WWE News: Backstage details on the first ever Punjabi Prison Match and why Great Khali was removed from it
What’s the story?
On a recent episode of the WrestlingInc podcast, brother of the current WWE superstar Ariya Daivari and former valet of the Great Khali Shawn Daivari revealed that the American Dream Dusty Rhodes and former creative consultant Pat Patterson were behind the concept of the Punjabi Prison match.
He also disclosed that the Great Khali, the man after whose home state the match is originally named, was not allowed to participate in its first edition because management was awaiting his Hepatitis C test results at the time.
In case you didn’t know...
The first ever Punjabi Prison match took place at now defunct The Great American Bash PPV in July of 2006. The original competitors who were supposed to face off in the hellacious structure were the Undertaker and the Great Khali. However, before the event, General Manager Teddy Long removed the Great Khali from the match due to his assault on The Undertaker backstage. Big Show replaced the Great Khali at the PPV where he was defeated by the Deadman.
The heart of the matter
Shawn Daivari revealed that Dusty Rhodes came up with the basic idea of the Punjabi Prison whereas Pat Patterson was the person behind its eccentric rules. He also stated that the structure was actually made of steel and that WWE hired a painter to give the structure’s rods a bamboo texture.
Daivari recalled the first time he heard about the match’s scenario and exclaimed how impressed he was with Patterson’s brainchild.
“And then Pat [Patterson] comes up and is like, 'Why don't maybe,' cause there's a little cage with four doors, there's a big Hell in a Cell size cage outside of it.
Pat goes, 'What if the doors open once and then they shut every 60 seconds and once they shut, they don't reopen. And that way we create a false finish by Taker can get out, but when the last one opens, you throw him back in, the door shuts, he's locked in there, you look like it escaped and then Taker gets over the top.'”
He further added that he was amazed by the ease with which Patterson was able to devise false finishes.
The Great Khali resumed his rivalry with the Undertaker after his Hepatitis C results which came out to be negative.
Also read: 5 reasons why bringing back the Punjabi Prison match is a good idea
What’s next?
Randy Orton will face Jinder Mahal in a Punjabi Prison Match for the WWE Championship at Battleground on July 23, 2017.
Author’s take
Though the structure and the rules of the Punjabi Prison are not appreciated by many, I believe that the aforementioned gimmick match has a lot of potential.
The Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton program has got me excited like nothing else, and I feel that a Punjabi Prison match could prove to be a great conclusion to this feud.
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