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Abbotsford pro wrestler released from WWE contract

W.J. Mouat grad Sunny Dhinsa done with wrestling promotion after close to six years
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Abbotsford’s Akam (right) celebrates his tag title win with partner Rezar (left) and manager Drake Maverick (middle) back in 2018. (Twitter)

Abbotsford professional wrestler Sunny Dhinsa, aka: Akam, has been released from his contract with World Wrestling Entertainment.

The company made the announcement on social media on Sept. 4.

Dhinsa, a 2011 W.J. Mouat grad, was signed with the company in 2014 and spent the majority of his time on the roster as part of the Authors of Pain tag team with his partner Rezar (Gzim Selmani).

The 27-year-old spent four years in WWE developmental, and he and Rezar captured the NXT tag team championships in 2017. The duo were then called up to the main roster in April 2018 and the pair captured the WWE tag team titles after a win in England that November.

RELATED: Abbotsford pro wrestler wins WWE tag team title

The pair remained on WWE programming, appearing on the promotion’s Monday Night Raw show over the past two years. His partner suffered a bicep injury in March, and the team had not appeared on television since that setback.

Dhinsa had a storied amateur wrestling career, starring on the mat for years at both Mouat and Simon Fraser University, and was the Canadian national freestyle wrestling champion from 2011 to 2013 in the heavyweight division. He also won a gold medal at the 2009 Canada Summer Games and a silver medal at the 2011 Pan American Games. He failed to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics, and had a good chance to make the 2016 Summer Olympics team but turned professional in 2014.

It’s unclear what is next for Dhinsa, but most WWE contracts contain a 90-day non-compete clause, meaning talents are unable to appear on any other wrestling TV shows before the clause expires.



Ben Lypka

About the Author: Ben Lypka

I joined the Abbotsford News in 2015.
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