Star Indian Olympics wrestler Sushil Kumar is likely to make his debut inside the WWE ring during the later stages of 2017, reports emerged on Saturday. If this indeed happens, it will be the second time in three years that an athlete from India transitions from the amateur scene to the professional scene.
Last year, star boxer Vijender Singh decided to move over from amateur to pro boxing, and has since been giving one dominating performance after another as a pro boxer. If Sushil, who missed out on Rio 2016 Olympics as Narsingh Yadav made the cut in the 74kg weight division, goes and makes a stunning mark as Vijender has been doing in his sport, further proud moments for the country will follow.
Hindustan Times has mentioned that Canyon Ceman, who is the head of talent development in the WWE, is scheduled for a meeting with the two-time Olympic medallist in New Delhi, later in the day, to negotiate further over a deal, which is expected to be worth crores.
"We are exploring all options for Sushil to get into professional wrestling and are in talks with WWE," Raman Raheja, an official from a sports management firm associated with the Indian wrestler, told HT. "I can't obviously give you internal details of when we are meeting etc, but I can confirm that Sushil is very much interested in growing a Pro Wrestling career now," Sportskeeda quoted him.
The Great Khali is one of the most prominent pro wrestlers from India in recent times. He signed with the WWE and parted ways in 2014, after an illustrious reign that saw him feud with the likes of the Undertaker, Big Show, Triple H and Rey Mysterio. He has now opened a pro wrestling academy of his own in Punjab known as the Continental Wrestling Entertainment (CWE).
If Sushil takes the same route and does something similar at his training centre, the Chhatrasal Stadium in New Delhi, remains to be seen now.
