| Dilsher Shanky | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Gurvinder Singh Malhotra |
| Born | 19 June 1991 Jagadhri, Haryana, India |
| Alma mater | Maharaja Agrasen College |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Dilsher Shanky Shanky Blue Kane |
| Billed height | 7 ft 0 in (213 cm) [1] |
| Billed weight | 140.8 kg (310 lb)[1] |
| Billed from | India |
| Trained by | WWE Performance Center |
| Debut | 2015 |
Gurvinder Singh Malhotra (born 19 June 1991)[2] is an Indian professional wrestler better known by the ring name Dilsher Shanky. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Shanky.
He is a former Bollywood actor. In a 2017 interview to Dainik Bhaskar, he said that his dream is to join WWE and defeat Brock Lesnar.[3] He is also known for his tenure in Continental Wrestling Entertainment (CWE).
Gurvinder was born to Sardar Narendra Singh and Narendra Kaur in 1991 in Jagadhri, Haryana, India.[4][5] He pursued B.Com from Maharaja Agrasen College and worked as an accountant in Maharishi Markandeshwar University in Mullana, Haryana, India. He saw The Great Khali talking about his new academy, Continental Wrestling Entertainment at the 164th episode of Comedy Nights with Kapil on 24 June 2015 and thus he decided to join CWE the same year.[5]
Malhotra is a Sikh. He is the only son of his father and mother. His father, Sardar Narendra Singh, who is 6 feet 0 inches (1.83 m) tall, is a factory supervisor. His mother, Narendra Kaur,[5] who is 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) tall, is a housewife. He is personally unhappy with his ring-name, Shanky Singh.[5] According to the Hindustan Times, his early training in CWE was so hard for him that he "usually cried in the bathroom".
At the age of 24, Malhotra joined Continental Wrestling Entertainment (CWE) in 2015. He was officially announced as a CWE Superstar named Shanky Singh on 21 June 2016 through the official YouTube channel of CWE.[6] On 22 March 2017, he announced that he was being selected for the WWE tryouts in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.[7] During his time in CWE, he won the Heavyweight title twice.
Malhotra travelled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates in March 2017 where he took part in a five-day audition for WWE tryout and was selected to participate in the tryout.[7][8] In November 2017, Malhotra attended another WWE tryout in Jalandhar, Punjab, India. On 29 January 2020, WWE announced the signings of three Indian trainees, including Malhotra.[9][10] At Superstar Spectacle on 22 January 2021, Malhotra, under the ring name Dilsher Shanky, teamed with Giant Zanjeer, Rey Mysterio, and Ricochet to defeat Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler, King Corbin, and Shinsuke Nakamura in an eight-man tag-team match. On 10 May episode of Raw, Shanky, along with Veer, would align themselves with Jinder Mahal.[11] As part of the 2021 Draft, both Shanky and Mahal were drafted to the SmackDown brand while Veer remained on the Raw brand, ending their alliance with Veer.[12][13]
On the 1 April 2022 episode of SmackDown, Shanky participated in the annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal match. During the match, Shanky momentarily teamed up with Commander Azeez, with both the men eliminated The Viking Raiders in joint efforts before all of the remaining participants ganged up on both Shanky and Azeez, eliminating both the men together.[14] On the 29 April episode of SmackDown, Shanky faced Intercontinental Champion Ricochet in a title match, but was unsuccessful.[15] Beginning on the 27 May episode of SmackDown, Shanky began dancing before and after his matches, possibly teasing a face turn.[16][17][18]
Malhotra made his film debut as Zalzala Singh in the 2019 film Bharat.[20]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Bharat | Zalzala Singh |