A former WWE star has looked back on their time in the ring with The Great Khali and how they were legitimately dazed following the Hall of Famer’s chop, which Khali believed to be selling.
During an appearance on Huge Pop Radio, former WWE star Shelton Benjamin was asked about some of his favourite memories from his 25-year wrestling career. While some wrestlers would argue that a match with Benjamin is effectively a night off given his athleticism and in-ring skills, the AEW Tag Team Champion could not say the same about The Great Khali.
Benjamin admitted that while he did like Khali personally, he could not say the same about having to wrestle the former World Champion. Benjamin also recalled one time when he snapped at the Hall of Famer:
“I snapped on The Great Khali, big time (he laughed). I love Khali. I think he’s a great guy but I hated wrestling him. I don’t think I am the only person who felt that way. Man, that chop to the head… it felt like a cinder block. I remember the first time he gave it to me, I felt my spine go (*cartoon shrink sound effect*).
I snapped on him but, the funny thing about when I went off on him, because I’d done some spots and he didn’t like ‘em so he complained and when he complained, I just lost it and then he tried to ask other guys to confirm what he thought was wrong, which only made me even more mad.
But, the funny part about that, I don’t know if you remember, Carlito and Primo (Colón) were there tagging. They’re watching this whole thing and Carlito, those are like my brothers.
You ever seen that video where the two cats are on the roof and they’re meowing back at each other and there’s a crow hopping around and poking at the cat and basically makes them go at each other and then kind of follows ‘em around? Have you ever seen this video? This is the real thing. A crow basically kept poking the cats until the cats fought each other. Well, that’s what Carlito and Primo kept doing.
So the whole time, I’m trying to be furious at Khali, but Carli and Primo keep sneaking in, making little comments, and basically, they knew it was pissing me off that Khali kept trying to get confirmation for what he thought was right… and every time Khali would say, ‘Yeah,’ I would go off again. But, I knew what they were doing.
So it’s like, on one hand, I am furious at this guy! But these two. ‘Will you guys knock it off!?’ They were killing my anger because I wanted to be mad but I kept laughing because I knew what they were doing.
But every time Khali would speak, I would get mad all over again. ‘Will you guys get out of here?’ And they would just back off and wait a couple seconds and they would come right back in. I was like, ‘Come on, Heckle and Jeckle, get the hell out of here!’”
Shelton Benjamin Legitimately Dazed After Receiving Chop From The Great Khali
Looking back on the night he was on the receiving end of a Khali chop, Benjamin admitted he was shaken by the chop and struggled to get his bearings, to which Khali advised him to get up quicker next time:
“He gave me that chop one night and like I said, it was legit bells. I would see stars. I went down but, his finish was — I think he was doing the double-handed, I don’t know — the two-handed chokeslam thing.
So, he gave me the chop and I’m just… all I’m seeing is birds and I’m trying to get up because I know I have to take this finish and he says to me after the match, ‘Brother, uh, maybe after chop, up faster.’ I was like, ‘Khali, I am really trying to recover. I can’t get up any faster because I am really dazed. That’s not me working. That is really me trying to get my bearings before you grab me. I can’t get up any faster…’
But that being said, any time I tell these stories, I don’t wanna come off as harsh. I love Khali. I have so much fun with him. But, like you said, some guys, despite how much you love ‘em, I don’t always like working with people that I like. Unfortunately, he was at the top of that list.”
In a previous interview, The Great Khali spoke about a possible WWE return.
In other news, Ridge Holland has fired back at someone demanding he be released from WWE.
H/t to POST Wrestling.