Former NBA draftee Satnam Singh joins AEW
Santam Singh, the first-ever Indian-born player to be drafted into the NBA, recently signed a deal with AEW.
Singh was picked as the 52nd draftee overall by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2015 NBA Draft, and to date, he remains the only Indian player to be ever selected in NBA Draft. His draft rights were traded to Memphis Grizzlies. However, Singh played in the NBA summer league but never got the chance to play regularly.
This is not a developmental deal yet for this 25-year-old. He will first train to be a pro wrestler at the Nightmare Factory in Atlanta, Georgia, under AEW star Cody Rhodes and QT Marshall.
Singh took this to Twitter to share his reaction regarding this. He mentioned that its a new beginning and thanked AEW for giving him the opportunity. He specially said his brother for making this happen.
New beginnings
Thank you @AEW for this amazing opportunity!!!
And big thank you to my brother @sunnygillcali for making this happen and always supporting me!! #ALLELITE
According to the AEW’s official release, Singh will follow the footsteps of Hall of Famer Shaquille O’ Neal, who participated alongside Jade Cargill in a mixed Tag-Team match on AEW: Dynamite in March 2021.
However, this isn’t the first time that Singh will perform in the squared circle as in 2017, he had visited and trained at the WWE Performance Centre but decided not to join the company. (H/t WWE.com)
Singh had reached quite a height in his career as he has a well-documented basketball career covered by Netflix when they made a documentary on Santam Singh’s path to the NBA called “One in a Billion.”
CEO of AEW has some good words to say after Santam Sign signs for AEW
In AEW’s official release, The CEO of AEW, Mr. Tony Khan, also had some encouraging words to say about the Indian-born.
“While we’ve recently secured some of the hottest free agents on the planet, I’m also deeply committed to cultivating our own homegrown stars and the next generation of extraordinary professional wrestlers,”
“In addition to Satnam’s commanding 7’3″ stature, I was impressed with his high level of athleticism and charisma. He’s an exciting addition to our roster, and I’m looking forward to our fans getting to know Satnam’s personality and watching his development.”
It will be interesting to see how Singh’s career pans out after this transition from basketball to wrestling. Will he be able to match the success of someone like Jinder Mahal or WWE Hall of Famer Great Khali?
Indian Fans will be hoping to see him in the squared circle soon.
More AEW news
- Tyler Breeze shares reason why AEW isn鈥檛 on his mind
- Big Show shares how Bray Wyatt, Ric Flair and Braun Strowman can help AEW
- Chris Jericho seems to take swipe at WWE over NXT releases
Follow our dedicated AEW page for instant AEW news and updates.
