The Great Khali has revealed why he was released by the WWE in 2014, and how he wanted to leave the company years prior to set up his own promotion.
The former World Heavyweight Champion is a legend in the WWE. The Great Khali dominated for years after his debut in 2007, decimating legends like The Undertaker, Batista and John Cena.
Due to his sheer size and menacing presence, it was hard to believe that anybody could defeat this Indian giant. When somebody like John Cena did topple the giant, it was an event.
However, 2008 he was made into a complete joke. He aligned himself with Natalya and Hornswoggle and created “The Khali Kiss Cam”. He would select couples in audience to kiss on camera, as happens in many sports games.
He then began to lose more and more and took on a much more “fun-loving persona”. Slowly he started to become less important on the show until he was merely a jobber to the big men in the midcard.
The Great Khali’s last match was against Rusev in 2014 before he was released from the company. However, there was a reason for his release that Khali himself revealed in an interview years later.
Why Did WWE Release The Great Khali?
WWE released The Great Khali because they failed to expand in India as well as they wanted to. He was let go in November 2014 when his contract expired and the company elected not to extend his deal.
However, The Great Khali revealed that he did not want to be re-signed by the company. He revealed that he had tried to leave the WWE multiple times before, but the million-dollar contracts he was offered for the past few years were too much to turn down.
“The WWE has failed in India. They thought they would leave the Great Khali after using him. I tried to leave WWE long before but each time I tried, they offered me a contract. Finally, in 2014, I decided to leave it once my contract ended and decided not to work with them ever again. Then I came back and opened CWE in Punjab which is doing well.”
The Great Khali on his WWE release, speaking to ANI
He was happy to sit there and take his millions of dollars so it’s hard to feel bad for Khali when he finally got fired from the WWE.
The Great Khali’s Wrestling Promotion
After leaving the WWE in 2014, The Great Khali went back to India to start his own wrestling promotion.
Named the Continental Wrestling Entertainment, it had the vision to bring the WWE style of wrestling to India, with a former World Heavyweight Champion at the helm.
The company contained one current WWE Superstar Shanky, who now wrestles in NXT, is a former CWE Champion. The Great Khali also won the CWE Championship in the second of his two matches in the company – the first being a three-on-one handicap match that ended in victory for Khali.
The Great Khali has since retired from wrestling. His final match was at the Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018 and he was inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021.