WWE Daily

SAN DIEGO – Hours before SmackDown went live in front of a sold-out San Diego Sports Arena, Make-A-Wish’s Jon Espitia, of Eureka, Calif., had a giant smile on his face. His grin reflected the Superstar he was about to meet, the Punjabi giant – The Great Khali. With Jon, WWE celebrated a historical Circle of Champions event. It was Khali’s first encounter with a True Champ.

“A lot of people doubt him for the way he looks or have looked down on him. The truth is, Khali is one of the most dominate WWE Superstars,” said Jon, 17. “I like Khali because of his size. I never really met someone that tall and big. My favorite finishing move is Khali’s Vise Grip. I don’t know what to expect except that he’ll be kind of quiet because he doesn’t speak English that well.”

Moments passed as Jon cracked jokes with his younger brother, Austin, mother, Adele and father, Gary. Then, as the sound of hard footsteps resonated, Jon’s eyes slowly moved upward and his jaw dropped. The 7-foot-3, 420-pound Punjabi Giant, being escorted by his interpreter, Ranjin Singh, appeared in front of him. Khali, towering over Jon, put his hand out and Jon quickly shook it.

Khali signed autographs and posed for photos with Jon and his family. With Singh interpreting, Khali even answered Jon’s questions about his relatives in India, Khali’s Kiss Cam segment and whether kids picked on him when he was younger. In broken English, Khali replied that he would “brain chop anyone who dared tried.”

After his first Make-A-Wish experience, the usually irate Khali was in a pleasant mood and expressed his thoughts about Jon in through Ranjin.

“The Great Khali says he had a fantastic experience and that he is honored to have been chosen by Jon and Make-A-Wish Foundation to make his wishes come true,” Ranjin Singh translated. “He is happy he was able to put a smile on Jon’s face and he looks forward to meeting more Circle of Champion honorees in the future. The Great Khali wishes Jon and every kid in the world the best and hopes they achieve every goal they set for themselves.”

Each week, WWE makes dreams come true for kids from all around the world by granting their wish to meet Superstars such as WWE Champion Triple H, World Heavyweight Champion Batista and John Cena. So, what does the former World Champion think about those who are surprised that a Wish kid chose him out of all the WWE Superstars to bring joy to his life? Khali laughed and passionately spoke in Punjab.

“The Great Khali says Jon wanted to meet him because he is The Great Khali and has dominated just about every Superstar in the WWE. Khali is different. Jon sees Khali as being someone he can look up to and try to imitate,” said Singh, who then said something to Khali in Punjab before abruptly ending the interview.