Sonjay Dutt Gives Big Update On His In-Ring Future
Sonjay Dutt last laced up his wrestling boots in 2017 when he unsuccessfully challenged Jonathan Gresham for the Powerbomb.tv Championship at a NOVA Pro Wrestling event. Although, while currently working behind the scenes at All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and as an on-screen heel manager for Jay Lethal, could Dutt be tempted to return to the ring someday?
"There will be zero chance that I will be returning to the ring," Dutt explained on the "AEW Unrestricted" podcast. "Let's put it like this – If I was fixed physically, if my body was 100%, that would be something I would consider. But until that happens, there's no way I'm getting in the ring."
Now focused on a behind-the-scenes role, Dutt initially worked as a backstage producer for WWE in January 2019 while he was sidelined with an Achilles injury. He had learned certain aspects of television with the Indian wrestling promotion, Ring Ka King, created by Panda Energy, who owned Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2012. Dutt left his position as a producer with WWE in June 2021 before joining AEW in a similar role that very same month.
The former Impact X-Division Champion explained in further detail how his transition into a backstage role came about after he got injured.
"I was 35 and I got hurt," Dutt said. "At that time, I was already working in the office at Impact Wrestling, and when I got hurt and I came back from injury, I kind of looked at the landscape and I looked at the big picture of my life — my wife and my children are first and foremost to everything. Getting hurt and my first surgery after 27 years of wrestling, I just figured I'm already working in a backstage capacity. Instead of just splitting my time, let me put all my eggs here in a backstage capacity, and let's see how far this thing goes."
Dutt made his pro wrestling debut in September 2000 and got his first major break in the business with Major League Wrestling (MLW) when he became MLW Junior Heavyweight Champion and won the 2003 J-Cup USA. In Impact Wrestling, then known as TNA, he added the 2006 World X Cup and the 2015 Global Impact Tournament to his list of accolades.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit AEW Unrestricted with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.