There were reportedly mixed locker room reactions to the AEW debut of Satnam Singh.
As noted, Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite ended with Singh, Sonjay Dutt and Jay Lethal taking out new ROH World Television Champion Samoa Joe, right after his main event title win over Minoru Suzuki. It was later reported that Singh, who was signed last September, was brought into the storylines as a way to bridge a gap between AEW and the Discovery-owned Eurovision India channel, and to help grow AEW’s brand in India. You can click here for our original report on the reason for Singh’s debut and why AEW President, CEO, General Manager & Head Of Creative Tony Khan booked the angle for this week.
In an update, a new report from Fightful Select notes that multiple AEW talents did not think Singh’s debut was executed well. However, many do believe that the business side of the decision was a good one.
It was noted that several AEW talents had the same reaction that many fans on social media had, with some indicating that it was a matter of circumstance that made the debut fall flat, from the positioning on the card to the “lights off, lights on” reveal. One AEW source felt that doing the “lights off, lights on” reveal for an unknown talent isn’t optimal, and that AEW should’ve introduced Singh another way.
There is some optimism within the AEW roster as people are hearing that the debut was a business move to help AEW in India, but most still do not feel like the execution was done the right way. One source indicated that if accelerating the growth in India would help their salary when it comes time for contract renewal negotiations, then they’re willing to accept a bad debut. The report noted how it’s important to remember that talent opinions on various segments are subjective and only reflect what certain talents are saying, as opposed to a general locker room feeling.
There’s no word yet on when Singh will make his in-ring debut, but word going around is that he has been working hard at training since being signed last September. AEW sources who have trained with Singh or seen him train noted that he has a good attitude and a willingness to learn.
One source noted that Singh has been doing good in the ring so far, and has been training every day for the past eight months. It was also said that Singh has “some tricks up his sleeve that will surprise some people.”
AEW announced back in September that Singh was to begin training immediately under QT Marshall and new WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes at The Nightmare Factory.
Singh, a 7-foot-3 former basketball player, was featured in a one-hour Netflix documentary titled “One In a Billion” in January 2017, which covered Singh’s life and journey to the NBA. Singh also had a WWE tryout back in 2017.
Regarding the 2017 WWE Performance Center tryout, Singh worked the same camp that Kacy Catanzaro was signed out of. He spoke to Sportskeeda last year and commented on the tryout.
“I wasn’t ready then,” Singh said of the WWE tryout. “I thought basketball is the best thing for me. I decided to wait for a while then. In the beginning my focus was completely on basketball. When I wanted to move out of basketball, I thought wrestling was the best opportunity for me. Because wrestling is very popular in India. That’s when I decided to leave. That’s why I signed up with AEW… yes, I was interested in wrestling from the beginning. When I started playing basketball, I thought to myself that if I get an opportunity to enter the wrestling world, I’ll do it.”
You can see a few photos and video from Singh’s 2017 WWE tryout below, along with footage from his AEW debut on Dynamite.
Stay tuned for more.
7-foot-2 @netflix documentary star @hellosatnam is making a GIANT impression at the @WWEPerformCtr! https://t.co/0SaFdHc3Y6 pic.twitter.com/rwqMGCkSex
— WWE (@WWE) January 15, 2017
Will this big man #SatnamSingh one day assert his strength as a WWE Superstar? Let us know your thought on #WWEPerformanceCenter. pic.twitter.com/Gx40Zn0WZM
— WWE India (@WWEIndia) January 11, 2017
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