Great Khali makes Raw worth drive to Nashville

I guess one of our biggest twists of the night was the emergence of the Great Khali as the number one contender to John Cena?s WWE Championship belt. After the top three contenders for the belt (HBK, Edge and Orton) were all found knocked out backstage, Khali stunned the live audience by stepping down the entry way and performing a beatdown of the Champ. And let me tell you, this guy looks like a Peterbilt in person, looking every bit his seven-foot-three, 420-pound frame.

Khali has been in WWE for about two years now after first being thrust into the spotlight as the gigantic member of the Mean Machine team in the re-make of the Longest Yard. He is set to be in a movie with The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, called Get Smart, a movie based on the 1960s comedy series.

Khali, real name, Dalip Singh Rana, 34, hails from India where he once served as a member of the Punjab State Police. Prior to that time he was a successful bodybuilder, something not easy for a guy of such a gargantuan frame. He has been wrestling for nearly a decade, the downside of his career coming in 2001 when he accidentally killed a wrestler named Brian Ong during training. Ong?s family was awarded $1.3 million by the federation for which they worked after it was discovered the federation knew of a prior concussion suffered by Ong but allowed him to go ahead with his training with Khali.

Given the fact Khali has been beaten just once in WWE, that being a Last Man Standing match loss to the Undertaker after he had beaten the Dead Man at an earlier pay-per-view, his placement as a main event heel opposite John Cena is a good move by the WWE which is desperate to get Cena back over with the fans. All you have to do is go to the T-shirt stands to see what a money-maker Cena has become as his shirts, along with the new shirt for Stone Cold Steve Austin and Cena?s signed DVD of his movie The Marine, were the hottest selling items of the night. Given this, the WWE wants to ensure their top face does not lose favor with the audience which has already turned to booing the champ due to the fact he has held the belt for most of two years.

Khali fits this role in several ways. The most basic reason is that everybody hates Khali and that?s the first rule of being an effective heel. He gets heat from the audience just by his mere presence. Monday night, the crowd was pretty well booing Cena until Khali came out. Then, like a light switch, the crowd got behind the Champ, nearly blowing the top off the arena when Cena had the giant up on his shoulders before giving in to his huge assailant.

Khali has also set up a number of potential feuds given the fact he apparently jumped the three top contenders backstage, not to mention a program with Cena which might actually see the champ drop the belt at the next pay-per-view, making him the chaser instead of the champ. When Cena does beat Khali, which he will with a massive F-U on the giant, it will be a highlight we?ll see for years. And, it may also pave the way for what would be my favorite match, a battle of monsters between Umaga and Khali, as they are kind of hinting a partial face turn by Umaga who has been used as muscle by the McMahons to get what they want.

Of course Khali does have a downside too, that being a pretty basic one, he can?t wrestle. The guy is just too big and is limited to power moves. He also works stiff as evidenced by the massive elbow he landed on Cena on RAW, and the WWE doesn?t want any of their main stars hurt. While an awesome spectacle, I?ve got my doubts if he could really work a long match with any consistency so the Khali thing is likely a short work.

Regardless, Khali was one of the many reasons why RAW in Nashville was a must-see event. I?ll do it again.