Add Indian star Mahabali Shera as the next Impact Wrestling star to switch companies as today the WWE announced that Shera – real name Amanpreet Singh – had signed an NXT contract and reported to the WWE Performance Center today. In the release, Singh stated ““I came to the U.S. with the dream that someday, I am going to make my country proud. I would consider myself fortunate if I am able to become a positive role model for the youngsters of my country and impact lives. I don’t think I can find a better platform than WWE to empower myself to empower others, especially those back at home.”
Amanpreet Singh is a former Indian bodybuilder who turned to pro wrestling in 2011, after being selected by Impact Wrestling for their then India-only project, Ring Ka King, where he competed in the RKK Heavyweight Championship tournament as Mahabali Veera. While he wouldn’t win it in the tournament (TNA star Matt Morgan won it), he would eventually win the title in 2012, defeating Nick Aldis (then Magnus).
He debuted with Impact Wrestling in 2015 as Koya, the new muscle for James Storm‘s new faction The Revolution, alongside The Great Sanada (now simply SANADA in NJPW) and Manik (current WWE Superstar TJ Perkins). He would eventually turn on the stable and return to a modified version of his RKK name, Mahabali Shera. During his time with Impact, he also worked several indie promotions, including WAW and British Empire Wrestling (BEW) in the UK, XICW in Detroit, and Destiny World Wrestling in Toronto. Shera was quietly released from Impact Wrestling last September. In his final match on Impact Wrestling on September 21, 2017, he was squashed by Kongo Kong, although he would end his stay with Impact with back to back wins against The Cult of Lee (Trevor Lee and Caleb Konley) on episodes of Impact X-Plosion in November.