There’s something disarmingly simple about the way Shanky Singh tells his story. No grand claims, no larger-than-life drama – just a quiet honesty about how far he’s come.
“I’m still on that journey in my wrestling career,” he says over Zoom from India.
Before wrestling, Shanky was working as an accountant at a university – a stable, respectable job, the kind many middle-class families would be proud of. Wrestling wasn’t even on his radar.
“I had never really thought that I would go into the wrestling business,” he says.
But something didn’t sit right.
“The turning point was that everyone has something they truly like in life. When I was working as an accountant, I didn’t really enjoy it. So I changed my path.”
That decision — to walk away from certainty — came with its own struggles. No sports background, no family legacy in wrestling. Just a guy who decided to take a hard left turn.
“I faced many tough situations when I started my wrestling career,” he says.
He built his way up the hard way, performing across India — from Karnal to Udaipur, Dehradun to Haldwani — learning the craft one show at a time. There were small breaks too, including a role in the Bollywood movie Bharat alongside Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif.
Then came the moment that changed everything. WWE noticed him. He’d tried out earlier in Dubai in 2017 and didn’t make the cut. Then in 2019, another chance. He got selected. By January 2020, he was on his way to the US for four months.
“It was a very big experience,” he says. “The journey has been amazing because I started out as an accountant and ended up in wrestling.”
Now, at 34, he’s preparing for a main event in Melbourne on April 26th against former WWE star Parker Boudreaux.
He knows what fans expect. “Melbourne fans can expect proper entertainment — the kind of entertaining wrestling match people want to see.”
What’s the biggest lesson WWE taught him? Discipline.
“If you have discipline in life, if you value timing, if you understand that timing is everything… For example, you gave me 9:30 and I was here before time.”
His diet is strict — protein, carbs, good fats, chicken, white rice, oats. Repetitive. Controlled.
He’s around seven feet tall, and yes, being that tall helps in the ring. But off it? “Is finding a girlfriend hard with your height?” I ask. His answer: “Yeah, very, very difficult. Very difficult.”
The glamour of wrestling often hides the physical toll. There was a time when his family was very worried. In one brutal match, he took 34 chair shots from Drew McIntyre — a beating that would have broken most. He remembers it not with bitterness, but with unfinished business.
He says he’s still waiting for that moment of revenge — “when I will give him double of that one day.”
For Shanky, stepping into the ring is never just personal. “It’s a big opportunity. Not many people get this chance,” he says. “It feels good to represent our people.”
He’s also clear-eyed about the gaps back home.
“India doesn’t have that kind of wrestling platform yet… India still needs a stronger wrestling platform.”
His message to the crowd in Victoria? “You’ll get the best, maybe even a championship-level performance, and you’ll feel proud that Shanky has come here to win.”
From a desk job to a main event in Melbourne. That’s Shanky Singh.
Former WWE stars Shanky Singh and Parker Boudreaux are set to meet on April 26 at the MCW + OPW Sunday Showcase at the Thornbury Theatre in Melbourne.
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