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Giant WWE icon, 52, hasn’t aged a day 18 years since debut-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro
Could we see him back in the ring?
The Great Khali doesn’t seem to have aged since his WWE heyday (Picture: WWE)
It’s been almost two decades since The Great Khali first ran roughshod over WWE.
The 52-year-old Hall of Famer, who was the first Indian-born World Heavyweight Champion and appeared on both Raw and SmackDown over the years, made his debut back in 2006.
The towering 7’1″ icon hasn’t wrestled since a comeback at the Greatest Royal Rumble event in 2018, but still appears at conventions.
Over the weekend, he was a guest at the WrestleCade convention and he looks as fresh faced as ever in a photo with viral TNA Wrestling star Joe Hendry.
Khali can be seen towering above the talented star, whose surprise WWE debut earlier this year is the among the most viewed clips on the company’s X account in 2024.
‘Me and Khali 👏 👏,’ he captioned the photo on Instagram, while fan footage on social media even shows the pair dancing to I Believe In Joe Hendry together.
He’s a former World Heavyweight Champion (Picture: WWE)
‘Sounds like a canceled sitcom! 😆 🤣,’ joked @realfantastico on X, while @carlitos added: ‘Khali is a believer.’
And @little_anieeee quipped: ‘Unexpected collab 👏🏽👏🏽 It looks like two difference worlds 😄’
While Khali doesn’t appeared to have aged, one clear different nowadays are the tattoos up his arm, which left some fans absolutely baffled as wondered when he got them done.
‘When did Khali get his tattoos? 😂,’ replied @WrestleThought, and @nick_wentraub said: ‘When did Khali get tattooed? I have no recollection of this.’
He took out some of the most iconic names in wrestling (Picture: WWE)
It was no surprise to see the giant tower over Rey Mysterio (Picture: WWE)
But even John Cena looked tiny in comparison (Picture: WWE)
At least the idea of Khali dancing is well established, after he spent some time in WWE as the Punjabi Playboy once his reign of terror over the main event was over.
Before joining the world of wrestling, Khali worked for the Punjab Police, while he has also appeared on the big screen, most famously for western fans in the likes of The Longest Yard and Get Smart.
Wrestling-turned-Hollywood star Dave Bautista (AKA Batista) felt his wrath (Picture: WWE)
After making his debut in 2006 by laying out wrestling icon The Undertaker, he went onto capture the World Heavyweight Championship the following year.
He eventually lost the gold to Batista in a Triple Threat Match involving Rey Mysterio at Unforgiven 2007.
Khali’s final WWE singles match came a decade ago when he lost to Rusev on SmackDown, while he returned three years later to help Jinder Mahal retain the WWE Title against Randy Orton in a Punjabi Prison match.
He has stayed part of the WWE family over the years (Picture: WWE)
He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021 (Picture: WWE)
The giant’s last official in ring appearance came the following year when he entered the Greatest Royal Rumble, only to be quickly eliminated by Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman.
He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021, and appeared in India at Superstar Spectacle, where he teased the possibility of ‘one more match’.
Seeing Khali come out of retirement seems unlikely, but stranger things have happened in the world of wrestling.
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