MVP has wrestled a lot of giants during his career, but don’t expect him to put The Great Khali anywhere near the top of the list. In fact, when Khali’s name came up, MVP didn’t even hesitate before tearing into the former World Heavyweight Champion.
Speaking on the Marking Out podcast, MVP was talking about wrestlers who debuted as unstoppable monsters before eventually becoming more comedic characters. After discussing Big Show and Mark Henry, the hosts mentioned Khali, and MVP immediately started laughing before making it clear he wasn’t about to hand out any compliments.
“Who? Yeah, I just can’t, man. I can’t, man. The not so Great Khali. I ain’t never going to give him no flowers. He—I mean, he made money for WWE because of the Indian audience, and I respect that, and the big, you know, I think Sony TV deal and all that, but he was trash. And there’s a billion people that hate me because I feel that way.
“Great guy to joke around and mess with, but if you’ve never had to wrestle him, you couldn’t possibly understand my pain, literally and figuratively.
“The Great Khali, I always say, reminds me of—and I’m going to take you back here, so bear with me—for those of you who are a little older or those of you who are Star Wars fans and you remember The Empire Strikes Back… Yeah. That’s it, man.”
MVP wasn’t done there, either. He said one of his favorite Khali memories happened during a European tour when Undertaker jokingly cupped the back of Khali’s heel while he was standing over him. According to MVP, it almost sent the giant crashing to the mat, and Taker’s reaction said it all.
“Did I tell the story about the time Undertaker was playing around and cupped the back of his heel and he almost fell? Oh man. True story. We were somewhere in Europe. Then we had like a six-man or eight-man tag, and Khali was getting heat on Taker, and Taker was on the ground… Taker just… cupped the back of his heel a little bit, and Khali went—no. He didn’t fall, but he—and I swear Taker looked up and he just went…”
Then came another story—this time involving Batista. MVP recalled Batista selling on all fours behind Khali when Khali accidentally managed to knock himself over because he had no idea where Batista was, leaving pretty much everyone in the building trying not to crack up.
“And if that’s not enough, another time… Batista was on all fours selling, and Khali stood up… with absolutely zero ring awareness. Batista’s behind him selling on all fours. Remember the old playground thing where you bend and you push the dude over? Khali did it to himself and then tumbled.
“And then something like that, like, you want to try to keep it together, but we all laughed. The heels laughed, the babyfaces laughed, the audience laughed, everybody laughed. Oh, so yeah, man. What about him? The not so Great Khali. Don’t never ask me about him in a wrestling context.”
MVP may respect everything Khali accomplished for WWE’s business, especially in India, but that’s where the compliments stop. As far as actually wrestling him goes, it sounds like those memories still haven’t gotten any better with time.
Do you think MVP was too harsh on The Great Khali, or do you agree with his assessment of Khali’s in-ring work? Let us know in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
