Tag: Shanky WWE

Shanky addresses his future goals across USA, Japan, UK, and Australia: ‘I’m hungry for wrestling’ | Exclusive

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

Out of the WWE ecosystem for nearly three years now, Shanky recently opened up about his future wrestling goals while speaking to F4WON during an exclusive interview.

Having last faced Gunther in WWE, Shanky was soon released by the promotion in 2023. Making a name for himself in the indies since then, Shanky has been wrestling actively for OPW (Oceania Pro Wrestling) in Australia.

When asked about the current pro-wrestling scene in Australia, he shared, “OPW is doing really good work here in Melbourne, and yeah, it’s pretty much the same. Just look at Australia—how many stars have come out of the wrestling scene here. You’ve got Rhea Ripley, you’ve got Grayson Waller—he’s from Melbourne itself.” Asked if he spotted any difference between Australian pro-wrestling and American pro-wrestling, he responded, “No, it’s the same—completely the same. The wrestling is exactly the same.”

Often seen in the wrestling industry, whenever wrestlers are released by the top guns in the industry, namely WWE, AEW, or TNA, they start taking bookings all over the world and wrestle across multiple promotions. While Shanky has predominantly wrestled only across India and the country down under since leaving WWE, he has an interest in exploring a career in the UK and Japan.

“Absolutely Japan. Wherever I get an opportunity, I’ll go. I’ve heard that in Japan they really love tall people; they like them a lot. Ah, so I mean, right now I’m Hungry for wrestling. So if I get an opportunity anywhere, I’ll go there. I’ll definitely go wherever—like the UK, Japan, Australia—wherever. I just want to do wrestling, wrestling, wrestling, and just be a proud Indian, you know,” he shared.

Not ruling out a return to the USA, he further claimed, “Absolutely—definitely, the U.S. is the last stop for me. I do want to go there. I’m just looking for the right opportunities, and wherever I get them, I’ll go—whether it’s the U.S. I’m excited about WWE too; if I go back to WWE again, I’d like to.”

Shanky has a message for AEW and TNA

However, WWE is no longer the only big promotion in the USA. For the past few years, AEW and TNA Wrestling have emerged as the two other big stops for talented and promising wrestlers.

“No, nothing like that has come to me—nothing from AEW or TNA so far. People were telling me when I was coming back from the U.S., “Bro, stay there, something will happen,” but no, nothing like that has come yet from AEW or TNA. If it does, then I’ll definitely do it—definitely,” Shanky answered when asked about his plans on potentially wrestling for AEW or TNA.

While he has not heard anything from AEW or TNA, the 34-year-old wrestler from a small town in India shared a message for Carlos Silva and Tony Khan. Hoping they would hear him, Shanky stated, “Yes, yes—what I’d like to say is, brother… Shanky Singh, you know, I’m hungry right now for wrestling, and I come from my country, India, and I will always keep representing India no matter which company I wrestle for. I just want to wrestle. And I’ll say this: just sign me once and then see how we make our country’s name shine—whether it’s TNA or AEW or WWE.“

From earning just roughly $80 a month to becoming a regular act on weekly WWE television with former World Champion Jinder Mahal, Shanky is now hungry for wrestling across the world while still hoping for pro wrestling in India to develop further.

Shanky shares his thoughts on India’s own pro-wrestling promotion, WXM

Started by former WWE Superstar Jeet Rama and Rishi, WXM has emerged as one of the leading pro-wrestling promotions in India. WXM is frequently visited by several top International wrestlers, including Zack Sabre Jr., Donovan Dijak, Axel Tischer, Raj Dhesi (Jinder Mahal), Emi Sakura, and others.

Sharing his thoughts on the promotion, Shanky claimed, “WXM is doing good work. I’d say, brother, do even better—come on TV—so opportunities open up for our Indian wrestlers. Look, let me tell you: not everyone can go to WWE. Not everyone—no, not everyone can go to WWE. So it’s important that opportunities and platforms open up here in India, and WXM is doing good work. So I’d say yes—if I get the chance, I’ll definitely go. I want to wrestle. And yeah, I mean, if they pay well, I’ll definitely go. Yeah.“

Away from WWE, he recently wrestled a title match against Parker Boudreaux, which he lost. He later recovered and earned his first singles win after WWE against Slade Mercer in PCW.

Shanky says he experienced ‘no racism’ backstage in WWE | Exclusive

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

Former WWE wrestler Shanky has opened up about his time and experience in WWE, revealing that there was no “racism” backstage at the promotion.

In an exclusive interview with F4WON, Shanky opened up about his humble beginnings from a small town in India to reaching WWE. While having never worked officially in NXT, Shanky revealed how he wrestled on the main roster and the collaborative backstage environment there.

“So when I went backstage, Roman [Reigns] was there… Seth Rollins, everyone was there. You know, like, we’re all in the same place, eating together at catering. There was no racism, nothing like, ‘Oh, you’re new, so you can’t sit at that table and eat.’ Nothing like that. Everyone was down-to-earth and humble. So, I mean, I’m telling you—it was beyond that,” he said.

When asked about working with Triple H and Vince McMahon, Shanky said, “To be honest, I didn’t work that much with Triple H, sir. When we first went to NXT, I didn’t really get a chance there. I think I’m the first one who didn’t even do NXT and went straight to Raw and SmackDown. So I went to Raw first, and that’s where I met Vince McMahon. I met the whole team. Jinder [Mahal] paaji was with me, Veer Mahaan was with me too. And Jinder paaji played a really big role for us, because we were new at that time on Raw and SmackDown,” he said.

Reflecting on Mahal’s role in his career and his interaction with McMahon, the 34-year-old recalled, “You can call him [Jinder Mahal] a mentor, an elder brother—he supported us completely. So that was really good for me. And the interaction with Vince, because he was looking at my name. He said, ‘We need to change the name.’ And I know, I’m standing in front of Vince, and he said, ‘I like Shanky, just carry on.’ So that’s when the name Shanky got set. Singh got removed from the back, but he kept Shanky. So yeah, that experience was just something else. Being around such huge Superstars, I was so excited—like, when I go backstage, I want to see what the atmosphere is like, you know.“

However, the journey for Shanky to reach WWE was not always easy.

Shanky opens up in detail about his struggles to reach WWE

While pro-wrestling is very popular and common in India, the industry there still has a lot to develop and offer to its budding pro-wrestlers. Opening up about his struggles and his journey, Shanky shared how he managed money to join former WWE champion The Great Khali’s wrestling school in India.

“Then I remembered Kapil Sharma’s show—you know, it still comes on. Even back then, it was on, and The Great Khali had come on it. He mentioned his wrestling company, which is in Jalandhar and all. My friends said, ‘Why don’t you go meet him once? Just go and see what it’s about.’ So I went to Jalandhar and met him. At that time, he said, ‘Yes, you can do it—you’ve got height, that’s your biggest plus, your advantage.’ And I mean, in wrestling, height doesn’t really matter, but if you have it, it’s a plus. Then he told me the fees—and since I’m from a simple family, it was a lot,” he said.

“Arranging ₹25,000 to ₹30,000 [$262-$315] a month is very difficult for an ordinary family, because at that time I myself was doing an accountant job for only about ₹7,000–₹8,500 [$78-84] a month. So the fees were too high, and I came back home and told my dad. Then, about 20 days later, my dad said, ‘If you want to do it, it’s okay—I’ll arrange two months’ fees from somewhere.’ I know that at that time he borrowed ₹60,000 [$630] from someone, took a bank loan, and he himself took me to Jalandhar, paid the fees there,” Shanky added.

However, the journey had just started there. Shortly after training there with Ricardo Rodriguez, Shanky injured himself and got put on the shelf. Although regretting his decision to wrestle, Shanky fought back. Unfortunately, the underdeveloped pro-wrestling scene in India over a decade ago meant almost no earnings for Shanky.

“I learned wrestling, did shows all over India. Back then, we didn’t get paid; there was no earnings. And when there’s no earning, your head starts going—like, we’re doing this to earn, right, but there’s no earning happening at that time. In 2017, there was a tryout in Dubai, and I didn’t get selected. Then in 2018, I thought, yeah, there’s no point now—there’s no earning, and I didn’t get selected in the tryout—so I quit wrestling and moved to Bombay,” he reflected.

Instead of giving up, he worked hard in the Indian TV industry, did reality shows, and again attempted the next WWE tryout in Mumbai, where he got selected.

After a brief successful run in WWE, Shanky got released in 2023 and is currently an active part of the OPW’s (Oceania Pro Wrestling) cards in Melbourne, Australia, where he recently lost the OPW Global Title Match against Parker Boudreaux.