Joginder Singh (1919-August 1, 1990) was an Indian

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

. He was the first All Asia Tag Team Champion, along with

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

. He was one of the top professional wrestlers of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

at that time.

Early life

He was born in the village of Sheron in the

Tarn Taran district Tarn Taran district is one of the districts in the Majha region of Punjab, India. The main cities are Tarn Taran Sahib, Bhikhiwind, Khadur Sahib and Patti. The City of Tarn Taran Sahib is a holy place for Sikhs. Tarn Taran's Sikh populatio ...

Punjab Province, British India The Punjab Province, officially the Province of the Punjab, was a Presidencies and provinces of British India, province of British India, with its capital in Lahore and summer capitals in Murree and Simla. At its greatest extent, it stretched ...

into a

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

family.

Professional wrestling career

Singapore

In 1948, Tiger Joginder and Arjan Singh Das were signed by Great World's wrestling promoters, where he competed against many top wrestlers like

, Bill Verna, George Zbisko, Tiger Ray Holden and Seelie Samara, and earned fame worldwide.

United States

Tiger wrestled in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in the late 1940s to the early 1950s, with wrestlers such as The French Angel, Ted Christy,

Kola Kwariani Nicholas Nestor "Kola" Kwariani ( ka, კოლა (კოლია) ქვარიანი) (January 16, 1903 – February 27, 1980), known by the ring name Nick the Wrestler, was a Georgian professional wrestler and chess player. Early life ...

Jack Dempsey William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926. One of the most iconic athl ...

, Oki Shikina, Lord Carlton, and Benny Trudel. On 8 March 1950, his match with Chief Thunderbird at Paramount Theatre had attracted much interest.

India

In 1954, Tiger competed in the Rustam-e-Hind (Champion of India) tournament, but lost in the final to

Dara Singh Dara Singh Randhawa (born Deedar Singh Randhawa; 19 November 1928 – 12 July 2012) was an Indian professional wrestler, actor, director and politician. He started acting in 1952 and was the first sportsman to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha ...

. The same year, he defeated European Heavyweight Champion

Bert Assirati Bartolomeo "Bert" Assirati (9 July 1908 – 31 August 1990), was an English professional wrestler who became a multiple-time British Heavyweight Champion, and, posthumously, a charter member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. ...

in front of the 50,000 spectators at

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. In 1959, he competed in another

professional wrestling tournament On various occasions in professional wrestling, a single-elimination tournament of varying match types are held, often to determine a champion for a vacant or newly-created championship, to determine the number-one contender for a championship, t ...

Commonwealth Championship, but didn't succeed.

Japan

On 16 November 1955 in the Japan Wrestling Association, he and

defeated

Rikidōzan (born Kim Sin-rak; ; November 14, 1924 – December 15, 1963), better known as Rikidōzan (), was a Korean-born Japanese wrestler who competed in sumo and professional wrestling. He was known as The Father of Puroresu (professional wrestling ...

and

Harold Sakata , better known as Harold Sakata, was an American Olympic weightlifter, professional wrestler, and film actor of Japanese descent. He won a silver medal for the United States at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London in weightlifting, and late ...

in a

two out of three falls match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

at JWA All Asia Championship tournament final to crown the inaugural

All Asia Tag Team Champions The is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). Originally, it was the top tag team title in the JWA, but its status became secondary once the NWA International Tag Team Championship was brough ...

. But he failed to capture the

All Asia Heavyweight Championship The is a title owned and promoted by the Pro Wrestling Land's End promotion. The title was originally created in 1955 in Japan Wrestling Association (JWA), with the inaugural champion crowned on November 22, 1955. Being a professional wrestling ...

in the single competition.

Filmography

He also did acting in some

n films in the 1960s with fellow wrestlers

and Randhawa.

Championship and accomplishments

* Japan Wrestling Association **

All Asia Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). Originally, it was the top tag team title in the JWA, but its status became secondary once the NWA International Tag Team Championship was brou ...

(1 time)- with

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Tiger Joginder Indian male professional wrestlers 1919 births 1990 deaths Indian male film actors 20th-century Indian male actors Male actors in Hindi cinema Male actors in Punjabi cinema People from Punjab Province (British India) 20th-century male professional wrestlers All Asia Tag Team Champions