Sunny Dhinsa (born May 20, 1993) is a Canadian

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

and former

amateur wrestler Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced in collegiate, school, or other amateur level competitions. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games: freestyle and Greco-Roman. Both styles are under the ...

. He is best known for his time with the

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

, where he performed under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

Akam. After signing with WWE in 2014, he has since teamed with

Rezar } Gzim Selmani (born 16 June 1994) is a Dutch-Albanian professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Rezar. After signing with WWE in 2015, he has since teamed ...

as part of The Authors of Pain, with whom he has held the NXT Tag Team Championship and

WWE Raw Tag Team Championship The WWE Raw Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two male tag team championships for WWE's main roster, ...

once, and they also won the 2016 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament.

Early life

Sunny Dhinsa was born on May 20, 1993, in

Abbotsford, British Columbia Abbotsford is a city located in British Columbia, adjacent to the Canada–United States border, Greater Vancouver and the Fraser River. With an estimated population of 153,524 people it is the largest municipality in the province outside metrop ...

Amateur wrestling career

Dhinsa attended Simon Fraser University, where he was a standout collegiate wrestler. He won the Canadian national

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling ...

champion in 2011, 2012 and 2013 in the heavyweight category. He won a gold medal in the 115 kg category at the

2009 Canada Summer Games The 2009 Canada Summer Games were held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island from August 15 to 29. Medal standings The following is the medal table for the 2009 Canada Summer Games. Events *Athletics *Baseball *Basketball *Canoe/Kayak *Cyclin ...

, and a silver medal at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

. Dhinsa competed in the qualification tournament for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, missing out on qualification after losing to Dremiel Byers. He was considered a prospect for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

but left amateur wrestling after being offered a contract with

in 2014, having been scouted for the company by Gerald Brisco.

Professional wrestling career

WWE (2014–2020)

In October 2014, Dhinsa was reported to have signed a contract with

and would begin training to become a professional wrestler at the

WWE Performance Center The WWE Performance Center is the official professional wrestling school system of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. The promotion currently operates two Performance Center locations, which serve as training facilities for WWE wre ...

. He made his in-ring debut at a

NXT NXT may refer to: Professional wrestling * ''WWE NXT'', a professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that began in 2010 ** NXT (WWE brand), WWE's Florida-based brand and former developmental territory * ''NXT UK'', the British spin- ...

house show A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive du ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

on April 4, 2015, competing in a battle royal, which was won by Scott Dawson. By February 2016 Dhinsa had formed a tag team with

Gzim Selmani } Gzim Selmani (born 16 June 1994) is a Dutch-Albanian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Rezar. After si ...

and they became known as the Authors of Pain in April 2016. Dhinsa and Selmani (billed as Akam and Rezar) made their televised ''

'' debuts on June 8, 2016, at NXT TakeOver: The End; 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. The duo had a push during his time in NXT, winning the

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is an annual professional wrestling tag team tournament held by the American promotion WWE, and is featured on its NXT brand, having first been established in 2015. In subsequent years, wrestlers from the NXT UK and ...

, after defeating TM-61 at NXT TakeOver: Toronto and winning at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio the NXT Tag Team Championship when they defeated #DIY. The duo retained the titles at NXT TakeOver: Orlando (by defeating #DIY and The Revival in a triple threat tag team elimination match by eliminating both teams) and NXT TakeOver: Chicago (by defeating #DIY) in a ladder match to retain the titles. The duo turned face on August 9 edition of ''NXT'' after being attacked by

SAnitY Sanity (from la, sāntā) refers to the soundness, rationality, and health of the human mind, as opposed to insanity. A person is sane if they are rational. In modern society, the term has become exclusively synonymous with ''compos mentis'' ( ...

. At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, the Authors of Pain lost the titles to SAnitY at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Authors of Pain and Roderick Strong competed in a 3 team WarGames match which was won by The Undisputed Era. At NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, Authors of Pain got a rematch but failed to win back the titles. At NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, Authors of Pain competed in a Triple threat tag team match for the NXT Tag Team Championship and Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic trophy which was won by The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly). On the April 9 episode of

Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...

, The Authors of Pain, along with Ellering, made their main roster debut, defeating Heath Slater and Rhyno. After the match, Akam and Rezar ended their partnership with Ellering by pushing him away and leaving him ringside as they returned backstage. On the September 3 episode of ''Raw'', The Authors of Pain, now under the shortened name of "AOP", were accompanied to the ring by the

205 Live ''WWE 205 Live'' is an American professional wrestling streaming television program that was produced by WWE. It premiered on November 29, 2016, and ended on February 11, 2022. The show originally aired exclusively on the WWE Network until March ...

General Manager, Drake Maverick, who announced himself as their new manager. On the November 5 episode of Raw, The Authors of Pain defeated Seth Rollins in a handicap match to win the Raw Tag Team Championship for the first time. They went on to defeat SmackDown's Tag Team Champions

Cesaro and Sheamus The Bar, originally simply known as Cesaro and Sheamus, was a professional wrestling tag team in WWE. They were record-setting four-time Raw Tag Team Champions and one-time SmackDown Tag Team Champions, making their team overall five-time cham ...

in an interbrand Champion vs Champion match at Survivor Series. They lost the titles to

Bobby Roode Robert Francis Roode Jr. (born May 11, 1976) is a Canadian professional wrestler signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. He is currently inactive due to undergoing neck surgery. Roode is known for his 12-year tenure for Total Nonstop ...

and Chad Gable on the December 10 episode of Raw. In January 2019 Akam suffered an undisclosed leg injury that reportedly would keep him out for "at least a few months". He would be cleared to return to action in May, however the team has yet to return to action. He and Rezar returned to action at

Super ShowDown WWE Super ShowDown (originally stylized as Super Show-Down) was a professional wrestling event produced by WWE, an American-based promotion. It was broadcast live and available only through pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE's livestreaming service, the ...

on June 7, 2019. In September 2019, AOP began appearing in vignettes, warning of their return. During the

2019 WWE Draft The 2019 WWE Draft was the fourteenth WWE Draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between their Raw and SmackDown brands. Returning to its original name (the "WWE Draft") and a traditional draft format, it was the seco ...

in October, AOP went undrafted, becoming free agents and able to choose which brand to sign with. Three days after the draft's conclusion, AOP signed with Raw, remaining on the brand. Then, they started allying with Seth Rollins after they helped beat down Kevin Owens on the Raw after

Survivor Series (2019) The 2019 Survivor Series was the 33rd annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and NXT brand divisions. The event took place ...

. In March 2020, it was reported that Rezar suffered a bicep injury, therefore putting the team on hiatus. Akam was last seen in WWE on the April 1 taping of Main Event, where he escorted Murphy to the ring for a match. On September 4, 2020, AOP were released from their WWE contracts.

Independent circuit (2022–present)

In May 2022, Sunny Dhinsa and Gzim Selmani, now known as Legion of Pain, have announced the launch of their professional wrestling promotion, Wrestling Entertainment Series (WES).

Other media

Akam made his

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

debut as a playable character in ''

WWE 2K18 ''WWE 2K18'' is a professional wrestling video game developed by Yuke's and published by 2K Sports. It is the nineteenth installment in the WWE game series (fifth under the ''WWE 2K'' banner) and a follow-up to ''WWE 2K17''. It was released worl ...

'' and has since appeared in WWE SuperCard, WWE Champions, ''

WWE 2K19 ''WWE 2K19'' is a professional wrestling video game developed by Yuke's and published by 2K Sports. It was released worldwide on October 9, 2018, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the twentieth overall game in the ''WWE' ...

,'' '' WWE 2K20.'' He and Rezar were announced as part of the DLC roster for ''

WWE 2K Battlegrounds ''WWE 2K Battlegrounds'' is a professional wrestling video game developed by Saber Interactive and published by 2K Sports on September 18, 2020. A spin-off to the ''WWE 2K'' series, ''Battlegrounds'' is a fast-paced, arcade-style fighting game; ...

'', but were later removed from the game after their release from WWE two weeks prior.

Championship and accomplishments

* '' Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' ** Ranked No. 204 of the top 500 wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2018 *

** NXT Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with

( 1 time) – with Rezar **

(

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

) – with Rezar

References

External links

* * {{Navboxes, , list1= {{WWE Tag Team Championship {{NXT Tag Team Championship {{Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Winners 1993 births Living people Canadian male professional wrestlers Canadian male sport wrestlers Sportspeople from Abbotsford, British Columbia Professional wrestlers from British Columbia Wrestlers at the 2011 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in wrestling Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games NXT Tag Team Champions Canadian sportspeople of Indian descent 21st-century professional wrestlers