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    I’m a former Premier League star who scored 185 goals across 18 clubs before quitting football and becoming a WRESTLER

    A FORMER Premier League hitman has gone from scoring away at the Emirates, Stamford Bridge, Anfield and the Etihad to locking horns inside a professional wrestling ring.The 41-year-old scored 185 career goals in 562 appearances – with 24 strikes coming in the English top flight.
    The ex-Premier League star celebrating winning the 40-man Royal Rumble on his wrestling debut in 2018
    The footballer scored at some of England’s greatest-ever stadiumsCredit: WWA
    He won a 40-man Royal Rumble on his wrestling debutCredit: Twitter @TheSunFootball
    The 185 career-goal striker holding up a you WWE world title belt in a shop as he is set to join the wrestling world
    He most notably played for Norwich City, where he turned out 168 times for the Canaries, helping them win League One in 2010.
    The ex-striker played for 18 clubs at senior level, spending the later years of his career playing in League One, the Scottish Championship and the National League.
    He finally decided to hang up the boots in 2018 – but quickly traded them for wrestling attire.
    In May 2018, the Englishman signed with WAW, a Norfolk-based wrestling promotion run by the legendary Knight family.
    He made his in-ring debut at WAW’s Fightmare event.
    WWE fans may be familiar with the promotion as the first-ever NXT Women’s champion, Paige, competed there.
    The footballer-turned-wrestler is none other than Grant Holt.
    Speaking to talkSPORT in 2021, Holt explained how he got into professional wrestling.
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    He said: “I got approached by WAW to do a charity event and they asked if I’d be interested in going in and doing it, have a bit of swansong at the end and join in.
    “I basically said yes because that’s the kind of guy I am; if someone gives me a challenge I’ll just do it.
    “And it was for charity so why not go and do it? That’s how it started. 
    “I had to pull out of the first one I agreed to do because it clashed with work and I was still playing at the time.
    “So I said ‘look, I’m going to have to cancel’ which is not really like me. 
    “So I said I’ll tell you what I’m going to do: ‘next year I’m definitely retiring. If you put on another show, I’ll do it.’
    “That was it. I retired a little bit earlier than I hoped and then I was it.”
    Holt quickly fell in love with wrestling and says he’d “have been all over it” at a young age if he had people who could have taught him.
    Grant Holt scored 24 Premier League goalsCredit: Action Images – Reuters
    Holt netted away against the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester CityCredit: Getty Images – Getty
    Holt fell in love with wrestling after he retired from footballCredit: Kenny Ramsay – The Sun Glasgow
    The ex-Canaries ace added: “It started off like, I’ll just do it.
    “Then I thought if I’m going to a show, why don’t I do it properly?
    “Why don’t I do it properly for the year and build up to the show.
    “What I didn’t want to be is someone who stands on the apron, comes in, kicks someone and they say ‘oh yeah, that footballer.’ I didn’t want to be that. 
    “I wanted to do it properly, know the holds, the ins and outs. I wanted to give it the deserved effort.
    “If I’d have known what I do now and people could have taught me how to wrestle when I was a kid, I would have been all over it. It just wasn’t there where I was.”
    Holt also brushed shoulders with some of WWE’s biggest names – and even his childhood idols.
    MEETING LEGENDS
    Holt recalled picking up WWE Hall of Famer, Billy Gunn, from the airport for the event.
    Mick Foley, as well as Hardcore Holly, were other stars Holt got up close and personal with.
    Holt recalled: “It was wild. I remember picking up Billy Gunn from the airport, one of my idols from when I was a kid, and he’s lying sleeping in my car with a WWE Hall of Fame ring.
    “And what a great guy he was – absolutely massive too!
    “You don’t realise. Mick Foley was another great guy.”
    Holt’s journey into pro wrestling could’ve been different, though, starting off at the top.
    The WAW hotshot has revealed that he was meant to go to WWE’s performance centre in London and Florida – but it didn’t end up materialising.
    Holt said: “I was meant to go to the Performance Center in London and then the one in Orlando when I was in Tampa, but both times it didn’t end up happening.
    “Just on a visiting type deal, but it still would have been cool.
    “I’d love to do it. I enjoyed it, it’s a real good, fun thing for me and as I say, I never wanted to just go in there because of my name and where it’s from, I wanted to make sure that if I did it was because I’d done everything around the circuit. 
    “I don’t think it was right to just get bumped up and you should do things properly.”
    SPECIAL MOVE
    Holt is sure to have enjoyed his debut Royal Rumble win in 2018.
    He dropkicked a rival over the top rope to win a 40-man spectacular.
    Holt took a boot to the face from one grappler, ducked a clothesline before sending one wrestler over the top rope.
    The 6ft1in Carlisle-born sports star has a signature move named after his previous job.
    His finisher is called the Soccer Kick.
    Holt’s new-found love for wrestling hasn’t seen him leave football for good.
    In fact, Holt works as a scout for Prem side West Ham.
    Holt completed his coaching badges and talent iD course during his time recovering from a ACL injury at Wigan.
    Speaking to Jimmy Bullar on a SkyBet show in 2021, Holt said: “I’ve just got a new job as a first-team scout at West Ham.
    “A friend of mine gave me a phone call and said there were a few jobs going there.
    “I’ve been doing it at Norwich for nearly two years now and I thought that it looked like a really good opportunity.
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    “I put my name in the hat and they’ve said ‘come along and have a chat’ and I’m looking forward to it.
    “It’s a great club on the rise, getting into Europe and that. I’m very lucky. It’s a great opportunity for me.”
    The striker’s signature move is called the Soccer KickCredit: Action Images – Reuters
    Holt helped Norwich win League One in 2010Credit: Action Images – Reuters More

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    ‘WWE would be proud’ – Watch Torres and Savic WRESTLE on pitch as pair sent off in Barcelona’s 1-0 win over Atletico

    FERRAN TORRES and Stefan Savic were both sent off for WRESTLING during Barcelona’s clash with Atletico Madrid.The match turned feisty late on as home side Atletico hunted an equaliser.

    Stefan Savic and Ferran Torres wrestle each otherCredit: Getty
    The duo tussled in stoppage time of Atletico’s clash with BarcelonaCredit: AFP
    Barca had been ahead since the first half, when Ousmane Dembele swept them into a 22nd minute lead.
    Atleti had been upset with the goal, surrounding the referee after feeling that Gavi had got away with a foul in the build-up.
    Their claims were weak, however, and the effort was allowed to stand.
    Atletico remained frustrated as the game wore on, with Savic and Barca ace Torres eventually letting their tempers get the best of them.
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    After Savic dispossessed Torres on the halfway line, the duo fell to the ground together.
    As play continued down the field, Torres appeared to have a yank at his opponent’s tightly cropped hair.
    The Montenegrin took exception to this, momentarily appearing to get Torres into a head lock.
    Savic then shoved Torres off as they both got back to their feet, but the damage had been done.
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    Tempers flared towards the end of the matchCredit: Getty
    Both were shown red cards for their actions, and had to miss the final exchanges.
    Savic appeared to argue his case with the fourth official, almost going head to head with him as Atletico staff tried to calm him down.
    Tweeting out a video of the incident, ITV Football wrote: “The WWE would be proud of this…”
    And a fan responded: “That gets 6 stars in the Tokyo Dome.”
    Another Twitter user joked: “I like how the referee left them to enjoy their fight!”
    A third added: “Without the Jersey, you might call it a different sport. Wrestling I think.”
    The home side felt that they should have had a penalty moments earlier, when Alvaro Morata threw himself to the turf in the box.
    But nothing was given, and Barca held on for a crucial win.
    The three points saw Xavi’s side move three clear of rivals Real Madrid at the top of LaLiga, and 14 above fifth-placed Atletico.
    Both players received their marching ordersCredit: EPA
    Alvaro Morata felt he should have had a spot kickCredit: Getty More

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    Tyson Fury missing out on millions from WWE PPV extravaganzas amid US visa problems

    TYSON Fury’s immigration problems in the US are costing him millions – from wrestling and not boxing.The world heavyweight champion’s WWE return is hanging by the balance amid problems at the border.
    Tyson Fury, pictured in 2019 squaring off with Braun Strowman, is losing millions from WWE over his visa problemsCredit: Getty Images – Getty
    Tyson Fury won on his WWE debut against Braun Strowman in 2019Credit: Reuters
    WWE executives had been plotting for Fury to make an appearance at the Royal Rumble at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas in January.
    And they had an eye on a match at Wrestlemania 39 in Los Angeles in April.
    Fury, 34, won his WWE debut in October 2019, beating Braun Strowman, and made a surprise cameo at the Clash of the Castle in Wales in August.
    Now those hopes are looking slim and complicated, The U.S. Sun has learned.

    Fury, 34, is banned from entering the US after links to alleged Irish mob boss Daniel Kinahan emerged.
    The boxer’s team is responsible for ensuring he fulfills the credentials needed to work in the USA, while WWE’s lawyers have expertise in dealing with foreign athletes.
    Recently, Fury’s younger brother Tommy confirmed they are still being refused permission to enter the country.
    Tommy, who was due to fight Jake Paul in New York City, said it was apparently due to connections to Kinahan.
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    Fury was being wooed by show bosses to appear in 2023 shows as full-time CEO and chairwoman Stephanie McMahon and creative director – her husband Paul “Triple H” Levesque are huge fans of the ‘The Gypsy King’.
    An insider told The U.S. Sun: “Tyson is well loved at the WWE and him popping up in any match and a run to Wrestlemania would generate huge headlines and fan interest.
    “However his immigration status is proving tricky to deal with.
    “Tyson and the legal team or getting this whole grey and tricky area resolved. But non-entry, quite simply put, means non-payment.
    “And people may not believe this but turning up for a match or being part of the shows, not even fighting, earns him several million dollars.
    “So this issue with his working visa in the States is costing him a large amount of cash.
    “The WWE works with foreign athletes all the time in aiding their visa processing for appearances.
    “The legal team are on the sidelines offering support in this matter, but ultimately getting approval is on Tyson’s head and how US immigration assesses his case.”
    The source added: “It is not all bad news for Tyson, because there are other options for WWE through their premium live events outside of the US.
    Fury recently defended his WBC belt against Derek ChisoraCredit: Jamie McPhilimey
    Triple H (L) and Stephanie McMahon (R) are reportedly fans of FuryCredit: AP:Associated Press
    “It’s likely that they will go to Saudi Arabia twice a year for those bigger nights and of course, there are often European battles.
    “But having a potential invite to feature in something special at Wrestlemania is a huge deal, and currently those shows are only in the USA.”
    In October, Tommy confirmed he and Tyson are banned from entering the United States.
    The 2019 Love Island star was unable to fight rival Paul amid a US visa issue in August.
    The Sun also revealed in June that Tyson was also denied access to a Stateside flight.
    The bans are believed to be in connection to links with alleged Irish mob boss Kinahan, who in April was hit with sanctions.
    Kinahan was the co-founder of boxing management company MTK Global – who represented Fury following his 2018 comeback – but the organization cut ties with the 44-year-old Dubai-based Dubliner in 2017 and ceased existence in April, just as Kinahan was hit with sanctions.
    Tommy, who along with Tyson has no links to criminality, revealed he is still unable to enter America.
    He said on The MMA Hour: “Me and Tyson just can’t get into America at the minute and that’s the way it is.”
    The US Treasury imposed sanctions on Kinahan and the US Department of State is also offering rewards of up to $5million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of three members of the criminal family.
    A list of over 600 people, all connected to Kinahan, are understood to be banned from entering the US.
    It has left Tommy, who was never advised or managed by Kinahan or his former MTK boxing stable, seemingly caught up in it all.
    Read More on The Sun
    Directly asked about “the Kinahan situation” by host Ariel Helwani, Tommy, 23, said: “I don’t know (what’s happening), that’s what I pay my lawyers for and my legal team every day, they’re sorting it and I said please get this resolved as soon as possible and that’s where I’ve left it at the moment.
    “I’m hoping it gets resolved asap because I want to come to America not just for boxing and of course for the big one to get this fight over the line but if it doesn’t get resolved for a long time I can’t speak on how long this is going to take.” More

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    He Used to Post Up. Now He Throws Down.

    BALTIMORE — Satnam Singh’s favorite wrestling move is the helicopter. Using biceps bigger than newborns and thighs as thick as fire hydrants, he lifts his opponents above his head, whirls them around and tosses them like rag dolls onto the mat.He described the move as he was preparing for work one night: a taping of “AEW: Dynamite,” the signature television show for All Elite Wrestling, an upstart competitor for World Wrestling Entertainment. That night, the audience at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena would see him effortlessly withstand an elevated swan dive into his chest from Samuel Ratsch, who is better known by his wrestling moniker, Darby Allin.“I feel happy,” Singh said in a deep baritone as he stood near an elevator that would lead him backstage. Then he shook his fist and declared, “I feel angry, like I’m going to kick someone.”That’s a good thing, since it’s his job to get angry and kick people — or at least pretend to. At 7-foot-2, he has an imposing presence. His size is useful in wrestling, but challenging when he is shopping for his size 20 shoes or flying on airplanes. But for much of his life, his height was his key asset as he chased a singular goal: getting to the N.B.A.Before he joined A.E.W. last year, Singh was best known for being the first Indian-born player drafted into the N.B.A., in 2015 by the Dallas Mavericks. (The year before, Sim Bhullar, who grew up in Canada, became the first player of Indian descent to sign with a N.B.A. team. Bhullar appeared in three games during the 2014-15 season with the Sacramento Kings.) But Singh’s drafting was a seminal moment for the league’s fledgling efforts to grow the sport in India. It was also a big moment for Singh, 27, the second of his family’s three children in Ballo Ke, a village in the Indian state of Punjab. Suddenly, Singh had “so much weight on my shoulders,” he said, because he was “the only one in the world” drafted from his country.Residents of Ballo Ke, Singh’s home village, welcomed him and his father, Balbir Bhamara, after Singh was drafted into the N.B.A. in 2015.Shammi Mehra/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesSeven years later, that burden is gone — though not totally by choice. All Singh had wanted out of life was to represent his country in the N.B.A. He wanted to grab rebounds like the 7-foot-1 star Shaquille O’Neal, one of his favorite players. But after Singh struggled to catch on in the N.B.A., his basketball career was derailed by a failed drug test that he said was a mistake. His search for an alternate path led him to a new dream, and a quest to once again represent India on the global stage.“He did very well in basketball, and now he is doing well in wrestling,” said his father, Balbir Bhamara. “By grace of God, he is making his name.”‘Had so many eyes on me’Bhamara introduced Singh to basketball as a young boy after a friend’s recommendation. (Singh goes by his middle name professionally.) Bhamara is a farmer, but like Singh he is around seven feet tall. He saw an opportunity to put his child’s height to good use in a way he hadn’t been able to do himself.“He will do great and make me proud,” Bhamara recalled thinking, in an interview from Ballo Ke through a Punjabi interpreter. In the family’s one-bedroom flat, a poster of Michael Jordan hangs on a bedroom wall. Bhamara said Singh put it there as he was learning how to play.Basketball was nowhere near as popular in India as cricket and soccer when Singh was growing up. When he met an N.B.A. executive in Punjab at the Ludhiana Basketball Academy in 2010, only an estimated 4.5 million people were playing basketball in India, a country of more than a billion. But Singh loved the N.B.A. stars O’Neal and Kobe Bryant and had already become a minor celebrity in his own right. As a young teenager, he was compared to Yao Ming, the influential 7-foot-6 Houston Rockets star from China.“From the Day 1, I realized he was a man like God sent him specially to us,” Teja Singh Dhaliwal, the general secretary of the Punjab Basketball Association, said in a 2016 Netflix documentary about Singh’s life titled “One in a Billion.”Troy Justice, the head of the N.B.A.’s international basketball development, was the executive who met Singh in 2010. As they became close, the N.B.A. was ramping up efforts to expand in India, opening its Mumbai office in 2011 and starting scouting programs and training academies. The league hosted two preseason games in Mumbai in 2019.Singh in 2011 in New Delhi. When he met an N.B.A. executive the year before, only an estimated 4.5 million people were playing basketball in India.Associated Press“My best friend there said, ‘Troy, do basketball and business like we do traffic in India,’” Justice said. “‘We don’t have lines. You just kind of find an open space and keep moving forward until you reach your destination.’”As the N.B.A. made inroads in India, Singh made his way to the United States. When he was 14, he enrolled at IMG Academy, a high school in Bradenton, Fla., known for developing elite basketball talent. Far from home and trying to learn English, Singh had a difficult time adjusting, said Sonny Gill, Singh’s childhood best friend.But Singh’s size made him an intriguing N.B.A. prospect. He declared for the draft in 2015 and worked out for several teams, including the Rockets. Singh was in high school for five years — a result of the language barrier — and was thus eligible for the draft. The Bollywood star Akshay Kumar called him “an inspiration.” But some saw him as a long shot because he was stiff and slow.“He was very easy to rule out just from the workout, which is risky and teams have been burned,” said Daryl Morey, who was the Rockets’ general manager at the time and now works for the 76ers. “But he definitely did not look like he belonged on an N.B.A. floor.”Many members of Singh’s village traveled to the local gurdwara, a Sikh place of worship, to pray for him to be drafted. On the night of the draft, Singh recalled, his feet and hands were shaking. Gill, now Singh’s manager, remembered watching his friend sweat and rub his hands together as each pick was announced at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The first round went by. So did most of the second.“All of India who knew,” Singh said, “everyone had so many eyes on me.”But at pick No. 52 of 60, Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, decided to take a shot.“In four or five years, if he continues to progress as he has, he could be the face of basketball in India, easily,” Cuban said in the “One in a Billion” documentary about Singh. “I would expect that to happen. He’s got that much upside.”Singh driving to the basket against Golden State during a 2016 N.B.A. Summer League game in Las Vegas.David Dow/NBAE, via Getty ImagesMany players drafted that late never make the N.B.A., but Singh’s stardom at home reached new heights. Amitabh Bachchan, one of the biggest movie stars in India, congratulated him on Twitter, saying, “India goes to NBA .. now time for NBA to come to India ..!!” Bachchan’s, son, Abhishek, also a well-known actor, offered to play Singh in a movie.But Singh’s American basketball career fizzled. He never appeared in an N.B.A. game in the regular season, and rarely played for Dallas’s developmental team over two seasons. The N.B.A. was moving away from slow big men and toward a more athletic style of play. Singh opted to play in Canada and for the Indian men’s national team as he tried to make it back to the N.B.A.“He was heartbroken,” Gill said. “That’s all he talked about every day.”‘You can open so many people’s dreams’In late 2019, while Singh was preparing for the South Asian Games with the Indian national team, he failed a drug test and was provisionally suspended by the National Anti Doping Agency in India. Gill said Singh took an over-the-counter supplement that he did not realize contained a banned substance. A year later, India’s antidoping agency barred Singh from competition for two years, including the year he had been provisionally suspended.Asked about the ban now, Singh was reluctant to discuss it.“End of day, whatever happened happened,” Singh said. “I don’t want those bad things in my life again, but end of day, I just want to tell everyone to be careful.”Later, he brought the incident up on his own. When he received the ban, Singh said, he saw his free time as a newly cracked door. He thought to himself, “You can open so many people’s dreams to come true.”Singh before an All Elite Wrestling event at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County campus in November. He said he was focused on wrestling and hadn’t touched a basketball in a couple of years.Matt Roth for The New York TimesSingh had never been much of a wrestling fan, though he did enjoy Dwayne Johnson’s character, The Rock. Professional wrestling, like the N.B.A., had been trying to cultivate a fan base in India, and Singh — a giant like the popular Indian-born wrestler Dalip Singh Rana, known as The Great Khali — looked like he could help.In 2017, while Singh was with the Mavericks’ developmental team, W.W.E. invited him for a workout. He had fun, but he was still focused on trying to get to the N.B.A. That year, W.W.E. made Yuvraj Singh Dhesi — known as Jinder Mahal — the first W.W.E. champion of Indian descent. By 2021, with Singh’s basketball ambitions dulled, he was ready to give wrestling a try.His mother, Sukhwinder Kaur, was initially fearful.“She saw wrestling matches on television and everyone keeps getting thrown out of the ring,” Singh said. “My mom said, ‘I hope he isn’t hurt.’ I told Mom: ‘Don’t worry. Your son will be amazing.’”When Singh approached A.E.W., Tony Khan, who founded the company in 2019, saw an opportunity.“There are very few wrestlers from India or Pakistan in my life,” said Khan, 40, who is of Pakistani descent and the son of the Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan. “Wrestlers of brown-skinned descent are often portrayed as villains or terrorists or some terrible atrocity.”He thought Singh could be different. In September 2021, a month after A.E.W. signed a broadcasting deal with Eurosport India, the company announced that it had signed Singh.Paul Wight, an A.E.W. wrestler best known by his W.W.E. name The Big Show, said Singh was an ideal fit for wrestling. “A basketball player and a tennis player will adapt to wrestling footwork faster than most athletes,” said Wight, who mentors Singh.The A.E.W. producer and manager Retesh Bhalla, known as Sonjay Dutt, left, and Singh performed ringside as “managers” for the longtime professional wrestler Jay Lethal.Matt Roth for The New York TimesMichael Cuellari, known as Q.T. Marshall in the ring, trains Singh at his Atlanta-area wrestling school, the Nightmare Factory. He said much of his job is “teaching him how not to injure somebody while looking like you’re trying to injure somebody.”“Because he’s so big and he’s so strong, obviously he’s going to be very stiff right out of the gate,” Cuellari said.‘Just be himself’Wrestling isn’t just about big muscles and smashing opponents. It is about charisma and connecting with the audience. It is about rip-roaring promos, blasting the opponent and getting audiences to roar, for better or worse.“It’s hard, right?” Cuellari said. “Because he’s got such a deep voice and such a different tone. And on top of that, like, English not being his first language. So we just try to make him feel as comfortable as possible and just be himself.”Singh made his debut in April in a group with the characters Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt. In June, Singh pulled off the helicopter move in his first match. He has been used sparingly as he trains: Take the occasional dive bomb; chuck a human like a shot put every now and then; glower at the camera. Off camera, he has a boisterous personality that has endeared him to his new co-workers.Singh, left, horsing around with his fellow A.E.W. wrestler Will “Powerhouse” Hobbs, middle, and Amanda Huber, A.E.W. community outreach, backstage.Matt Roth for The New York TimesThough there have been successful giants, like Andre the Giant, The Undertaker and The Big Show, fans have largely gravitated toward relatively smaller characters, like The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Rey Mysterio. In many ways, Singh faces the same challenge in wrestling that he did in basketball: Success is increasingly less about brawn than speed and athleticism.“The track record of giants in professional wrestling as quality in-ring technicians is not long,” said Retesh Bhalla, who plays Sonjay Dutt. Bhalla is also an A.E.W. creative executive.But Khan, the A.E.W. founder, is optimistic about Singh. “We’ve seen an increase in traffic when Satnam is involved in segments,” Khan said, adding, “A ton of our YouTube traffic comes from India, and he’s a driver.”Singh said the last time he picked up a basketball was in 2019, when he was suspended. Though his cellphone case has a picture of Bryant, the former Los Angeles Lakers star, Singh said his basketball career is over. He is still willing to mentor players in India, and he has coached at the N.B.A.’s Basketball Without Borders camps there.“He is and was and still will be an inspiration,” said Justice, the N.B.A. executive.Singh seems at peace with his new road — “I am so surprised, but I am so happy,” he said — more concerned with increasing his bench press max from 500 pounds than sharpening his jumpers. He wants to go into acting, the non-wrestling kind. One way or another, he’s once again aiming to be a bridge on behalf of India.Matt Roth for The New York Times More