Warden of prison in Punjab calls WWE match “wildly inaccurate”

Gurmeet Jasparan, a prison warden for more than 20 years at the Amritsrar Detention Center in the Punjab region of India, is speaking out against World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) over what he calls the company’s “inaccurate and insulting” portrayal of his workplace.

“The so-called Punjabi Prison of sports entertainment is nothing like the actual conditions of our humane and sanitary correctional facilities,” said Jasparan.

“Sure, the prisons in the Chandigarh region are quite shoddy,” he added, “but our Punjabi prison system is much better than WWE is suggesting.”

Jasparan said there are “countless differences” between real Punjabi Prison’s and WWE’s match of the same name:

• In WWE, the Punjabi Prison consists of two bamboo cages — one 16 feet high, the other 20 feet high. In a real Punjabi prison, the bamboo double cages are of equal height: both 17 feet.
• In WWE, the cages surround a 20-foot-by-20-foot wrestling ring. In the penal system of punjab, the rings are 16 feet across, and sometimes have four ropes instead of three.
• In WWE, the Punjabi Prison is filled with weapons, like kendo sticks and steel chairs. In a real Punjabi prison, the kendo sticks are known as Khadgavidya staffs, and the chairs are wicker.

Jasparan’s complaint is reminiscent of a similar grievance by the ASPCA, which alleges that WWE’s Kennel from Hell match is “a gross misrepresentation.”