Ex Star says "set in their ways" Indian WWE fans love John Cena but do not want their own native stars
Former WWE Superstar Samir Singh recently stated that wrestling fans from India prefer performers like John Cena over having stars from their own country make it big.
WWE is incredibly popular in India, and last year it witnessed Monday Night RAW receive double the amount of viewers in the country than in the United States. Indian fans have also seen one of their own reach the top of the company as The Great Khali became World Heavyweight Champion in 2007.
Despite having such a large fanbase, Samir Singh stated on a recent episode of Stories With Brisco and Bradshaw that Indian WWE fans are "set in their ways" and that they find it hard to show allegiance to their countrymen ahead of megastars like John Cena and Roman Reigns.
"It’s hard, people love WWE. But it just seems like it stops at that. It’s like they want WWE and anything else is kind of underneath it. Also, they don’t really want, I don’t think they want Indian stars, they love Cena, they talk about Bret Hart and Roman Reigns and all these guys and when you introduce Indian stars they never really quite click. It’s one of those things where it’s like cricket, Bollywood, and WWE and it’s very hard to maneuver that. If independent wrestling comes in it just doesn’t quite work or you try to make an Indian star, they’re kind of set in their ways." From 38:31 to 39:18
Watch the full interview below:
The last WWE event that took place in India was in New Delhi on December 7th 2017, the main event of the show had former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal take on Triple H.
John Cena had a heated battle with The Great Khali
The Indian giant made his WWE debut in 2006 which saw him go on an undefeated path of destruction for more than a year. Khali's momentum, however, was halted when he came face-to-face with John Cena a year later.
John Cena and The Great Khali went to war with one another in 2007 twice, first at Judgement Day which saw Cena defeat Khali via submission, following a match at One Night Stand where the leader of Cenation threw the Giant off a crane bed to pin him and retain the WWE Championship.
Never forget when @JohnCena took on and defeated The Great Khali at Judgement Day in 2007! #CenaMonth https://t.co/VdGCo30sU6
The Great Khali's contributions to the company and his country have been astronmical, the 7ft tall megastar was awarded for his work in 2021 as he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Where does The Great Khali rank amongst the greatest of WWE giants? Give us your thoughts in the comment section below.
If you use the quotes, please credit Stories With Brisco and Bradshaw and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.