Sonjay Dutt has transitioned into an office role in Impact Wrestling while recovering from an injury to his Achilles tendon. However, if and when Dutt gets cleared to wrestle, he’s unsure whether he will actually return to in-ring action.
“I’m not totally decided on what my future is, 18 years in the professional wrestling business, 18 years as an in-ring performer. Half my life I’ve spent in the ring, and this has been the longest period of time that I’ve not stepped into the ring,” said Dutt on Wednesday afternoon’s Impact Wrestling media call. “I’m coming up on 12 weeks since my surgery so it seems like an eternity but I’ve got a lot of stuff on my plate and adding to that is getting stuck in the booth with Josh (Matthews) every week.”
Sonjay Dutt in August 2017. Photo by George Tahinos
“I do miss wrestling. Don’t get me wrong, I do miss wrestling but there is a lot on my plate right now and when the time comes when I can get back in the ring, when I’m fully recovered, I’m looking at it as a bridge that I will cross then,” said Dutt.
In April 2017 Dutt became a backstage producer for Impact Wrestling and is involved with the attempts to build up the brand again.
“I think we are still in a rebuilding phase. I don’t think that it’s over just because ratings have been good for a few weeks and whatnot. Obviously, interest is growing on a week by week basis but I don’t think that the rebuilding is over. I think that is definitely in place. Trying to bring stability to the product on the screen and to bring stability to things backstage behind the camera. Those elements are definitely in effect on a daily basis.”
“The main thing that creates a successful wrestling company is talent. Obviously, that’s clicking with the audience. It’s showing on our metrics in television, social media, and digital. I’m going to credit all of that to the talent that you see on camera,” said Dutt.
The success of Impact Wrestling is due to their small number of employees.
“There is not a lot of us that are doing this stuff and we are a very tight-knit group. We all have a certain goal in mind. We are all doing everything we can to achieve it. There’s a lot of stuff that needs to be done and we are all doing it every day, day in and day out.”
“Behinds the cameras there’s a lot, especially with the production team in Nashville. None of this stuff would be possible without these guys and the hard work they put in and their creativity as well. So, it’s definitely a team effort all the way,” said Dutt.
The team effort goes beyond Impact Wrestling’s staff and includes the companies that are working with the company.
“It behooves everybody to work together, it behooves everybody to share resources and grow your brand together but there is a fine line but right now we are working with all these companies. I’ll use big time wrestling last week out in California as an example, there audience may not have known us,” said Dutt. The audience in California was exposed to Impact Wrestling and the viewers of Impact Wrestling were exposed to the talent in California. Both wrestling companies benefit by gaining new fans.
SONJAY DUTT STORIES
- Aug 16, 2017: X Division continues to set GFW apart
- June 1, 2011: Tigerfest draws Dutt back
- June 28, 2010: Minority Mat Report: Discrimination of South Asians has lessened through the years
- June 9, 2005: Sonjay Dutt a Cup playa