10 Wrestlers You Were Too Embarrassed To Admit You Loved

9. The Great Khali

Tafka Goldust
WWE.com

The Great Khali tops many lists as one of the worst wrestlers to ever compete in WWE based on his rather clumsy in-ring style and often-unintelligible promos, but these laboured criticisms look past some of the moments from a man so great it was quite literally his middle name.

Khali was believably fearsome so early into his run because he was absolutely f*cking massive. Khali was every bit as over in India as those glowing video packages suggested because he gave the nation a WWE hero they'd never really had. Khali legitimately looked unstoppable...before he was repeatedly stopped.

The Great Khali was also pretty funny.

Embracing the stupidity of the organisation after he'd outlived his usefulness as a heel, Khali's 'Punjabi Playboy' schtick was an inoffensive palette cleanser. Loaded with pictures of him stoically appreciating everything ordinary in his extraordinary life, his social media game subverted the traditional wrestler-on-the-road patter with magnificent aplomb. His belt-stealing one night return in 2017 was the best thing about Jinder Mahal's entire torrid time with the title. Yes, he was objectively atrocious at his worst, but a Khali brought so much more to the moment than 'The Modern Day Maharaja' than just an actual audience.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett