Early Life
The original name of ”The Great Khali” is Dalip Singh Rana. He was born on 27th August 1972 in a small village of Sirmour district of Himachal Pradesh. His parents Jwala Ram and Nandi Devi had six other children beside Khali. Khali learned to support his family from an early age only and he couldn’t receive much education also. At a tender age of 8, he started working out as a plantation laborer where he was getting a daily wage of Rs. 5. He started working as a roadside laborer for some time and then shifted to Shimla where he was working as a security guard. Very soon, he was noticed by Punjab’s former police chief Mahal Singh Bhullar. Now, this man is known to help many players from Punjab Police earn international recognition. He offered Dalip a job in the Punjab police. But Dailp being a home sick boy was not ready to leave his home town until his brother was also given job was also offered a job in Punjab Police. Later together both of them shifted to Jalandhar and here he started visiting the gym and working out.
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Abnormality
Khali was believed to be a genetic freak. This was brought in light by Indian Bodybuilding Guru Dr. Randir Hastir. At a lot of forums, it was mentioned that his bench went up to 600 pounds. His maximum bicep curl is believed to be 200 lbs which totally sounds unbelievable. Khali also suffered from a rare condition which was known as acromegaly. Under this condition, the pituitary gland of the body produces growth hormone which is known to cause abnormal and uncontrolled growth in the body. This is also known as gigantism. But Khali has been quite good even after this condition. Because in some people this condition causes unprecedented growth in various parts of the body.
Controversy
During this time Khali started focusing more and more on his body, workouts, and weight. As a result, he went on to win the Mr. India title in 1995 and 1996. In the year 1999, Khali immigrated to the US and he joined the All-Pro Wrestling Boot camp as a trainee. He was fondly called as “The Giant Singh” and he made his wrestling debut on 7th October 2000 where he teamed up with Tony Jones in a match against “West Side Playaz”. On 28th May 2001 an unfortunate incident happened. Here Dalip was training with Brian Ong. A wrestling move called flapjack on Ong was performed. And Ong was instructed to push Singh back but rather he grabbed his shirt. Suddenly, Ong landed on his coccyx or tailbone which violently whipped against the mat. And further damage was caused which resulted in Ong’s death. Post his death Ong family sued APW for liability and the family was provided $1.3 million for damages.
Career
Very soon Rana Singh moved to San Francisco where he was signed by WCW in 2001. At the New Japan Pro Wrestling under the leadership of Masahiro Chono, he and Giant Silva formed “Club 7” which went on to become the tallest tag team in the wrestling history. On the 8th October 2001 this club 7 secured an easy victory against Yutaka Yoshie, Kenzo Suzuki, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Wataru Inoue. But in August 2002, the pair suffered a split when Silva played against Singh and defeated him.
In January 2006, Khali was signed by WWE and he was sent for the Georgia based promotion under the name of Deep South Wrestling. This was the first time when an Indian who is 7 feet tall and weighs 160 kg stepped into an international ring. Here Singh worked with Tommy Dreamer, Slaughter Boys and Palmer Canon. But there was a long discussion on what ring name should be used and finally, WWE finalized on the name of “The Great Khali” which was inspired by the Hindu Goddess “The Kali”.
When Shawn Daivari was working as his manager, Khali debuted on the April 7 episode of “SmackDown” which was a match between The undertaker and Mark Henry. There was no contest rule here just because of his interference. On 21st May, 2006 Singh defeated Undertaker in his debut per day per match view. Very soon he played and defeated undertaker, John Cena, Edge, Kane, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton and he went on to make a foreign empire for himself.
2007 was one of the most successful years for Khali. He was a part of the “Raw” brand and he won the WWE World Heavyweight championship which is actually a 20 person battle. But he lost the belt to Batista on 16th September.
But since 2008, he was back into his Punjabi Munda mood. Khali along with his then manager Ranjin Singh hosted “Khali Kiss cam” wherein they would call some random women from the crowd to Kiss Khali. But in 2011 sadly, he lost a number of matches. In 2014 as the contract expired he left the brand also.
Then Khali went up to start his own promotion and training academy “Continental Wrestling Entertainment” in February 2015. He also returned to WWE in 2017 to assist current WWE champion, Jinder Mahal. He was a quite popular personality in India by now and thus he was regularly seen in many television shows and Bollywood movies too.
Workout Plan
In order to sustain the enormous body of Khali, he maintains the following workout plan –
Sunday – chest, flat, incline and decline bench presses, push-ups
Monday – biceps and triceps, barbell and dumbbell curls, Push-ups
Tuesday – Cardio work
Wednesday – military press, dumbbell military press, lateral raises, rear lateral raises.
Thursday – Barbell rows, pull ups
Friday – seated leg extensions, leg presses, squats.
Saturday – Rest
Diet Plan
In order to maintain his huge body, Khali is known to have a massive diet plan.
Morning
He has fruit juice and whole fruits in the morning. He also consumes two quarts of milk, 8 eggs and 100 grams of dried fruit. He also consumes chicken and bread for his breakfast. Before breakfast, he drinks a lot of water and also walks for a few minutes.
Lunch
Khali eats curry, vegetables, wheat bread, rice, 1 kg chicken, eggs and dried fruits.
Dinner
During dinner, he consumes cheese, legume, vegetables, 10 wheat bread, brown rice, chicken, 6 eggs, two liters of milk and ice after dinner.
Apart from the above, he also regularly consumes yogurt, candies and ice creams in his diet.
Awards and Recognitions
Some of his most notable awards are he is a one time “WWE world heavyweight champion”. He was the proud receiver of the belt on 17th July 2007 after he won the 20 men royal battle. He also won a Slammy award owing to the moment as a part of his Khali Kiss Battle.
Marriage
Khali married Harminder Kaur in the year 2002. Khali is blessed with only 1 daughter. He is currently leading a happy and contends family life with his wife and children.
Source – Quora