In professional wrestling, fans are used to seeing men who would take up two seats on a regular-sized airplane. But some of these wrestlers are so big that the only word to describe them is “great.” The Great Khali is not known for being a great worker, for being able to put on a classic five-star match, or even for having a great game with a broomstick, primarily because there is a very good chance that the broomstick would win. But Dalip Singh Rana has had a tough life. He has had some serious health problems.

Khali ended up suffering from acromegaly, a disorder caused by excess hormones released by the pituitary gland after the growth plates had closed. These hormones can make body parts get bigger; in Khali’s case, they make his chin stick out. This is why he grew to an impressive seven feet and one inch tall when he was young.

This made him look scary to other wrestlers. But this health problem can cause other serious health problems. Andre the Giant also had this condition. If you don’t get this condition treated, it can cause heart failure and even kill you. Andre the Giant died from this condition in 1993 when he was 46.

Given his size, look, and intense voice for a child, Khali stood out from the crowd while he was in school. Unfortunately, this made him a target for bullying, even by his teacher, which meant he had to move classes. 

After deciding to leave school, Khali was determined to help support his parents. 

His family didn’t want him to work. He might have been built like three eight-year-olds stacked on top of each other, but the fact that The Great Khali was only eight meant that the family account keeper wasn’t pleased about his idea of joining his father on the plantation. 

However, Khali was eventually given a chance to work on the plantation, and from what he said about the job in his book, he seemed to enjoy it.

He never returned to school and only started earning more money as he got older. He started out working as a security guard for a businessman in the city of Shimla and then got a job with the Punjab Police in the 1990s. During this time, he started going to the gym regularly, and his dream of becoming a wrestler began.

He moved to the US to pursue his dream, knowing that Vince McMahon, the head of WCW, would have been horrified by his size. McMahon’s company, however, signed Khali. 

As most wrestling fans know, WWE bought out WCW in March 2001, and all the guys and girls who worked there seemingly lost their jobs overnight. Khali went back to APW to continue his training, but two months after WCW closed, something much more serious happened that could have ended Khali’s career.

As many people thought, APW and The Great Khali were taken to court over Brian Ong’s death. Ong’s family asked for money from APW, the company owner Roland Alexander, and Khali himself because they thought he was responsible for Ong’s death. However, because the death was an accident and Khali did not mean to cause harm, only APW and Alexander were taken to court. 

In 2012, it was discovered that Khali had a tumor on his pituitary gland (the central part of the brain that caused his gigantism). He needed brain surgery to remove it. The operation, which Dr Joseph Maroon and his team carried out, was successful.

By removing the tumor, Khali increased his life expectancy, as it got rid of specific side effects that can often lead to death for people suffering from acromegaly in their 40s and 50s. 

After the operation, he left WWE in 2014, when his contract ended. He made some sporadic appearances in 2017 and 2018. He officially retired in 2018 after appearing at the Greatest Royal Rumble event in Saudi Arabia and was later given a place in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021. The Great Khali has had a difficult life, but he has shown great strength and determination and earned the right to be considered significant for the rest of his career.