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Tiger Jeet Singh- Most successful Indian pro wrestler in history

Actual Name- Jagjit Singh Hans

BIOGRAPHY:

Tiger Jeet Singh, son of Indian Army major, was born in Ludhiana village, Punjab, India in 1944. In 1965, he emigrated to Toronto.

He signed with Frank Tunney, a Toronto wrestling promoter. Tunney introduced him to Fred Atkins, a trainer and conditioning coach with the Toronto Maple Leaf. He made his Maple Leaf Gardens debut in 1965, wrestling as a heel. He began teaming with Fred Atkins in 1966. They beecame the top team in Toronto by defeating Whipper Billy Watson and Bulldog Brower for the international tag title in July 1966.

  • He was popular wrestler in Toronto in 1970s. He used the cobra (sleeper) as his finisher.
  • In 1967, he defeated Johnny Valentine for the Toronto version of the U.S. title, and wrestled Gene Kiniski for the NWA title and, in the fall, twice challenged Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF title.
  • In 1968, with Wild Bull Curry, again defeated Watson and Brower to win the international tag title
  • In February 1971, he wrestled The Sheik in the main event of the first wrestling show in Maple Leaf Gardens. It was a first wrestling show in Maple Leaf Gardens history to attract a sell-out crowd of over 18,000. Between 1971-1974, he wrestled The Sheik 12 times at the Gardens and most of the time sell-outs before, but more seats had since been crammed into the Gardens to allow a capacity crowd of 18,000
  • Tiger became one of Canada's top-billed and most recognizable wrestlers, earning up to $80,000 a year, usually wrestling at Maple Leaf Gardens.  

In US, he wrestlrd with opponents like Sweet Daddy Siki, André the Giant, Hans Schmidt, Whipper Billy Watson and "Bulldog" Dick Brower.

Japan:

In 1972, he visited Japan and got into a brawl with the bodyguards of Antonio Inoki's wife in a shopping centre, after he slapped Inoki's wife in the face; the resulting publicity propelled Tiger into the limelight. He feud with Inoki as a result of the shopping centre incident; Inoki would avenge his wife by breaking Singh's arm in a 1974 match, but Tiger defeated Inoki to win the NWF world title in 1975, only to lose it back to Inoki three months later.

In 1976, defeated Seiji Sakaguchi to win the NWF Asian title and remained champion until jumping to All Japan in mid-1981. Wrestled in the main event of the joint New Japan-All Japan card in Tokyo in 1978, teaming with Abdullah the Butcher to take on the Japanese dream team of Inoki & Giant Baba.

He continued to wrestle in Japan in the 1980s and 1990s, and would make occasional appearances on indie shows in the Toronto area. In 1990, he teamed with Inoki to defeat Big Van Vader & Animal Hamaguchi in the main event of Inoki's 30th anniversary show in Yokohama.

Tiger Jeet Singh said, “If I slap some Japanese lady or man, they won’t wash themselves for weeks. Because they’ll say, ‘Tiger slapped me there.’ This is the respect they have for me."

In Japan, a comic strip is published about his exploits, while the Tiger's every foray into the public domain is headline news. The 50-year-old packs arenas with crowds of up to 60,000 -- people who pay anywhere from $70 to $200 a pop to watch him wrestle. While he refuses to disclose his income -- other than to say ``I make healthy money'' -- one estimate suggests he rakes in $60,000 a bout -- $1 million a year, according to SLAM SPORTS

He would make occasional appearances on indie shows in the Toronto area.

South Africa:

During 1980, he wrestled and promoted wrestling supercards in South Africa. His main rival as a promoter was Sammy Cohen, as both fought over territories and were drawing very well.

In 1992, ventured to FMW, he had an intense and bloody feud with Atsushi Onita.

In 1995, he was a prominent participant in the now legendary IWA-Japan King of the Death Matches Tournament. In the opening contest of the quarter-finals round, he would force Mr. Gannosuke into submission, while Gannosuke was inside a bed of thumbtacks. He would advance to the semi-finals, where he would be defeated by Terry Funk, after Cactus Jack miscalculated an attack with Singh's signature sword on Funk and hit Singh instead. In the finals, which featured Cactus Jack and Terry Funk in an exploding death match, Singh interfered briefly and unintentionally attacked Cactus Jack.

He is an expert in judo and karate and uses those tactics to wear down his foes, then finishes them off with his feared Cobra hold, one of the most dangerous in the business.

Tiger Jeet Sing, his wife and his son Mick with his family live in a 14,000 sq. ft. mansion with a farm land of 25 hectares in Milton, Ont., just west of Toronto on 401

It include swimming pool, tennis court, sauna, seven self-contained suites, 18th-century-style furniture and Italian marble fireplaces.

In January 1997, his son Mick (known as Tiger Jeet Singh Jr. or Tiger Ali Singh) joined the WWF, but would have an unsuccessful run and later retire as a result of an injury sustained after being released from the WWF.

    Prominent Titles:
  • 1968-72: U.S. champion (Toronto),
  • 1971: IWA World tag champion (Australia), with Mr. Fuji
  • 1974: International champion (Montreal)
  • 1975: Canadian tag champion (Vancouver), with Dennis Stamp
  • 1975: NWF World champion (New Japan)
  • 1976: NWF Asian champion (New Japan)
  • 1977: NWF North American tag champion (New Japan), with Umanosuke Ueda
  • 1979: NWF North American champion (New Japan)
  • 1980-8: 2-time UWA World heavyweight champion (Mexico)
  • 1983: NWA International tag champion (All Japan), with Umanosuke Ueda
  • 1992: WWA World Martial Arts champion (Japan)

 

 


Tiger Jeet Singh- Most successful NRI wrestler in history

  • He is very popular in Japan

 

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