SM’s favorite plus-size man is in the spotlight once again [via Dhoomketu]. Dalip Singh (see previous posts 1,2) made his World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) debut earlier this week (watch him introduced). I will give $5 to anyone who can translate what he says for SM readers :). Here is the ring-side play-by-play:

Daivari made his triumphant return with the giant Dalip Singh! They walked out from backstage, slowly walking to the ring. The announcers didn’t know who this giant man was, but noted that he was being managed by Mark Henry’s manager. Taker bounced Henry’s head off the announce table.

[Under]Taker turned around and saw Singh. Singh stepped over the top rope and got in the ring, staring down Taker. Taker got in the ring. Taker had to look up at Singh. The announcers talked about how massive Singh is. Taker threw a right hand, but Singh basically no sold it. He threw another right hand, but it barely moved him. Singh then hit a karate chop to the head of Taker, knocking him down! Taker sat up, but Singh grabbed him by the throat. He ripped open one of the turnbuckles with one hand, then bounced Taker’s head off the exposed turnbuckle. Singh headbutted Taker in the back of the head twice. Daivari shouted “Do it again! Do it again!” Singh delivered another headbutt to the back of the head. There were tons of boos from the crowd. Singh hit a big kick to Taker’s head. Singh stood over the downed Taker as Daivari celebrated next to him. [Link]

Instead of the above you could just watch the clip and do your own play-by-play. I was never much into “entertainment” wrestling. The only reason I sometimes watched as a kid was because my dad wouldn’t let me. He said watching wrestling made you dumber and so it was forbidden in our house. I’d watch occasionally because I don’t like being told what to do, plus I wanted to see if he was right. The character that Singh plays in the WWE is named “the Great Khali.” He has quite a bio:

Hailing from India, The Great Khali stands at an impressive 7 foot 3 and weighs 420 pounds. The Great Khali has walked the jungles of India unafraid of pythons and wrestled White Bengal tigers. Daivari claims that The Great Khali has “stared into the abyss and the earth trembled at his gaze.” One of the largest athletes the WWE has ever bared witness to, The Great Khali stands to be a powerful force and a threat to every member of the SmackDown locker room. [Link]

But…here is something not in his WWE bio. Singh has wrestled in the States before. According to many wrestling observers he is a nice guy but just not any good at wrestling. Actually, in 2001 he accidentally killed a man in the ring by doing an imperfect “powerbomb.”

The night of May 28, students practiced at the gym, which sits in a large converted warehouse in a drab Hayward office building. Brian [Ong] sparred with various people, including Dalip Singh, a freakishly huge Indian guy who also dreamed of being a pro wrestler and had attended the boot camp a few months longer than Brian. Singh, also 27, was so big you could have watched a movie projected onto his back. He had biceps the size of the average man’s thighs, and a chest like a redwood trunk.

Despite his mammoth stature, Singh was reportedly a sweet, gentle man who spoke little English. According to various accounts of that night, Singh wanted to practice the spinebuster and was paired with Brian. The first time the two tried it, Ong grabbed Singh’s shirt as he was tossed over the giant’s shoulders. Principato explained to Brian that he needed to push off his opponent’s back as he was tossed. Singh then did the move with two others in the gym that night, including one of the trainers, so Ong could see how it was done.

On the second attempt, Brian grabbed Singh’s shirt again. This time, his tailbone hit first, and his head whipped back violently against the mat. He didn’t get up. Instead, he turned over, said he was dizzy, and began to moan. “Nobody thought, ‘Oh, this guy is in really bad shape,'” Principato remembered.

Before long, however, it was clear he was indeed in bad shape. Brian tried to crawl out of the ring but managed only to get up on all fours, vomit, and then collapse. Someone at the gym called 911 and paramedics carted the unconscious wrestler off to St. Rose Hospital in Hayward, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The Alameda County Coroner’s Office later listed the official cause of death as acute and subdural hemorrhage due to head trauma. [Link]

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Let us (and by “us” I mean some of you) keep an eye on Singh to see how his character develops and if he is able to improve his skills. It is also interesting to see the audience’s reaction to a character like Singh. U-S-A, U-S-A, was the chant from the crowd even before it was announced where Singh was from.