Sunny Dhinsa

Sunny Dhinsa
Birth name Sunny Dhinsa
Born (1993-05-20) May 20, 1993
Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada[1]
Alma mater Simon Fraser University
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Akam
Sunny Dhinsa
Billed height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Billed weight 290 lb (130 kg)
Trained by WWE Performance Center
Debut April 4, 2015
Sunny Dhinsa
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing Canada
Pan American Games
2011 Guadalajara 120 kg

Sunny Dhinsa (born May 20, 1993) is a Canadian professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he competes in the developmental territory NXT under the ring name Akam.

Early life and amateur wrestling career

Born in Abbotsford, Dhinsa attended Simon Fraser University where he was a standout collegiate wrestler. He was the Canadian national freestyle wrestling champion in 2011, 2012 and 2013 in the heavyweight category. He won a gold medal in the 115kg category at the 2009 Canada Summer Games, and a silver medal at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. Dhinsa competed in the qualification tournament for the 2012 Summer Olympics, missing out on qualification after losing to Dremiel Byers.[2] He was considered a prospect for the 2016 Summer Olympics but left amateur wrestling after being offered a contract with WWE in 2014, having been scouted for the company by Gerald Brisco.[3]

Professional wrestling career

WWE

NXT (2015–present)

Main article: The Authors of Pain

In October 2014, Dhinsa was reported to have signed a contract with WWE and would begin training to become a professional wrestler at the WWE Performance Center. He made his in-ring debut at a WWE NXT house show in Orlando, Florida on 4 April 2015, competing in a battle royal, which was won by Scott Dawson.[4] By February 2016 Dhinsa had formed a tag team with Gzim Selmani[5] and they became known as the Authors of Pain in April 2016.[6]

Dhinsa and Selmani made their televised NXT debuts on 8 June 2016 at NXT TakeOver: The End;[7] following the NXT Tag Team Championship match, they attacked former champions American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan) before being joined on stage by veteran manager Paul Ellering.[8] On the 15 June episode of NXT, the Authors of Pain won their first televised match and were managed by Ellering.[9] On the 24 August episode of NXT, Dhinsa's ring name was revealed to be Akam,[10] while Selmani was billed as Rezar. The duo competed in the 2016 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, advancing to the tournament finals aagainst TM-61 at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, where they were victorious.

In wrestling

Championship and accomplishments

References

  1. ↑ "The World's Largest Wrestling Database". Wrestlingdata.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
  2. ↑ "Dhinsa falls short at Olympic wrestling qualifer - Abbotsford News". Abbynews.com. 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
  3. ↑ "CANOE - SLAM! Sports - Wrestling - Olympic wrestling's lifeline is good for the pros too". Slam.canoe.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
  4. ↑ "WWE NXT Live Event Results (4/4): Orlando, FL; Zayn vs Dawson". Wrestlezone.com. 2015-04-05. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
  5. ↑ "NXT Tampa, FL, live results: Sami Zayn vs. Manny Andrade for the first time"
  6. ↑ "4/22 WWE NXT in Tampa Results – TMDK & Nikki Storm make NXT debuts, A-Riley vs. Dillinger main event, No Way Jose, Mandy Rose". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  7. ↑ Johnson, Mike. "Dillinger has strong showing: Ongoing NXT TakeOver - The End blog". pwinsider.com. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  8. ↑ "NXT TakeOver live results: Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor cage match; Nakamura vs. Austin Aries". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved 2016-06-09.
  9. ↑ Tylwalk, Nick. "NXT: Finn Balor finds out what's next". Canoe.ca. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  10. ↑ "Akam_WWE". Twitter. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  11. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2016". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
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