Born in Burnaby, and graduates of Moscrop Secondary School, brothers Gurvinder and Harvinder Sihra have become a phenomenon in the exhilarating world of big time professional wrestling. As a tag team collectively, Gurv and Harv are known in the ring as the “Bollywood Boyz.” The duo has earned their stripes, so to speak.
Debuting in 2005, the pair wrestled across Canada for various promotions and made tryout appearances for Ohio Valley Wrestling, as well as American professional wrestler and promoter, Harley Race, in Eldon, Missouri. Originally, they performed as individual wrestlers, with Gurv credited as “Bollywood Don,” and Harv identified by the name, “Golden Lion.” Soon paired together, the Sihra brothers were initially billed as the “Bollywood Lions,” whereupon winning the ECCW (Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling) Tag Team title, a star tandem was born. The WWE spotlight shone on the Bollywood Boyz in April 2017, as they made their major debut on “Smackdown,” then performing under their professional identity as the “Singh Brothers.
”Three years later, they returned to the Bollywood Boyz moniker and, today, maintain a travel-heavy schedule, touring and performing across North America and points beyond. Jessel Magazine caught up with Gurv and Harv for a “Behind the Ropes” peek into life on the professional wrestling circuit.
Q: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU DEVELOP AN INTEREST IN WRESTLING? WERE YOU AND YOUR BROTHER HARV, CONSTANTLY WRESTLING EACH OTHER IN THE HOUSE AS KIDS?
Gurv: The earliest memory I have of watching wrestling was when I was six years old. I still remember watching highlights of the Hulk Hogan/Ultimate Warrior match from ‘Wrestlemania 6’ in Toronto and then ‘Wrestlemania 9’ from Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas in 1993, watching the entire build-up of Bret Hart versus Yokozuna. By the time ‘Wrestlemania 12’ rolled around we were both deep in and watching the entire storyline between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, ‘Iron Man’ Match. By this time, we knew this is what we wanted to do when we got older. We had the entire match between Bret and Shawn memorized and we’d have our own match in our parent’s living room.
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Q: OVER THE YEARS WHAT KIND OF PHYSICAL TOLL HAS IT TAKEN ON YOUR BODIES? HOW MUCH HAVE YOU BROKEN OR BRUISED DUE TO WRESTLING?
Harv: I’ve had my knees done and recently feel my neck getting very stiff. I guess that’s just part of the physicality of it. Every wrestler has something they have to live with in terms of injuries.
Gurv: There’s a saying in wrestling: ‘Save your bump card,’ meaning we only have so many bumps in our careers, so we need to be wise with them. Obviously when you’re young and breaking into the business you’re eager to do as much as you can. You’re trying to ‘make it’ so you think you have to do everything. As we approach close to twenty years of doing this, we’re starting to feel each one more and more, especially the day after the match when the adrenaline has completely worn off. My shoulders have always given me problems, but it’s something I’ve trained my mind and body to live with, and perform with.
Q: HOW DID YOU GET ON THE WWE’S RADAR INITIALLY?
Harv: We’ve been on their radar for as long as we can remember. We sent our first promotional package to the WWE in 2006, when we were only two years into the business, and this is the time when we were still sending things into their office with hard copy DVD/VHS tape and promotional pictures. Even though nothing came to fruition until 2016, we stayed in touch, because we felt you never know when that call may come. When it finally did come, it was for their Cruiser Weight Division show called ‘CWC,’ which eventually became ‘WWE 205 Live.’
Q: OVERALL WHAT WAS THAT WHOLE WWE EXPERIENCE LIKE FOR THE BOLLYWOOD BOYZ CAREER?
Gurv: The experience itself was very rewarding. We accomplished a lot of bucket list goals that we had dreamed about as kids. For example, we got to perform at Rogers Arena multiple times. The same arena we watched our first live WWE event in July 1996, and watched many other WWE shows throughout the 90’s.
We got to work at Madison Square Garden, the Mecca of sports, which was also the home of WWE for many years. Being able to walk down the aisle at Wrestlemania in 2018 is definitely a core highlight for me. We got to travel the entire world, ten times over and finally wrestle in India – our parents’ home country.
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Plus we got to be in major storylines with greats like Randy Orton, AJ Styles and John Cena.
We also had the privilege to train under the guidance of Shawn Michaels down at the [WWE Performance Center.]
Harv: Wrestling for WWE was a very rewarding journey. We got to travel the world to work with heroes and legends, and truly live our childhood dream in every sense. No job is perfect, however being able to experience life at its fullest while getting paid is the epitome of living your best life.
Q: I KNOW YOU ARE BOTH BIG FANS OF THE VANCOUVER CANUCKS. DID EITHER OF YOU EVER PLAY HOCKEY?
Gurv: Yes, we grew up playing hockey for Burnaby Minor Hockey Association for eight years and played at Scotia Barn when it was still called 4-Rinks. We’ve been fortunate enough to develop a very good relationship with the Vancouver Canucks through our wrestling careers and the entire organization has always been very supportive and featured us at their home games. We’ve also had the chance to develop a great relationship with Roberto Luongo, a legend in the city of Vancouver, with our paths crossing while we were in WWE.
Harv: Like every Canadian, our fi rst dream was to play in the NHL. We both played hockey from about the age of six until 17. It was something that our parents really enjoyed also and made sure we got to experience that as kids. We’re very blessed how much our parents invested in us as kids, especially a sport like hockey that isn’t cheap.
Q: WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT WRESTLING STATUS AND HOW DEVOTED ARE FANS OF THE BOLLYWOOD BOYZ AS YOU TRAVEL THE WORLD?
Gurv: We are still fortunate to be wrestling full-time and still making a living at it. Our fans are extremely devoted and help us stay booked from place to place and we certainly feel a connection with the audience that has grown stronger than ever. The folks around the world – no matter where we’ve gone – have embraced our cultural representation.
Q: WHERE DO YOU SEE YOUR CAREERS IN FIVE YEARS?
Harv: I think currently, we are actually in the prime years of our career and see us fulfi ll the remaining wrestling dreams we have. We’ve invested so much into this career and job and passion, that the fruits of our labour are being shown to us now and we’re very excited.
Gurv and Harv interact with former Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo.
