The Singh Brothers On Their Reaction When WWE Approached Them For Cruiserweight Classic

– The Singh Brothers discussed their reaction when WWE approached for the Cruiserweight Classic and more in a new interview with Wrestling Inc. Some highlights are below:

On training under Rip Rogers and Harley Race:

Sunil: “Actually, we both… our original start was with the Hart family in Calgary. So it started with the Harts in the Dungeon, and then picked up as many training camps as possible, with Harley Race, Rip Rogers, and sometimes you can’t learn just by taking body slams and arm drags. You have to learn it from the top guys, and Rip Rogers and Harley Race – especially Harley, a former world champion was able to teach us a lot of ring psychology.”

Samir: “A lot of things we did was… I remember, Edge released a book in 2004. I was in Grade 11 at that time. Being a Canadian, I was like, ‘If I have to emulate anybody’s career, it should be his, because he was a Canadian independent wrestler.’ So I literally wrote down every tour that he did in Canada, and then when me and my brother started wrestling, we emulated that. So one of the big ones was Tony Condello’s ‘Hell Tours’, and we talked about this before. You drive on frozen lakes, and you try to go to these remote regions in Canada, and the only way you can get there during winter times is when the lakes freeze over. You have to pack your food for two weeks, and it’s just brutal conditions. They call it the ‘Hell tour’, and they call it for a reason, because it’s absolute hell. And one of the longest drives we had to do was 74 hours, just to get to a wrestling show. So you’re in your car for 4 days, just to get to a wrestling show. But that’s just how we learnt – getting in your car, and going to these small towns in Canada.’

On if they were keeping an eye on the careers of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in while they were working on the indies in 2004:

Samir: “I think they had a little different career path than us. They broke out into the United States a lot earlier than us. We kind of most predominantly stayed in Canada. My brother went to Japan, I wrestled in England, but Canada was where we had our bread and butter, and that’s kind of where we got noticed.”

Sunil: “We were lucky to do some work in India before we got here. That was cool, it put us on the map. And then doing stuff in Japan. So, yeah, definitely different career path for everybody.”

Samir: “And then we all end up in the same place, right?”

On the Hart Dungeon:

Sunil: “Unfortunately, I never got stretched by Stu because unfortunately, he had passed by then. So I got hands on training with Ross Hart and Bruce Hart. There was no Bret unfortunately either, but at the time I moved out, they were just moving out of the house, because the house had been sold. So, I was able to; I’m just blessed enough to be on the same canvas as Jake Roberts, Bret Hart, Dynamite Kid, British Bulldog and all these amazing guys – everyday that had been on that mat.”

Samir: “Superstar Billy Graham!”

On their reaction when WWE approached them with for the Cruiserweight Classic:

Samir: “Man! At that time, we were both wondering ‘what do we do?’ Because we were both getting older, and we’ve been trying to get the job for years. And I think, we you get to the lowest point, that’s when God just opens up a door.”

Sunil: “We never lost hope. We always knew we’d get here. We just needed to focus, and I’ve always been told, ‘You’ll get the call when you least expect it’, and that’s exactly what happened. You wake up one Wednesday morning – or whatever day it was, and you get the invite for CWC, and you’re like, ‘Yup! We’ll be there no matter what.’ It was a long four months to get there, because the initial call came in early 2016, and we had to wait till June because of all the legal paper work.”

Samir: “I thought it was a gem of an idea. I don’t think WWE knew at that point that it would turn into its own brand, so it was very cool. That we were a part of something that launched a brand. It was just a show, the Cruiserweight Classic. But it did so well, that 205 Live is now a brand of its own, and in January, it starts touring for its own live events. So it was cool to be a part of history like that. And we were representing India on the CWC.”

Sunil: “We knew when the CWC call came that this was our moment, that this was our time. That we’re going to get jobs with WWE, and we’ve got to impress the higher ups, and we’ve got to not only compete in the Cruiserweight Classic, but also get full time jobs, and not just get full time jobs, but to get to NXT. And not just getting to NXT, but then get to the main roster. So all of this happened in a year and a half, it’s just unbelievable.”

Samir: “Just to add to that, the cool thing about the Cruiserweight Classic was we went to Triple H and told him we really want to be here, and Triple H was the one that gave us the jobs in WWE. He was the one that gave us the contracts to come to WWE. And on December 10th, Jinder Mahal in India faced Triple H. It’s one of those cool stories that, you just can’t make this stuff up.”