The Great Khali talks about his WWE debut in 2006
At its core, WWE is still a promotion that centers its focus on big men, and nothing better exemplifies this proclivity than the career of The Great Khali.
While no one will ever confuse Khali for a technically proficient grappler with a diverse moveset, Khali’s size and aura appealed enough to Vince McMahon’s longstanding impulses to receive a substantial run as a monster heel for the first three years of his WWE tenure.
As such, Vince McMahon gave the big man some specific instructions for how to set up his first feud on the main roster with The Undertaker.
The Great Khali discussed his initial appearance with WWE in 2006.
Speaking with Rewind, Recap, Relive, Khali talked about his debut on SmackDown in 2006 (h/t to Fightful’s Jeremy Lambert for the transcription):
"“Vince said, ‘I want to debut you’ but he didn’t say who is my opponent. He gives me a call and says, ‘come to TV after WrestleMania.’ Same day, Michael Hayes said, ‘You have a big day. You need to go out during Mark Henry and fighting and you need to ‘Kill The Undertaker.’ I was so happy. ‘He tried to explain and Vince said, ‘Yes! Kill him hard! Not easy.’ That moment was really great. All the world knew who was Great Khali. I want to thank Vince McMahon and WWE for making Great Khali. I appreciate Vince McMahon and WWE,” he said."
Khali debuted on the April 7 episode of SmackDown, interrupting a WrestleMania 22 rematch between The Undertaker and Mark Henry and laying out “The Phenom” with little trouble. He would then face Undertaker at Judgement Day 2006 and pin him after about eight-and-a-half minutes of in-ring action.
He would then bounce from show to show, briefly appearing on WWE ECW before moving to Raw to feud with John Cena over the WWE Championship (he lost to Cena at Judgement Day 2007 in a traditional wrestling match and One Night Stand 2007 in a Falls Count Anywhere Match). When he moved back to SmackDown, however, he would find his greatest success as a wrestler, winning the World Heavyweight Championship in July 2007 and holding it for 61 days.
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Khali remained an upper midcard heel for a few more months, but after losing to Triple H at SummerSlam 2008, he began to transition into a comedic babyface role, a position he would occupy for the remainder of his full-time career.
Khali would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this past April as part of the 2021 class.