Rohit Raju Signs Multi-Year Contract With IMPACT Wrestling

Rohit Raju will be with IMPACT Wrestling for the foreseeable future.

PWInsider.com has confirmed Raju, the current X Division Champion, has signed a new multi-year deal to stay with IMPACT Wrestling. Raju offered the following remarks regarding his status with the company.

“Well obviously my contract was coming up, and the main thing for me is that I just finally started to break ground at IMPACT. I know I was really the low man on the totem pole for years, nothing seemed like it was going to be happening for me and finally the ball came into my court and I decided to run with it, and I think it’s been pretty good so far. I’m a different type of X Division Champion – not all people are a fan of it, and that’s fine, you know I don’t really care either way, however I like to do something different, I like to be different, I like to have a different approach. I feel like I’m very entertaining as X Division Champion and I can get under people’s skin, which is fantastic in my book. So I’m finally starting to build my brand and I want to continue to build my brand in a place where I have been very comfortable wrestling, plus I like a lot of people there, and dislike a lot of people there like the people coming after my X Division Title, but I think it was a good move for me, a smart move. Now it’s time to build a brand, make a name for myself in the world of professional wrestling and now it’s finally time to have eyes on me and people realize, ‘Hey, this guy can do stuff in the ring, but he can also work on the mic and he’s the complete package.’ So it’s my time to shine and I feel like IMPACT is the place to be for me right now.”

Raju will defend his title tonight at IMPACT Wrestling’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view in a six-way scramble match against Chris Bey, TJP, Trey Miguel, Willie Mack and Jordynne Grace.

Rohit was recently asked by WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard about the potential for building his brand to a point where he could play one role instead of separate ones on TV and on the indies. Rohit Raju is also known as Hakim Zane on the independent scene, a more serious character that is a big contrast from his sneaky, conniving heel fans have seen on IMPACT Wrestling. Rohit cited Eric Young as a blueprint for how he can evolve from a comedic character to a more serious one, adding that right now he’s enjoying working as a classic heel and the reaction is showing it’s working.

“I would like to evolve. I use Eric Young as a perfect example for that. Look at how he started, getting slapped around in Team Canada, similar to me getting slapped around in the Desi Hit Squad. And then it went from an aloof, goofy, funny character to the stone-cold killer he is now. If anyone sees my stuff outside of IMPACT, that is what that has evolved into. Here, I enjoy being Rohit Raju. Obviously, it has garnered me a lot of attention. Outside of my [wrestling] brand I do a lot of workout videos and I’ve helped people with workout plans, which is one of my biggest passions, fitness and getting people into shape,” Raju said, “and sometimes it helps get more eyes on the indies as well. I get to use ‘Rohit’ a lot more, which is really cool. For the longest time, people weren’t really interested because nothing was happening with ‘Rohit’ but now, ‘Rohit’ is on top of the world, which is fantastic.”

Check out his full reply at this link.