The Pro Wrestling League (PWL), which was suspended after four seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is set to make a comeback in January 2026 with the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) directly handling payments to wrestlers and franchises to ensure financial transparency and stability.
The WFI also asserted that wrestlers who were part of the protest against former chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh will not face discrimination and will be allowed to enter their names in the auction.
In the past, the WFI had granted the rights to host the PWL to ProSportify for an annual royalty fee but a crisis emerged when a majority of participants complained that they had not received their Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) details for several years.
The WFI also claimed that it did not receive the agreed-upon royalty.
In June 2022, the WFI signed a settlement contract with ProSportify to acquire full ownership of the Pro Wrestling League by paying Rs 30 crore.
Dayaan Farooqui, the new chairman and promoter of the league, signed a mandate with WFI President Sanjay Singh.
“All rights have been given to ONO media. We have learnt our lessons from the past, WFI will keep control of the payments,” Singh said at a press conference.
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“Any one who wants to compete can come forward, no one will face any discrimination.” Former WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who faced allegations of sexual misconduct, was also present during the occasion.
He added that any project can have conflicts and he would not like to find faults with the previous promoters.
“I don’t have any role in the running of the League. I was invited by WFI, so I have come here. I might have no official role in WFI but I am a sports lover and no one can take away that right from me,” said Brij Bhushan, who took many questions from media.
Asked if he was still running the show from behind, Brij Bhushan quipped,” A lot of things happen behind the scenes.” “Sanjay Singh won the election, it was not a handover given to him. He was not at anyone’s mercy. He won fair and square.”
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One city, six teams
PWL CEO Akhil Gupta provided the details of the League but said the process to identify six franchise was still on.
“Since it is first season, we will keep one venue in Delhi and from next season we can take it to other cities. We are still talking to corporates and others to identify franchise while international wrestlers have already been approached,” said Gupta.
The League will run over 18 days and each of the six teams will have nine wrestlers, including four women. All teams can have five Indian and four foreign wrestlers.
The competition will be held in nine Olympic weight categories but will be restricted to men’s freestyle and women’s event. Greco Roman style, expectedly, will not be part of the league.
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Brij Bhushan said he was advised the last time around not to invite top level wrestlers to ensure victories of the Indian wrestlers but he didn’t find merit in the suggestion.
“When you run shoulders with Olympians and World Champions, the fear of taking them on disappears. This is exactly what we wanted and it indeed benefitted the Indian wrestlers. No one fears Japan, Russia or Iran now in India.
“So, the same trend will continue, all top level wrestlers will compete in the league,” said Brij Bhushan.
Each team will have a purse of Rs two crore and the exact date of the start of the league will be announced soon.
