The Great Khali: The Greatest Wrestler Of All Time

But who is Khali the man, not the demigod we are so aquainted with seeing in the ring crushing his opponents with his bare fingers? I travelled to his birthplace in India near the mountainous border with Tibet to find out more and speak with his father.

His father is not the father of a demigod you would suspect. Walking with a stick and haggardly looking it seems clear to me that that something was amiss.

Khali was an only child; becuase his mother had died giving birth to him.

Khali was a large baby. 5'5" and 240 pounds at birth. "When Khali was but a young child I remember turning around from my workbench [Khali's father is a carpenter] and seeing many dead snakes near his crib. I realized Khali had strangled with his bare hands, the snakes who are notorious in this region for attacking toddlers."

As we talked the sheer coldness of the region began to assert itself so that even my John Cena "say no to education" hoodie was no longer enough to stop me from shivering: "Khali always walked around bare-chested, he never feared the snow, the rain; mother nature really."

Mother nature indeed. Apparently on a hunting trip deep into the mountains both young Khali and father were suddenly stopped by "a bear."

Only it was much larger than a bear as my host is quick to recall: "This bear did not walk on its hands like an animal, it stood like you and me but it was huge, all white and it had a face, not quite bear but not quite human."

"I was scared but when I looked to Khali imploring him to step back he was mesmerized, I really think he saw something of himself in that creature that day, we never saw it again"

My suspicions had been raised. It now seemed fit to ask him something that had been bothering me before I left: "Are you Khali's real father?" To which he answered: "No, I am not, but I loved my wife all the same and when I realised she was pregnant after I had found her lying down, clothes tattered in those mountains one morning I had no choice but to accept this gift into my life."

And a gift it has also proven to me and millions of other wrestling fans around the world.

Today Khali's world title reign is seen as a landmark period in WWE history. For the first time in wrestling history a man with no passable ability to speak English has become world champion and at 7'1" and 420 pounds. Khali is seen as perhaps the strongest champion in WWE history. Even stronger than Superman was.

PPV buyrates, gate receipts and TV ratings have been on a steep decline since. Many are now calling for the Great Khali to reclaim the title he had been cheated out of by that non-charismatic walking block of wood, Batista.

But if they're is anything I have learned from him it is to be patient, as I was in my hospital bed and as he was during his rise to the top of the wrestling world.

With the introuction of the "Khali Kiss Cam," Khali finally succumbed to his many, many female admirers requests to let them show their affection towards him by kissing him in the ring. Each week they show how much he has meant to their lives in front of the world.

And I wait my turn, with patience.

You too can join the offical Great Khali Fan Club here where information, biographical notes, pictures, wallpapers and tour dates/promotional appearences can be found!!

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