More than 200 Indian and international grapplers will be put under the hammer when the Pro Wrestling League Players’ Auction is held here on November 3.
About 100 top international wrestlers from 25 countries, including Olympic and World Championship stars, and over a 100 Indian wrestlers will come under the hammer.
The wrestlers include more than 20 medal winners from the World Wrestling Championship held in Las Vegas last month.
Others include medal winners in European Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and other international events, according to a release.
Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said that PWL will be a landmark in the history of the sport.
“The PWL Players’ Auction will be a big landmark in the history of sport. It will give the six franchises the opportunity to bid for the best players and complete their squads,” said Singh.
“The player pool is so rich in talent that after the auction we will have six squads to offer highly competitive action for wrestling lovers.”
The bid for the Olympic and World Championship winners will start at the base price of $50,000. Each team has a player auction purse of Rs. 2 crore.
Each team will have a marquee player. The bid for marquee player too will start at the base price of $ 50,000. As many as 60 players will find buyers since each of the six teams will have 10 players, including four women — a maximum of four overseas players and six Indians.
“We are sure that all players picked will be delighted with the financial reward to play in the league,” Singh added.
The Deol family of the Bollywood and GMR Group, which also Delhi Daredevils IPL team, are among the six PWL franchisees.
An elated yesteryear Bollywood star Dharmendra said: “I’m extremely happy that wrestling is being presented in a world class manner at a global platform, with Pro Wrestling League.
I’m sure that Indian wrestling lovers will get abundant opportunities at a grass-root level.
“I’m personally very fond of Wrestling as a sport as I played it in my youth and now I embark on a new journey through Pro Wrestling League,” added Dharmendra, owner of the CDR Punjab team.
Double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar is confident that the League would be a big boost to Indian wrestling.
“It will be a great boost when the cream of world wrestling comes to India. This will be a great opportunity for our players to travel with them and learn a lot. Besides the League will keep the focus on the sport and motivate the upcoming wrestlers,” said Sushil.
Three-time women’s world champion Adeline Gray of the United States has called the PWL a “historic move in international wrestling“.
Gray said that “by bringing Pro event with huge sums of money, Indian organisers have taken a bold step in popularizing wrestling at the world level“.
The PWL is a joint venture of Wrestling Federation of India and their commercial partners — Pro Sportify Pvt Limited who are the promoters and organisers of the league.
