The Story Of The Great Khali

The Great Khali is most remembered as one of WWE's giants during the 2000s and 2010s. The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion was able to play various roles during his time in the company from a monster villain to a comedy figure.

Khali, real name Dalip Singh Rana, is an Indian born pro wrestler and pro wrestling promoter who stands at over seven feet tall. With his sheer size as well as the wear and tear from his career, Rana has dealt with serious conditions that has made his life difficult at times.

From the extreme obstacle of traveling while being a pro wrestler to requiring brain surgery to stay alive, here is everything you need to know about how The Great Khali lives his life.

The Great Khali's story

Given the name of Dalip Singh Rana, The Great Khali was born on August 27, 1972 in Dhiraina, Sirmaur, Himachal, Pradesh, India. One of seven siblings in a poor family, Rana had a desire to start working early in his life.

The Great Khali is a picture of humble devotion as he seeks blessings of Yoga Guru, Baba Ramdev at Anant-Radhika Shubh Ashirwad function.#Trending pic.twitter.com/v6iYBYO73g
— Filmfare (@filmfare) July 13, 2024

Early on in life, Rana was diagnosed with Acromegaly, which is a disorder that causes giantism and chin protrusion. This disorder traditionally leads those affected to have certain areas of the body enlarged.

Suffering from both giantism and chin protrusion due to the Acromegaly, Rana experienced a lot of bullying from his classmates after growing to staggering heights.

This led him to wanting to drop out of school and instead wanting to start working on the local plantation with his father. His family were strongly against this due to his age, but after his insistence, his father finally agreed and Rana eventually started working and earning money.

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The Great Khali wouldn't return to school, but instead found other opportunities where his size was an asset., including work as a seecurity job which then led to a position as a police officer with the Punjab Police.

It was during this time where he would begin to pursue his dream to wrestle.

Rana's enormous size translated well in the professional wrestling world, leading him to winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in 2007.

The Great Khali wasn't the only pro wrestler who suffered from Acromegaly, however. WWE Hall of Famer Andre The Giant also had the disease.

Similar to Andre The Giant, The Great Khali also went through his life with untreated Acromegaly for a while. However, unlike Andre, in July 2012, Khali underwent a procedure to remove a tumor developed in his pituitary gland, which is the primary part of the brain that caused his giantism.

Andre The Giant, however, refused treatment, which ultimately led to his untimely passing at the age of 46 in 1993.

This surgery allowed Khali to live a healthier life after it was thankfully brought to his attention. Currently at the age of 52 years old, Khali has already exceeded the life expectancy for many affected by Acromegaly.

pic.twitter.com/XS0hGq47xW
— The Great khali (@greatkhali) December 6, 2024

Following his procedure, Khali was able to make a successful return to in-ring competition in 2014 before finally closing his career out with an appearance in the Greatest Royal Rumble at the titular event in April 2018.

The Great Khali's connection to Brian Ong's death

Unfortunately, some of the tragedy surrounding The Great Khali's story doesn't have to do with his own illness and ailments, but with a controversial and sad incident that led to a pro wrestler losing his life.

In 2001, Khali was still training to get noticed by the larger promotions in the wrestling world. While in the ring, Khali delivered a flapjack wrestling move to his fellow trainee Brian Ong that eventually caused his death in the ring.

Ahead of receiving the move, Ong had suffered a previous concussion during the session, but he was misdiagnosed by staff and allowed to continue.

“One rose to wrestling’s peak in WWE while the other’s dream ended grimly in a warehouse.” 😔

It was a horrific accident that nearly ended The Great Khali’s career before it began. https://t.co/oMqxTe6JyT pic.twitter.com/PTvXpAt1ll
— Pro Wrestling Stories (@pws_official) November 27, 2024

After being told to continue training and not receiving the proper supervision from All Pro Wrestling (APW), Ong died following an acute and subdural hemorrhage suffered due to head trauma after Khali delivered the flapjack. This tragedy made headlines in the wrestling world.

Ong's family went on to file a lawsuit against APW and The Great Khali. In the end, the company was found liable for their part in the incident, with the Ong family awarded over $1.3 million for damages. It was later revealed that Ong did in fact have a concussion history that was purposely left out of his APW application form. Khali was not found liable.

Khali has only referenced this situation in one public interview to this day, in which he expressed his remorse for his part in the situation.

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