View source for Gama Singh

{{Short description|Canadian professional and amateur wrestler}}
{{For|the Indian wrestler of the early 20th century|The Great Gama}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox professional wrestler
|names       = Gama Singh<br/>Great Gama
|image       = Gama Singh, 1983 (cropped).jpg
|caption     = Singh, {{circa|1983}}
|birth_name  = Gadowar Singh Sahota 
|height      = 5 ft 10 in
|weight      = 225 lb
|birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|1954|12|8|mf=y}}
|death_date  =
|birth_place = [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], India
|family      = [[Raj Singh (wrestler)|Raj Singh]] (son)<br />[[Jinder Mahal]] (nephew)
|billed      =
|trainer     = Bill Persack<br />[[Stu Hart]]
|debut       = 1973<ref name="ImpactHOF"/>
|retired     = 2020
}}
'''Gadowar Singh Sahota''' ([[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]: ਗਦੋਵਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਸਹੋਤਾ); born December 8, 1954)<ref name="slamwrestlinghalloffame">{{Cite web|url=http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBios/singh_gama.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120801162511/http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBios/singh_gama.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=August 1, 2012 |title=SLAM! Wrestling Canadian Hall of Fame: The Great Gama|work= Slam! Sports|publisher=[[Canoe.ca|Canadian Online Explorer]]}}</ref> is an [[Indo-Canadians|Indo-Canadian]] retired [[Professional wrestling|professional wrestler]] known as '''Gama Singh''' ([[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]: ਗਾਮਾ ਸਿੰਘ) and '''Great Gama''' <ref name="ImpactHOF">{{cite web|url=https://lastwordonprowrestling.com/2018/01/14/indian-legend-gama-singh-joins-impact-wrestling/|title=Indian Legend Gama Singh Joins Impact Wrestling|work=Last Word on Pro Wrestling|first=Jamie|last=Greer|date=January 14, 2018|access-date=December 25, 2018}}</ref> Sahota was a villainous mainstay and top attraction in [[Stu Hart|Stu Hart's]] [[Stampede Wrestling]] in [[Calgary]] for much of the 1970s and 1980s. Sahota also wrestled internationally in [[Japan]], [[South Africa]], [[Germany]], [[Kuwait]], [[Dubai]], [[Oman]], [[Australia]], the [[United States]] and the [[Caribbean]]. He also worked sporadically, mostly on overseas tours, for [[Vince McMahon]] and the [[WWE|World Wrestling Federation]] (WWF) from 1980 to 1986. His nephew is former [[WWE Championship|WWE Champion]] [[Jinder Mahal]].  Singh made a brief comeback of sorts in 2018, when he signed with [[Impact Wrestling]] as the manager for a stable of Indian wrestlers known as the Desi Hit Squad, but quietly left in 2020.

==Early life==
His father emigrated to [[Canada]] from [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], India, with his family joining him in 1963. Sahota went to school in [[Merritt, British Columbia]] and excelled in amateur wrestling.<ref name="slamwrestlinghalloffame"/>

== Professional wrestling career==

===Early career (1973–1974)===
In the early-1970s, Sahota met Bill Persack, an old time wrestler at a Vancouver [[YMCA]]; Persack had watched him wrestle in the amateur ranks and agreed to train him. Training Singh for six months, Persack suggested he go to [[Calgary|Calgary, Alberta]] and [[Stu Hart|Stu Hart's]] [[Stampede Wrestling]] to further his career. Upon moving to Calgary and meeting with Stu Hart, Sahota  began training with [[Carlos Colon]], debuting in Stampede Wrestling in 1973. He would first compete under his own name, but by 1974 would take on the name "Great Gama", in reference to [[Great Gama|the great Indian star]] at the turn of the 20th century.<ref name="slamwrestlinghalloffame"/>

===Stampede Wrestling (1974–1990)===
Beginning his wrestling career in 1973, Gama Singh was one of the most hated wrestlers of all time in the Stampede Wrestling territory.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.calgarysun.com/2017/05/22/jinder-mahal-first-calgarian-professional-wrestler-to-win-wwe-championship-since-bret-hart-20-years-ago |title=Jinder Mahal first Calgarian professional wrestler to win WWE Championship since Bret Hart, 20 years ago |publisher=Calgary Sun |access-date=May 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729094646/http://www.calgarysun.com/2017/05/22/jinder-mahal-first-calgarian-professional-wrestler-to-win-wwe-championship-since-bret-hart-20-years-ago |archive-date=July 29, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Singh would first find success in the tag team ranks, winning [[Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship|Stampede's Tag Titles]] on two occasions, before going on to feud with the [[Dynamite Kid]], taking the [[Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Championship|Mid-Heavyweight title]] from him in a ladder match. His most famous championship run, however, would be with Stampede Wrestling's [[Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship|British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship]], which he would win six times in the 1980s; with title victories over future renowned stars such as [[Davey Boy Smith]], [[Owen Hart]] and [[Chris Benoit]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cagematch.net/?id=5&nr=172|title=Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship |publisher=Cagematch.com |access-date=May 30, 2017 }}</ref>

Also in the 1980s Gama was a founding member and leader of the hated Karachi Vice stable, which also included [[Mike Shaw|Makhan Singh]], [[Steve DiSalvo]], [[Gary Albright|Vokhan Singh]], [[Kerry Brown (wrestler)|Kerry Brown]], [[Rhonda Singh]], [[Ron Starr]] and managers JR Foley and Abu Wizal.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cagematch.net/?id=29&nr=1429|title=Karachi Vice |publisher=Cagematch.net|access-date=May 30, 2017 }}</ref> A much reviled play on the popular 80s TV series [[Miami Vice]] and the city of [[Karachi]] in [[Pakistan]]; the Karachi Vice would dominate Stampede Wrestling in the late 1980s, becoming a cult sensation within Calgary.<ref>{{cite book |last=McCoy |first=Heath |date=October 1, 2007 |title=Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling |publisher=Disney–ECW Press |isbn=978-1550227871}}</ref> In an era when wrestling was treated as a real sport rather than spectacle, Gama Singh incensed much hatred as a wrestling villain in Calgary, receiving racist threats and often encountered people swearing at him on the street.<ref name="GRIP ON REALITY">{{cite web |url=http://tjmadigan.com/tj-stampede/4580685346 |title=GRIP ON REALITY |publisher=Calgary Sun |access-date=May 30, 2017 |archive-date=July 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729094930/http://tjmadigan.com/tj-stampede/4580685346 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Stampede wrestling would be purchased by [[Vince McMahon|Vince McMahon's]] [[WWE|World Wrestling Federation]] (WWF)  in 1984, but returned under [[Bruce Hart (wrestler)|Bruce Hart]] running with Gama as one of the top attractions until 1990.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2007/05/20/4195265.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20180204002343/http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2007/05/20/4195265.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 4, 2018|title=Curse of Stampede Wrestling? |publisher=Slam Sports |access-date=May 30, 2017 }}</ref>

===NWA All-Star Wrestling (1977–1979)===
Aside from Stampede Wrestling, and his later WWF tours, Gama Singh spent much of the late 1970s in [[Vancouver|Vancouver's]] [[NWA: All-Star Wrestling|All-Star Wrestling]]. He mostly competed in Tag Team bouts with partners such as [[Guy Mitchell (wrestler)|Guy Mitchell]] and [[Buck Zumhofe]]; culminating in a [[NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version)|Tag Title]] win with partner [[Lumberjack Pierre|Igor Volkoff]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=1420&page=4&s=800|title=Gama Singh Matches |publisher=Cagematch.com |access-date=May 30, 2017 }}</ref>

===International career (1978–1994)===
[[Image:Gama Singh.jpg|Singh applying a [[Boston crab]] to his opponent|thumb]]

Apart from competing in the odd [[National Wrestling Alliance|NWA]] affiliated promotion in the United States; Singh also took part in several tours of [[NJPW]] in Japan in the late 1970s, often teaming with [[Tiger Jeet Singh]], and taking on greats such as [[Tatsumi Fujinami]], [[Seiji Sakaguchi]] and [[Riki Choshu]]. At various times in his career, Gama worked for [[World Wrestling Council|WWC]] and various other promotions in the Caribbean as well; once winning the [[WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship]] from [[Ciclon Negro]] in [[Puerto Rico]] in 1980. He would also prove very popular in South Africa, engaging in tours which included bouts against his friend [[Bad News Allen]]; and also competed for WPW in Germany in the mid-1990s, teaming with longtime associate [[Gerry Morrow|'Champagne' Gerry Morrow]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=1420&page=20|title=Gama Singh |publisher=Cagematch.com |access-date=May 30, 2017 }}</ref>

===World Wrestling Federation/WWF (1980–1986) ===
In the early eighties, [[Vince McMahon|Vince McMahon, Jr]]. widely expanded the [[WWE]] and was looking for an Indian wrestler to work on various tours in the [[Middle East]]. Gama Singh began working for [[Jack Tunney]] in Toronto and then worked several overseas tours for the WWF in Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Australia and Hawaii.<ref name="slamwrestlinghalloffame"/> While in the United States in 1984/1985, Singh would mostly compete in undercard matches on WWF house-shows. He would, however, appear on WWF television defeating [[Johnny Rodz]] on ''[[Prime Time Wrestling]]'', and also appeared on the June 27, 1985 edition of WWF's ''[[Tuesday Night Titans]]''; interviewed by McMahon and accompanied by an [[Indian Rock Python]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/wwf-tuesday-night-titans-ep-39-review-magnificent-muraco-gets-rubdown-200501|title=WWF TUESDAY NIGHT TITANS EP. 39 REVIEW |date=October 27, 2015 |publisher=F4W Staff |access-date=May 30, 2017 }}</ref>

===Impact Wrestling (2018–2020)===
Singh signed a deal with [[Impact Wrestling]] in January 2018 as a manager of the Desi Hit Squad with [[Rohit Raju]], Gursinder Singh, [[Mahabali Shera]] and his son [[Raj Singh (wrestler)|Raj Singh]], but when [[COVID-19 pandemic]] travel restrictions began in 2020, he remained in Canada, and did not return to Impact once it resumed tapings in [[Nashville]], quietly leaving the company.<ref name="ImpactHOF"/>

==Personal life==
Gama started investing money in real estate eventually becoming a renowned real estate developer in Calgary.<ref name="GRIP ON REALITY"/> His brother Akam would also become a professional wrestler, as would his son, [[Raj Singh (wrestler)|Raj Singh]]. His nephew Yuvraj Singh Dhesi,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2007/05/20/4195268.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20180825142428/http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2007/05/20/4195268.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 25, 2018|title=Gama Singh made Great choices outside the ring |publisher=Slam Sports |access-date=May 30, 2017}}</ref> would go on to the [[WWE]], as [[Jinder Mahal]] and win the [[WWE Championship]] in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://desibuzzbc.com/2017/05/27/jinder-mahal-becomes-the-first-indo-canadian-wrestler-to-win-wwe-championship/ |title=Jinder Mahal Becomes The First Indo-Canadian Wrestler To Win WWE Championship |publisher=desibuzzbc.com |access-date=May 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827084007/http://desibuzzbc.com/2017/05/27/jinder-mahal-becomes-the-first-indo-canadian-wrestler-to-win-wwe-championship/ |archive-date=August 27, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Championships and accomplishments==
*'''[[Heart of America Sports Attractions|Central States Wrestling]]'''
**[[NWA Central States Tag Team Championship]] ([[NWA Central States Tag Team Championship#Title history|1 time]]) – with [[Bob Brown (wrestler)|Bob Brown]]
*'''[[NWA All-Star Wrestling]]'''
**[[NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version)|NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship ''(Vancouver version)'']] ([[NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version)#Title history|1 time]]) - with Igor Volkoff
*'''[[Prairie Wrestling Alliance]]'''
**PWA Hall of Fame - 2008
*'''[[Stampede Wrestling]]'''
**[[Stampede Wrestling British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship]] ([[Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship#Title history|6 times]])
**[[Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship]] ([[Stampede International Tag Team Championship#Title history|3 times]]) - with Ed Morrow (2) and Crary Stevenson (1)
**[[Stampede Wrestling World Mid-Heavyweight Championship]] ([[Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Championship#title history|3 times]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/ab/calg-pac-h.html |title=Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Title |publisher=Puroresu Dojo}}</ref>
*'''[[World Wrestling Council]]'''
**[[WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship]] ([[WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship#Title history|1 time]])
**WWC Trinidad and Tobago Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with [[Victor Jovica]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
*[https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/1998/11/19/slam-wrestling-canadian-hall-of-fame-the-great-gama/ Slam Wrestling Canadian Hall of Fame]
* {{professional wrestling profiles}}
{{WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship}}
{{Stampede Wrestling British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship}}
{{Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Gama}}
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:20th-century male professional wrestlers]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian professional wrestlers]]
[[Category:21st-century male professional wrestlers]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian professional wrestlers]]
[[Category:Canadian male professional wrestlers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Stampede Wrestling alumni]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to Canada]]
[[Category:Indian male professional wrestlers]]
[[Category:Canadian male actors of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Stampede Wrestling British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Champions]]
[[Category:Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Champions]]
[[Category:Stampede Wrestling World Mid-Heavyweight Champions]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian sportsmen]]
[[Category:WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Champions]]