Initially in Hyderabad, the Pehalwans, mostly Arabs ruled the roost. They were locally called Chaush. They were brought from Yemen to work in the erstwhile Hyderabad State as military men and bodyguards for the Nizams! The title Pehalwan brought up a sense of immense respect and the inhabitants would urge the pehalwans to settle public issues.
Wrestling competitions were organised in Hyderabad frequently and the pehalwans won titles worldwide. The Pehalwans mostly earned their livelihood by working at dairy farms or running fruits businesses. Today, their progeny have turned into property dealers in the region. Barkas and Golconda used to be at the heart of wrestling activities in the city. Every mohalla would be dotted with the Akhadas. Awad Bin Obaid Bayashoot, Mohsin Ali, Hamid Ali and Mohammed Bin Ghouse Jabri are some of the prominent names who have won numerous national awards for their contribution to wrestling in India.
Pehalwani or freestyle wrestling was the most popular sport across the country, apart from cricket, hockey, and kabbadi. However, post-Independence, many traditional pehlwans migrated to Delhi and Calcutta in search of greener pastures as these cities promised a brighter future in the 50s and 60s. Over the years, mud akhadas were replaced by mats.
The Wrestling Federation of India was set up in 1965. It takes charge of wrestling activities in the country by organising and promoting wrestling events. It is also responsible for selecting national teams and facilitating the sport at multiple levels. In the recent past, WWE has grown in popularity in India too. Wrestlers including the Great Khali, Jinder Mahal, and Kavita Devi, have competed in WWE.
A spectator sport
Vinayak Sodhi, founder and promoter of India’s first ever independent promotion ‘Wrestle Square’, explains, “Pro Wrestling is still growing day by day everywhere in the world, including in India, as it caters to all the entertainment needs of viewers such as action, drama and movie or television-style storylines. People are now aware that it is not a real fight as UFC but its far way something better and friendly to see; it has more rewatch value than any other sports or entertainment program on the planet.” He continues, “If I talk about the career prospects, then when there was WWF era— there were no careers or places to train in India. But now there is emergence of Pro Wrestling industry and career prospects are very good if one takes a long term view.
The market is on the verge to grow and create the Indian wrestling superstars very soon. Most of the entertainment and sports, including Pro Wrestling, have high competition as its always on TV and people just want to do it as they are inspired sitting at their home. But to be honest it is one of the most difficult professions in the world because to become a wrestler you must have all the qualities of a sports man as well of an actor. So, it is so much difficult to keep your foot in wrestling industry.”
WWE has evolved a lot in terms of production and the content quality. The key to evolution is its content distribution on TV networks worldwide and the massive digital presence. “Earlier we used to see WWF as some real sports, but it is no longer the case because it involves high-risk maneuvers and dangerous wrestling holds which are life-threating. Now, people are getting to be aware that its entertainment-based sports and industry is involving,” adds Vinayak.
WWE is larger than life
WWE is clearly telling people in their tagline and in every advertisement that they are a sports entertainment company. It is like saying a Hollywood film is being made every week and is being released as a three-hour film on Monday night as RAW, a two hour film on NXT and a two hour film on Smackdown. And when they travel across the world, they are basically superstars in the sense that apart from the fact that they are phenomenal athletes, the thing is that WWE is about entertainment in the larger picture.
“Apart from cricket there’s no other sport that you can compare to WWE which has the same amount of visibility and fandom in terms of television history. They are so ahead of the curve. Over the last many years, every time WWE has come to India they have had tryouts and they have picked up great wrestlers from India. They realise that India is one of the biggest markets for WWE, which is why they are coming back.
They know that Indians love WWE. Amateur wrestling or akhada wrestling is totally different. We can’t compare amateur wrestling or freestyle wrestling to WWE. Yes, we may compare WWE with Bollywood as it is that massive. WWE is Bollywood of sports in essence,” tells Mihir Joshi, Hindi commentator for WWE on Sony Sports Network.
He explains the difference between amateur wrestling and WWE. “Amateur wrestling has very strict rules. There are allowed moves; there’s a certain way it happens. Whereas in WWE there are very few rules which stop the superstars from doing whatever they want to. They can use any part of their body any part of the wring and you see that a lot of action happens outside the ring.That’s exactly what entertainment is for the viewers! The only common ground is that there are a lot of amateur wrestling moves which are used by the wrestlers. WWE wrestlers, including Larry Henning, Steve Williams, Dolf Ziggler and Bret Hart, were amateur wrestlers. It is like one can apply those amateur techniques in WWE.”
There’s no mystery about the fact that it looks a lot scripted. Today, every wrestler is on social media and one can see their lifestyle, behind-the-scenes of the match, etc.“Fans figure out that someone who looked villain in the match is actually doing charity in real life and all these wrestlers are sweet people. All the portrayal that the spectators see, which is either good or bad, is scripted. You have to think of WWE as an action-packed thing.
As far as the fans are concerned, they don’t know how the match is going to end. The performers though know how the match is going to work out, but the fans meet with shock and awe in the end. Having said that, they all do unparalleled hardwork. The life that the professional WWE wrestlers live is glamorous. However, the action that is happening is real and emotions are pure when we talk about WWE. Being in WWE is pretty much like being in Bollywood but with the Dharma productions,” concludes Mihir.
The challenges for amateur wrestling
Considering the legacy of Hyderabad in pehalwani (freestyle wrestling), what is it that poses a challenge for Hyderabadis as compared to other states? In northern parts of India for instance Haryana, Delhi and Punjab, there are wrestling academies, which support the wrestlers in carving out a niche for themselves.
“Hyderabad is a well-known city of India, being a big city people are busy in earning bread and butter for their lives, to choose watching Pro Wrestling on the TV its easy to-do but to step in the wrestling ring is a big task for all the wrestling aspirants no matter which state they belong to. Currently there are no wrestling schools in Hyderabad where fans can get real feel and get trained to be a wrestler such they idolize like the Rock, John Cena, Undertaker and more,” says Vinayak Sodhi, when asked about opportunities for amateur wrestlers in Hyderabad.
WWE touring in the Hyderabad will give an opportunity to fans to see and feel the WWE action or professional wrestling as we can call it for the first time ever in Gachibowli Stadium with the big names such as Seth Rollins, Rhea Ripley, Veer Mahaan and more.
Despite the fame and fortune associated with WWE, not everyone finds their way.
Sodhi comments, “In every profession there is competition and to prove that you are best you have to fight all your odds to stand toehold in the industry because there are new people joining every day. For Indian people, it is quite difficult because we are new with this Pro Wrestling sports, US Wrestling is 30+ years ahead as they began even before 1970. Let’s take an example of the movie industry. There are several actors, but the top ones get the chance to get on big screens. Similarly for our sports of Pro Wrestling.
TV is the big screen, and it is very difficult to get airtime for everyone. Fans and content consumers always like to support the big names. There is no justification to it, but its reality that is something future stars need to understand.”
“Amateur wrestling or freestyle wrestling is different from WWE. Here, in amateur wrestling there are numerous rules as compared to WWE. Wrestling goes back to the age of Ramayana. After Independence, India won medal in wrestling in the Olympics. We have been blessed to witness the wins after that too. In WWE, the performers are supposed to fight anyhow using whatever part of their body. But in amateur wrestling, there’s more emphasis on how you defend or fight (precise movements).
Every technique is crucial in freestyle wrestling and the game changes within seconds. It is a traditional sport in which a wrestler begins the day by taking blessings of the coach (guru). There’s a disciplined life an individual leads. Power exercises to running and strict diet-our entire week is scheduled,” says Mettu Shiva, a gold medallist in south Indian contests and a participant in the State competition more than 20 times.
