Neat article on Sonjay Dutt

[Guest Jay Z. Hollywood]

Found this via the CZWFans board and PWBTS, but the main link is from some other website. I thought it was a really interesting look at the real life of one of indy wrestling's top stars and how they integrate wrestling with their other professional goals.

 

Alex Marvez's weekly look at professional wrestling

 

By ALEX MARVEZ

February 12, 2004

 

 

Retesh Bhalla's high-flying wrestling style is just one part of his life that requires superb balance.

 

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Bhalla is attending classes at George Mason University in Virginia while continuing his rise to grappling stardom under the name Sonjay Dutt. Already a fixture on weekend independent shows in the Northeastern U.S., Bhalla has found it increasingly difficult to juggle his schedule now that he has landed a regular spot on Wednesday night National Wrestling Alliance/Total Nonstop Action pay-per-view shows.

 

"I'm literally never home," said Bhalla, who plans to graduate this year with a bachelor's degree in communications. "When I am home, I'm either driving to class, sleeping or getting ready to get back on the road.

 

"I've missed countless classes. Some of my professors are lenient and some aren't. That's the real challenging part, to get them to understand why I can't make it to class."

 

Bhalla laughed when asked if his educators have ever watched him wrestle. "I don't think any really cares," he said.

 

Those educators are missing athletic talent that easily matches any exhibited by competitors on George Mason sports teams.

 

The 5-8, 185-pound Bhalla has quickly established himself as one of the industry's most promising light-heavyweight grapplers thanks to his natural charisma and a series of eye-popping maneuvers. Bhalla's most impressive move is the Phoenix Splash, which is a twisting senton (i.e. a version of Jeff Hardy's trademark Swanton) turned into a 450-degree splash.

 

And thanks to his family background, the 21-year-old Bhalla also has the chance to become the top Indian star of his generation. Bhalla was born in Washington, D.C., but learned English as a third language after being raised speaking Punjabi and Hindi.

 

Despite having a population of more than one billion people, India is grossly underrepresented in the wrestling world. Dara Singh, who was an international star in the 1950s and 1960s, and ex-Japanese headliner Tiger Jeet Singh are considered the top two all-time Indian stars. The only other notable Indian performer was Jeet Singh's son Ali, who had a brief stint in World Wrestling Entertainment in the late 1990s.

 

WWE conducted a three-city tour of India in November 2002 but hasn't returned since.

 

"Wrestling is popular in India, but they need somebody they can relate to," Bhalla said. "I have a lot of family over there and they say people are starving for wrestling, but they're getting old WWE TV and are not really up to date with things. The style has changed so much. If they were able to get a hold of the new stuff, I know they would totally love it."

 

But Bhalla admits light-heavyweight wrestlers are in a tough position, even though many have a strong underground following. Not only do they have to overcome the stigma from mainstream fans that smaller grapplers aren't in the same league as their more muscle-bound peers, light-heavyweights also have a higher injury rate because of their wild style.

 

Ironically, Bhalla said the worst injury he has suffered was a cracked orbital bone in December when a move by NWA/TNA performer Tracy Brooks went awry. But Bhalla also is well aware that the creator of the Phoenix Splash - Eiji "Hayabusa" Ezaki - was paralyzed for several years with a broken neck when he botched a Lionsault in 2001 during a live pay-per-view match in Japan.

 

"Fans are drawn to us because we do stuff others don't do," Bhalla said. "If we don't do that stuff, a lot of people will look at it like, 'What do they have left?' So do we kill our bodies night in and night out doing insane stuff or do we slow it down to try and educate the fans (to less-risky maneuvers)? That's the biggest challenge we have."

 

Bhella said his short-term professional goal is garnering a more prominent role in NWA/TNA, which has done a far better job utilizing light-heavyweight wrestlers than WWE.

 

"I keep getting more time to showcase my wrestling on NWA/TNA, but my character and personality haven't come out yet on TV," said Bhalla, an Ashburn, Va.-resident who broke into the business in late 2000. "My ultimate goal is to get with WWE. Realistically at my size, that's a long shot at this point. But I would like to work on my size and fundamentals in NWA/TNA and see what I can do

 

Credit: TCPalm.com

[Nevermortal 0]

I think Sonjay might have a good shot at getting to the WWE.

[Detective Comics 0]

they say people are starving

Not the best choice of words.