Sonjay Dutt

This article is about the professional wrestler. For the actor, see Sanjay Dutt.

Sonjay Dutt
Dutt in November 2006.
Ring name(s)	Sonjay Dutt Monster J Schwagg Dutt
Billed height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Billed weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Born	April 7, 1982 (1982-04-07) Washington, D.C.
Billed from	Bombay, India Bollywood, India
Trained by	Larry Sharpe
Debut	September 2000

Retesh Bhalla (born April 7, 1982) is an American professional wrestler of Indian Punjabi descent, better known by his ring name, Sonjay Dutt. He is best known working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and is also known for his stints with Combat Zone Wrestling, Major League Wrestling, and other various independent promotions. His ring 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. He is a Hindu of Punjabi origin. Dutt graduated from the KYDA Pro Wrestling training school in northern Virginia. He later worked for 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, MXW Pro Wrestling, VCW and NWA Virginia and has toured Japan with Pro Wrestling Zero1. He also has wrestled for HUSTLE in Japan as a member of the stable Takada Monster Army under the ring name "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, Dutt was announced as the eighth and final participant in the Chikara 2008 Rey de Voladores tournament, having previously competed in the 2007 King of Trios alongside The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) as Team TNA. On June 21, 2008, he appeared at a Combat Zone Wrestling show, where he was defeated by Pinkie Sanchez. He appeared on the July 12, 2008 show to team with Chuck Taylor in a losing effort against Pinkie Sanchez and Ruckus. On September 19, 2008, 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 (TNA) 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 did not 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.

Return to the independent circuit (2009–present)

Dutt in January 2011.

After leaving TNA, Dutt returned to Japan to compete for Pro Wrestling Zero1, after a four year hiatus, and on March 15, 2009, defeated Ikuto Hidaka to win the Zero1 International Junior Heavyweight Championship. Dutt vacated the title on November 29, 2009, for the Tenka-Ichi 2009 tournament. He attempted to regain the title, but was eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by Prince Devitt.

Dutt made his Pro Wrestling Guerrilla debut on April 11, 2009, at Ninety-Nine, where he defeated Roderick Strong in a singles match. The following day at One Hundred, the promotion's 100th show, he was defeated by El Generico. Since leaving TNA, Dutt has also begun making appearances for Ring of Honor. He made his return to the company on May 8, 2009, in Boston, MA, wrestling in a 3-way dance with Eddie Edwards and Bryan Danielson, who ended up winning the match. On August 31 Dutt made his Ring of Honor Wrestling debut in a losing effort against Delirious, with whom he would feud for the rest of the year.

He also currently works for the Australasian Wrestling Federation (AWF), where he is the current #1 Contender for the AWF World Title.

After an eleven month break from Ring of Honor, Dutt returned to the promotion on December 17, 2010, replacing an injured Kenny Omega and facing ROH World Champion Roderick Strong in a losing effort in a non–title match. At the following day's Final Battle 2010 pay-per-view Dutt again replaced Omega and faced Eddie Edwards in another losing effort.

In 2011, it was revealed that Dutt would take part in a new hiphop/pro wrestling collaboration, the Urban Wrestling Federation, with taping of the first event "First Blood" taking place on June 3. On June 19 Dutt, working under the ring name Schwagg Dutt, was announced as being a part of the roster of All Wheels Wrestling. At the pilot tapings on June 29, Dutt was first defeated in a five minute Iron Man match by Aaron Aguilera, before defeating him, Dubai and RPM (Jay Lethal) in an Ultimate X match. In December 2011, Dutt took part in TNA's India project, Ring Ka King.

Other media

Dutt was featured in the 2003 video game Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood and the 2008 video game TNA Impact!.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves

• 450° splash
• Camel clutch
• Hindu Press / Hindusault (Corkscrew 450° splash)
• Moonsault double foot stomp
• Running shooting star press
• Sonjay Cutter (Standing backflip three–quarter facelock sitout reverse DDT)

• Signature moves

• Bombay Blast / Bombay 'Rana (Springboard somersault hurricanrana)
• Bombay Boom (Pendulum kick from out of the corner, as a counter to an oncoming opponent)
• Bombay Buster (Vertical suplex twisted and dropped into a facebreaker knee smash)
• Brainbuster
• Calcutta Cutta (Facebreaker knee smash followed by a jumping neckbreaker)
• Half nelson bulldog
• Headscissors takedown transitioned into a wrist–lock
• Frankensteiner
• Indian Summer (Elevated cradle neckbreaker)
• Inverted suplex stunner
• Springboard moonsault, sometimes to an opponent standing outside the ring
• Sprinkler Elbow (Arm twist ropewalk elbow drop, with sprinkler dance theatrics)
• Standing moonsault
• Tilt–a–whirl tornado DDT

• Managers

• Kevin Nash
• SoCal Val
• Pandora

• Nicknames

• "The Mamu" (TNA)
• "The American Monkey"
• "The Guru" (TNA)
• "The Original Playa from the Himalaya"

• Entrance themes

• "Addictive (Remix)" by Truth Hurts featuring Rakim
• "Beware of the Boys (Remix)" by Panjabi MC and Jay-Z
• "Cobra Dance" by Dale Oliver
• "Guru" by Dale Oliver
• "Rock The Fight" by Asoka

Championships and accomplishments

• Combat Zone Wrestling

• CZW World Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
• Best of the Best 4

• CyberSpace Wrestling Federation

• CSWF Cruiser X Championship (1 time)
• CSWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Ruckus (1) and Prince Nana (1)

• Danger Zone Wrestling

• DZW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Sean Lei

• Global Wrestling Alliance

• GWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Sean Lei

• Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South

• IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• KYDA Pro Wrestling

• KYDA Pro Mid-Atlantic Championship (2 times)

• Major League Wrestling

• MLW Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• MLW J-Cup USA Tournament (2003)

• NWA Impact

• NWA Impact Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Plymouth Championship Wrestling

• PCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #81 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2008

• Pro Wrestling Zero1

• Zero1 International Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

• World X Cup (2006) – with Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, and Jay Lethal

• UWA Hardcore Wrestling

• Grand Prix Tournament (2006)

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

• Worst Worked Match of the Year (2006) TNA Reverse Battle Royal at TNA Impact!

External links

• Online World of Wrestling profile
• Interview with Sonjay Dutt
• Sonjay Dutt a Cup playa
• X-cellent choice for talented Dutt
• Tha O Show Episode 175 Sonjay Dutt Interview