As we have already reported, WWE returned to India after thirteen years. The first time the company was in that country was in 1996, in times when Bret Hart filled all international arenas. That time they gathered 30 thousand fans in the Bangalore stadium for a card headlined by Bret Hart exposing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Tatanka.
Later they returned in 2002, and during the following years they did not return despite the insistence of Great Khali and that the Indian market was growing, as demonstrated by Ring Ka King, by Jeff Jarrett and TNA.
Finally, WWE returned and wants to take full advantage of this market that in past decades was the scene of epic fights that brought together tens of thousands of fans due to the cultural background derived from the Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan at the end of World War II.
And WWE takes so seriously that India is an important part of its empire, that not only did they launch the WWE Network there, but they also debuted Kishan Raftar and Jeet Rama, two well-known local athletes who, for now, will appear in NXT. And what's more, Gerrit Meier, Executive Vice President of International Affairs for WWE, apologized on behalf of the company before one of the shows, for an angle performed in 1999 on Sunday Night Heat.
In those days, Tiger Ali Singh, son of the legendary Tiger Jeet Singh, was working in WWE. For some reason, they recycled something they had already done with Ted DiBiase a decade earlier: Ali Singh got into the ring with a member of the audience and offered him money to do something humiliating.
We wrote an article about it in #398 (November 10, 1998) of the first era of SUPER LUCHAS:
Super Fights #398 (November 10, 1998).
Well, on March 7, 1999, Tiger Ali Singh invited Kurt Angle to the ring, who appeared for the first time on WWE television. Angle, known throughout the United States for his gold medal in wrestling obtained at the 1994 Atlanta Olympics, was about to join ECW in 1996, but he found the angle in which Raven crucified Sandman in bad taste. He later signed with WWE and was training and wrestling in Memphis during 1998 and 1999.
And Angle presented himself in WWE precisely with a tasteless angle in which Ali Singh first offered him $500, then $2000 and finally $5000 to blow his nose with the United States flag. Angle accepted the $5000, but when the heel turned his back, he blew his nose with the Indian flag.
Angle ended up suplexing Singh all over the ring amid the enthusiasm of the audience. The Olympic medalist would debut as a Superstar eight months later, in November.
According to The Central Chronicle report, Gerrit Meier said:
"This case was about 20 years ago and we did not do it deliberately. We have great respect for this country."
Reporters asked him why Kurt Angle has not apologized to India, and compared that with what happened more recently, like when Big Show disrespected the Russian flag and when Chris Jericho did the same with the Brazilian flag:
"We are very sorry that it happened. We did not intend to offend."
Another new case where the ghosts of the past appear to haunt WWE.
