Pakistani wrestling phenomenon Shak Khan is currently the only professional wrestler from Pakistan, from the city of Dadyal in Azad Kashmir, Mr Khan lived in the village Sochani and is very proud of his roots and his achievements.
When he came to the UK he was originally from Halifax before moving to Blackpool when he was 12, where he found his love for wrestling after discovering the pro wrestling events that went on at the Blackpool tower every Sunday.
A young 16 year old Shak Khan continually went to these wrestling events and became fixated with the star wrestler, ‘Dangerous’ Dave Duran. In addition Khan went into one of the local shops in Blackpool and spotted a poster of Duran, but unable to have it because of the consequences the shop owner would have faced at the hands of Duran, Khan set his on meeting the dangerous one.
From that moment on Khan really, really wanted to pursue a wrestling career, and to the great luck after walking home from school one day he finally came face to face with Dave Duran and Khan was just in ore of him. Excited, Shak Khan explained to Duran that he wanted to be a wrestler, but unconvinced he was ready Dave Duran (who’s real name was John Paling) said; ‘You’re not ready just yet go away and learn some Judo’. Doing just that Khan became an awarded Judo student in just a year at the commonwealth sports club, and it was after this moment where he met wrestling promoter Bobby Baron who gave Khan more advice and helped him towards the success he achieved.
Wrestling for 16 years Shak Khan will be fighting in Birmingham on the 8th January against Austrian world champion Michael Kovac. The pair became heated in a wrestling event in Kuwait where Kovac mocked all Arab wrestlers. Determined to prove him wrong Shak Khan issued a challenge which was accepted a few years later.
The Asian world team were lucky enough to speak to ‘The beast from the east’.
What was it like to receive the advice of such a professional as Dave Duran?
‘Well I just listened to everything he said because I idolized him, if he said to me come back and see me in 10 years I would of came and seen him in 10 years, he was just such a great wrestler. He was unbeatable, nobody could beat him. But after I went and learned Judo I came back and I saw him again at one of the local shops, and I said look Dave I’ve come back and took your advice I’ve been to do Judo, I’ve even got a couple of belts as well I’m ready to become a wrestler. From then he said right come down to the pleasure beach and let’s see how good you are. I was so excited I would practise my moves in the mirror and I thought all the fans are going to be in ore of me just like Dave Duran.
What was the experience like at your first wrestling event at the pleasure beach?
‘Well this is where I first met the wrestling promoter Bobby Baron and it was Dave who introduced me to Bobby Baron before I competed saying, this is young Shak he wants to become a wrestler, he’s been away and learned Judo and he’s come back after a year and he’s ready to become a wrestler. So I got in the ring and to my delight Dave Duran stepped between the ropes and I thought to myself this is going to be easy I’ve learned Judo and I’m going to take him down. However after the bell rang I just have no knowledge of what happen next I just know I was absolutely pulverised by Dave Duran I was body slammed, piledrived. Clothes lined, put in a Boston crab and I was just screaming for mercy, bearing in mind this is the first 30 seconds of being toe to toe with Dave Duran. Duran looked at me after the bout and said this is what we do; this is our job you have to prove how bad you want this. And I’m glad he said that looking back because people think it’s all theatrical but they do not understand how tough it really is, I mean the ring alone is huge, I mean the endurance you need is crazy. Plus the mat is so hard people think that it’s like this trampoline surface but it is very different from that’.
What did you take from your first experience?
‘For the next six months after that I kept coming back every Saturday, and each time they would have bigger wrestlers competing and Bobby Baron kept me coming back and getting pummelled by these bigger guys until I showed how much I wanted it and show the respect for the sport, and I was so determined, and this was my goal this is what I wanted to achieve and wouldn’t let anyone stop me. I just wanted to put on the big wrestling boots, come out to the music in front of the big audience, go travelling and see the world. Ultimately after a whole year of continuing to learn I kept turning up and Bobby Baron and Dave Duran was there too. And Bobby said Shak you have shown so much determination and commitment and the reason why we put you through so much pain is because are wrestlers are put to the test and endure that same pain every single weekend and you have to be ready week in week out, you have to learn how to defend yourself. Also if at any stage you were to lose their reward money comes out of your own pocket, so Shak, Baron said this is what are team go through and you are ready to be part of our team’.
Did Baron tell you of his experiences to inspire you?
‘Believe it or not he fought in Pakistan in his young wrestling days and he wrestled against the famous Bholu brothers from Lahore. They were a team of five brothers and were the most famous wrestling family in Pakistan and Bobby showed me his gold jacket he used to wear when competing and he said I want you to wear it and we are going to name you ‘the Kashmir kid’ bearing in mind I was still young and my father and my homeland is from Kashmir. After this for the next ten years I was the public prize fighter in Blackpool and fought all sorts of people from boxers, bouncers, Judo men, Karate men and in that 10 years I never got beat once and that’s because I trained and learned from the best Dave Duran with the help of Bobby Baron’.
After prize fighting when you started competing for championships what was it like to be the only Pakistani professional wrestler?
‘I am the only Pakistani wrestler from Azad Kashmir and I am extremely proud of where I come from and to represent Pakistan and being the only professional from my homeland is just a dream come true. There is also a lot of responsibility that comes with being the stand out fighter in Pakistan because I was pictured in newspapers was on radio shows. But after prize fighting a lot of wrestling promoters were hearing about me and because I had experience with Dave Duran and trained with him a lot of promoters wanted me to wrestle for them and from there in 1998 I was offered my first overseas trip and I was invited to go and compete at the Dubai desert challenge. It was a 4 day tournament and I was representing Azad Kashmir Pakistan, in front of 20,000 people’.
After winning the world title in 1998 how confident are you in defending it against Michael Kovac in Birmingham?
‘First I’ve got to say how proud I am to represent Azad Kashmir I am putting them on the map and it’s what gets me running in the morning and gets me in the gym of a morning. But in 2009 I wrestled in Kuwait in the Middle East and it was the Kuwaiti wrestling tournament. This is where I met Michael Kovac and he is a very good wrestler and has 25 championships and is the top catch-heavyweight champion in Austria. He has dominated Europe, but in Kuwait he beat a local wrestler and he pronounced in front of the thousands of people that the middle east fighters cannot compete and mocked every fighter from there, teasing ‘is this the best the middle east have got? Is there anyone else, it’s easy to fight Arabs’. And because I was there I confronted him about his comments and challenged him to a bout because I was not going to let him mock the nation and the Arab wrestlers and because he thought there was no one worthy from the middle east I wanted to prove to him that I’m here I’m competing proudly out of Azad Kashmir. So I went back to the UK and was competing for abit before Kovac actually accepted the challenge, after talking trash about me to numerous media outlets. So I thought I want to give back to the local communities so where going to get it on, the 8th January in Birmingham’.
What advice do you have for any young wrestlers who are on a similar journey to the one you went on?
‘Don’t give up, keep pursuing your dreams, stay positive and live a clean and healthy lifestyle look after yourself, look after your body and mind. Take a hobby up in fitness and no matter what you do health is the most important and you must believe you can achieve your goals no matter what’.
Shak Khan is also known amongst his Asian supporters as Raja Sony Palwan, and Shak distressed the importance of all of his followers who have helped him on his journey. Shak mentions his wife of over 20 years and his Mother as the 2 most special people in his life. He would like to thank the community of Azad Kashmir being so patriot about his homeland, where he will be competing in September 2017 against none other than his mentor and idol Dave Duran after his title defence against Kovac. Another special mention from Mr Khan is his huge fan and prime minister of Azad Kashmir; Raja Haider Farook Khan who has invited Shak Khan back to Azad Kashmir to attend a wrestling event at the Dadyal stadium in April/May 2017. And when Khan goes to visit the prime minister he will be inviting Dave Duran so he can see the culture and the different stadiums in Azad Kashmir ahead of their bout in September 2017. CH.Wajad Ali Burkey a Birmingham based business man also gets mentioned by Shak Khan as being an overseas advisor to the ex prime minister of Azad Kashmir; Sardar Ahmed Yakoob. Finally a huge mention goes to cricketer Imran Khan who is also a very big fan of Shak Khan.
At this specific wrestling festival in Dadyal with the prime minister, all different wrestlers competing will be from all over the globe and special gust referee is former Pakistan world champion Palwan Ali Shan who will keeping an eye on the action. The WWE has tried to sign Shak Khan, although he has declined due to representing Azad Kashmir and he feels it is too theatrical.
Shak Khan is a huge credit to the wrestling scene and has created a legacy after all his achievements. He will be known for his wonderful patriotism regarding his home land, and everyone at Asian world news wishes him all the best against Kovac, Duran and for the future.
