Saurav Gurjar (born 26 September 1985) is an Indian professional wrestler and actor. As a wrestler, he is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Sanga. As an actor, he is best known for his role as Bhima in the TV show Mahabharat.[2] He is a former National Kickboxing Gold Medalist.[3]
| Saurav Gurjar | |
|---|---|
| Born | 26 September 1985 Dabra, Madhya Pradesh, India |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Deadly Danda Sanga Saurav Saurav Gurjar |
| Billed height | 203 cm (6 ft 8 in)[1] |
| Billed weight | 136 kg (300 lb)[1] |
| Billed from | Madhya Pradesh, India[1] |
| Debut | 2011 |
Early life
editGurjar was born on 26 September 1985 and hails from Dabra in Madhya Pradesh.[3][4] He is a former National Kickboxing Gold medalist.[3]
Professional wrestling career
editRing Ka King (2011–2012)
editIn December 2011, he took part in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's India project, Ring Ka King, where he performed under the ring name Deadly Danda. He was a member of Jeff Jarrett's heel stable RDX alongside Abyss, Scott Steiner, Nick Aldis and Sonjay Dutt.[5]
WWE (2018–2024)
editOn 14 January 2018, Gurjar signed a contract with WWE. Gurjar made his first televised appearance as a participant in the Worlds Collide men's battle. On 25 March 2020 episode of NXT, Gurjar and Rinku Singh attacked Matt Riddle, with Malcolm Bivens seemingly acting as their manager.[6][7] The following week, Bivens would introduce them as Rinku and Saurav and revealed their team name to be Indus Sher.[8] Indus Sher stopped appearing on television in June after Gurjar posted a photo on Instagram of Keith Lee holding both the NXT Championship and the NXT North American Championship which he won and retained respectively, at NXT's The Great American Bash (2020) which had yet to air at the time the photo was uploaded.[9]
On 18 January 2022 episode of NXT, Saurav, under the new ring name Sanga, was repackaged as a bodyguard of Grayson Waller.[10] However, on 12 April edition of NXT, Waller fired Sanga and the following week, Sanga would lose to Waller in a singles match.[11][12] In October, Sanga reformed Indus Sher with Veer Mahaan, the former Rinku, who had recently returned to NXT.[13]
Sanga got promoted to the main roster as he and Indus Sher were drafted to the Raw brand in the 2023 WWE Draft. Sanga made his Raw debut on 15 May in a tag team match with Veer defeating local talents Drake Thompson and Lavar Barbie.[14] On 18 March 2024, episode of Raw, he and Veer were defeated by the Awesome Truth in a qualifier for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship ladder match at WrestleMania XL. On the 05 April 2024 episode of Smackdown, he appeared in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, where he was eliminated by the Creed Brothers; this would be his final match. In April 2024, Sanga was released from WWE.[15]
Championships and accomplishments
edit- Ring Ka King
- World Cup of Ring Ka King (2012) – with Scott Steiner, Sir Brutus Magnus, Abyss, and Sonjay Dutt[16]
Acting career
editIn 2013, Gurjar who started his acting venture and appeared on television.[3] He made his television debut with a serial Mahabharat in which he portrayed the role of Bhim.[17] The show was aired on Star Plus and had run from 2013 to 2014. He then appeared in Sankatmochan Mahabali Hanuman as Ravan and Bali from 2016 to 2017.[18]
He made his debut in films with Brahmastra released in 2022.[18]
Filmography
edit| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Brahmāstra Part One: Shiva | Zor | Debut[19] |
Television
edit| Year | Show | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013–2014 | Mahabharat | Bhim | |
| 2014–2016 | The New Eat Bulaga! Indonesia | Host | |
| 2016–2017 | Sankatmochan Mahabali Hanuman | Ravan and Bali | |
| 2018 | Prithvi Vallabh | Gohil Raj | |
| 2020 | Myopia | Gustad | |
| 2022 | Yeh Jhuki Jhuki Si Nazar | Vivek |
References
edit- ^ a b c "Sanga". WWE. Archived from the original on 15 April 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
- ^ "Spot boys run away from me: Saurav Singh Gurjar". The Times of India. 2 December 2013. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
- ^ a b c d "Rinku Singh, Saurav Gurjar eye WWE glory". Hindustan Times. 29 April 2017. Archived from the original on 23 June 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
- ^ "Saurav Gurjar - verified". Twitter. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
- ^ "Ring Ka King (RKK) - All Time Roster". Cagematch. Archived from the original on 26 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- ^ Garettson, Jordan. "Matt Riddle def. Roderick Strong". WWE. Jordan Garettson. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
- ^ Upton, Felix (26 March 2020). "Matt Riddle sends plea to Pete Dunne after '2 Hairy Dudes' attacked him on WWE NXT". RingsideNews. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
- ^ "Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap pull out of Denmark Open". Hindustan Times. 6 October 2020. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
- ^ Gibbons, Aidan (4 June 2020). "WWE NXT Tag Team Were Pulled From TV Because Of Matt Riddle's Main Roster Call-Up". Cultaholic. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
- ^ "Grayson Waller brings out the muscle with new bodyguard Sanga: WWE NXT, Jan. 25, 2022". WWE. 25 January 2022. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ^ "Grayson Waller squares off with his former bodyguard Sanga". WWE.com. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
- ^ Mrosko, Gene (13 April 2022). "Grayson Waller is already done with Sanga". Cageside Seats. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
- ^ Middleton, Marc (26 October 2022). "Veer Mahaan and Sanga Officially Reunite with Sneak Attack on Tonight's WWE NXT". Wrestling Headlines. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
- ^ "Raw results, May 15, 2023: Imperium help The Judgment Day score a victory over Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn". WWE. 15 May 2023. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- ^ Tessier, Colin (20 April 2024). "Sanga Released By WWE". Wrestlezone. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
- ^ "Ring Ka King #18". Cagematch. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- ^ IANS (9 May 2014). "My build got me 'Mahabharat' role: Wrestler Saurav Gurjar". Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
- ^ a b "WWE के इस रेसलर ने महाभारत में निभाया भीम का रोल, रणबीर की फिल्म में आएंगे नजर". aajtak.intoday.in (in Hindi). 21 May 2020. Archived from the original on 30 May 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
- ^ "Wrestler Saurav Gurjar set to make Bollywood debut Alia Bhatt-Ranbir Kapoor starrer Brahmāstra". Firstpost. IANS. 7 February 2018. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.