, I remember it was in San Antonio. Khali and Rey went face to face, they are booing me, cheering Rey Mysterio. I squeeze him, he goes down. After, I go in the parking lot and people are throwing rocks, ‘You motherf*cker!’ So many people. All the guys, ‘You motherf*cker! You suck!’ I remember one time Dominik was backstage, I said, ‘You like me?’ He nodded. Somebody then said, ‘He doesn’t.’That was funny.”
In a recent interview, The Miz admitted Khali’s finisher was the most painful move he had taken.
Featured image: WWE
