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Sonjay Dutt
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Retesh Bhalla (born April 7, 1982 in Washington, D.C.), better known by his ring name, Sonjay Dutt, is an Indian American professional wrestler, most known working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. He is also known for his time with Combat Zone Wrestling, Major League Wrestling, and other various independent promotions. His stage name is modeled after that of famous Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt.
's parents moved to the United States from India before he was born, though most of his extended family still lives in New Delhi.
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Encyclopedia
Retesh Bhalla (born April 7, 1982 in Washington, D.C.), better known by his ring name, Sonjay Dutt, is an Indian American professional wrestler, most known working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. He is also known for his time with Combat Zone Wrestling, Major League Wrestling, and other various independent promotions. His stage name is modeled after that of famous Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt.
Professional wrestling career
Dutt's parents moved to the United States from India before he was born, though most of his extended family still lives in New Delhi. Dutt graduated from the KYDA Pro Wrestling training school in northern Virginia. He perfected his craft inside the squared circle at KYDA Pro wrestling for the first two years of his professional career.
Major League Wrestling (2003–2004)
Dutt got his first break wrestling in Major League Wrestling in 2003 where he debuted the Dragon Rana on Jimmy Yang at the promotion's August 3 event, Summer Apocalypse. Dutt would go on to win an international tournament, hosted by MLW in September 2003 to win the company's Junior Heavyweight Championship, defeating Tony Mamaluke, Eddie Colón, and Christopher Daniels. In an early 2004 MLW Junior Heavyweight Title Match Dutt pinned Jack Evans to retain the title at MLW Reloaded.
Independent circuit (2006–2008)
Since then, he has worked for independent promotions such as Ring of Honor, UWA, Combat Zone Wrestling, VCW and NWA Virginia and has toured Japan with Pro Wrestling ZERO1. He also has wrestled for HUSTLE in Japan as "Monster J". On July 28, 2006, Dutt lost to Último Dragón in UWA. In November 2006, Sonjay returned to UWA and won the 2006 Grand Prix Tournament Championship.
On May 9, 2008, Sonjay Dutt was announced as the 8th and final participant in the CHIKARA 2008 Rey de Voladores tournament, having previously competed in the 2007 King of Trios alongside The Motor City Machineguns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) as Team TNA. On June 21, 2008, he appeared at a CZW show where he was defeated by Pinky Sanchez. He appeared on the July 12, 2008 show to team with Chuck Taylor in a losing effort against Pinky Sanchez and Ruckus. On September 19, he teamed up with Shelley and Sabin to challenge Último Guerrero, Atlantis, and Negro Casas for the CMLL World Trios Championship at the company's 75th Anniversary show, but were unable to defeat the reigning champions.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2004–2009)
2004–2007
Dutt began working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on a regular basis in 2004, and participated in the America's X-Cup as a part of Team USA along with Jerry Lynn, Chris Sabin, and Elix Skipper against Team AAA (Héctor Garza, Mr. Águila, Juventud Guerrera, and Abismo Negro). After several months, Dutt became the onscreen protégé of Sabu, with Raven using him to vicariously assault Sabu. In addition, Dutt acted as a mouthpiece for the perpetually mute Sabu. This angle was postponed and then dropped after Sabu was sidelined with various health problems, and in the interim Dutt made appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment, provoking rumors of an imminent contract offer.
Dutt's presence in TNA was reduced in late-2004 and early-2005 during the tenure of Dusty Rhodes as booker, but his role within the promotion was once again expanded after Rhodes resigned. Dutt won a four-way X Division match at No Surrender on July 17, 2005, to qualify for the 2005 Super X Cup. He lost to Samoa Joe, however, in the first round of the tournament.
In September 2005, Dutt, Shark Boy, and Simon Diamond spent two weeks in India, where they visited several cities, promoting the debut of Impact! on ESPN Star Sports. On September 28 in Bhopal, a riot broke out when 1000 fans were excluded from an event after attendance exceeded expectations. None of the three TNA wrestlers were injured.
At Bound for Glory on October 23, Dutt defeated Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, and Alex Shelley in a four way X Division match on the pre-show. In 2006, Dutt earned a spot on Team USA in the 2006 World X Cup.
Throughout late 2006 and early 2007, Dutt was involved in the Paparazzi Championship Series, led by Kevin Nash, who insinuated throughout the PCS Challenge that Dutt was taking steroids, as a running joke, which would usually lead to the hotheaded Dutt comically losing his temper. Although he didn't win the series, it put him over with the fans. After PCS ended, Nash took Dutt and his new found tag team partner Jay Lethal under his wing and promised to give them an extreme makeover. After Lethal got a new character mimicking the "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Kevin Nash attempted to get Sonjay a new character as well. All of these attempts were Kevin Nash's past gimmicks, including Oz, Vinnie Vegas, and Diesel, all of which Sonjay despised.
On the April 26 episode of Impact!, Dutt and Lethal won a shot at the X Division Championship held by Chris Sabin at Sacrifice. Dutt was unhappy at Lethal getting the pinfall, however, Dutt and Lethal started fighting with each other. Kevin Nash came out and separated the two, but Dutt kicked him and left the ring. On a later episode of Impact!, Dutt apologized to Nash and claimed "it was the heat of the moment". Nash forgave Dutt but warned him not to do it again.
On June 7, Dutt introduced a new gimmick reminiscent of a Zen in which he called himself "The Guru" Sonjay Dutt. As part of the gimmick, he began dressing all in white, and apologized to Nash and Lethal for his behavior. At Victory Road, Dutt competed in the 10 man Ultimate X match in an attempt to become the number one contender for the X Division Championship, but was eliminated in the Gauntlet portion of the match.
2008–2009
Dutt and Lethal began to have some problems when Dutt began showing interest in Lethal's on-screen girlfriend SoCal Val. Dutt participated in the Xscape match at Lockdown where he was the first participant eliminated. At Slammiversary, Dutt ruined Lethal and SoCal Val's wedding, when he begged Val to marry him instead. Dutt attacked Lethal, and began a villainous turn, which led to Dutt and Lethal facing off in matches at Victory Road and Hard Justice, splitting the victories. At No Surrender, Val turned on Lethal and assisted Dutt in winning a "Ladder of Love" ladder match.
On February 20, 2009, Dutt left TNA after his contract expired due to he and TNA management being unable to come to terms on a new deal.
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2009)
Dutt will be making his Pro Wrestling Guerrilla debut on April 11, 2009, on the first of two weekend shows. He'll be appearing on both (titled Ninety-Nine and One Hundred, the promotion's 99th and 100th shows).
In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
- "The Mamu" (TNA)
- "The American Monkey"
- "The Guru" (TNA)
- "The Original Playa from the Himalaya"
Championships and accomplishments
- KYDA Pro Mid–Atlantic Championship (2 times)
- CyberSpace Wrestling Federation
- CSWF Cruiser X Championship (1 time)
- CSWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Ruckus (1) and Prince Nana (1)
- DZW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Sean Lei
- Global Wrestling Alliance
- GWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Sean Lei
- NWA Impact Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Plymouth Championship Wrestling
- PCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Grand Prix Tournament winner (2006)
External links
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