The 38-year-old was one of five wrestlers WWE cut from its roster on Friday. Jinder Mahal and Sanga’s Indus Sher teammate Veer Mahaan were among the releases as well.
In a video he posted to social media on Saturday, Sanga said WWE wants viewership from India but now no longer has any athletes from the country.
A translation & transcription of Sanga’s comments (via Sportskeeda) is available below.
Sanga said:
When it comes to viewership, you want it from India. You want viewership on Facebook from India, the same goes for views on YouTube and television. But, when it comes to talent from India, you’re not encouraging it […] It’s sad, but you need to understand that we come from a land with 1.4 billion people, and they like you and us, and they want talented athletes from their home country to be represented and work on an international level […] It hurts when I hear this or think about it, but your company doesn’t have any athletes from India.
Jinder Mahal also commented on his release, writing, “I Quit. Maharaja Out.” Drew McIntyre later wrote to Mahal, “We showed them once. Now show them again, brother.” His message included an image of the two of them as members of 3MB. Mahal wrote back, “Comeback Kingz.”
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania before Monday’s episode of Raw.
One poor and one good match this week, but it was a show that had a variety of fresh faces and was all the better for it.
Veer & Sanga w/Jinder Mahal defeated Noam Dar & Oro Mensah w/ Lash Legend & Jakarta Jackson (6:02)
Despite there being a lot of people in and around the ring, that traffic didn’t translate into much of an exciting match. It was largely slow and methodical interspersed with sporadic moments of pace.
For a while there, Veer was a Main Event regular, but this was just his second Main Event appearance as part of Indus Sher. For Mensah, it was his Main Event debut, and he did well.
Jinder Mahal looks very comfortable in the elder statesman role because he’s a very experienced performer now who has worked at the top level and been in big title matches in the past.
Dar and Mensah tried their best to inject some action into the match, but it quickly became a series of slow double-team moves from Veer and Sanga, cutting the ring in half and using quick tags. Everything was made to look bigger than it was, with the camera kept low to make even an elbow drop look damaging.
Dar got a hot tag after Mensah had been destroyed for a while, but this was quickly thwarted as he and Mensah tried to get Veer off his feet. Veer reversed it into a double suplex in what was probably the highlight of the match.
In the end, Sanga held Dar up as if he was going to use a backbreaker while Veer came off the second rope with a leg drop and they got the win from there.
Ludwig Kaiser defeated Apollo Crews (7:11)
This was a much stronger match than the opener as Kaiser and Crews were great together. It was a genuine 50-50 bout with a real smoothness about how they worked.
While this match marked Kaiser’s Main Event debut, Apollo Crews has been here many, many times before. Yet, it was Crews’ first televised match since August, in a summer where he was a show regular.
They worked quickly together in the opening couple of minutes, but went to an early commercial break when Crews clotheslined Kaiser over the top rope to the floor.
When they came back, although there was a brief rest hold, it was all action as both men tried to get the win. Crews used a belly to back suplex to get some separation and as he was mid-air, Kaiser threw out out his hands in desperation. There’s a lot to like about Kaiser and his instincts are clearly very good.
After Crews hit his standing moonsault, he went up to the top rope. Kaiser had it scouted and nailed Crews with a kick to the head. At some point here Kaiser had bloodied his nose, but it made it look all the more cool when he hooked in his finisher and glared at the hard cam.
He held Crews a bit like you would for a Sister Abigail, but hooked his arm behind Crews’ neck so that he could transition into a DDT to get the win.
There was a lot to like and enjoy here but, sadly, I don’t think Kaiser is about to become a Main Event regular anytime soon.
This week’s WWE Main Event was taped at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, before last Monday’s Raw with Byron Saxton and Kevin Patrick on the call.
Akira Tozawa defeated Sanga (w/ Veer and Jinder Mahal) (3:38)
Before the match, Mahal announced this was the most destructive tag team on Raw and tonight, Sanga would be unleashed on the carcass of Tozawa.
Tozawa tried jumping on Sanga’s back, but was promptly thrown off. He came off the top rope with a crossbody but got caught and slammed by Sanga.
Sanga hit a really nice clothesline and a spinning cobra clutch slam. He almost had the submission with an over-the-shoulder backbreaker, but Tozawa managed to escape.
Tozawa made a comeback and hit a missile dropkick, but it didn’t drop Sanga. Finally, Sanga hit a giant boot to the face and a chokeslam for the pin.
Nikki Cross defeated Kayden Carter (w/ Katana Chance) (8:13)
This was Carter’s first main roster singles match since an April 2020 loss to Charlotte Flair on Raw.
Before the match began, Cross crouched behind Chance, grabbed her hair, and held it to her upper lip as if it were a mustache. She dropped Carter and began dancing while moving her hands in a claw-like fashion as if she wanted to grab something.
After a brief game of running around the ring, Carter hit a low dropkick. However, her advantage didn’t last long. Cross trapped her in the ring apron (similar to Fit Finlay) and beat on her foe. Hey, if you’re gonna steal spots, steal them from the best.
Back from the commercial break, Cross hit a sit-out death valley driver for a near fall. Cross locked on a straight jacket hold that Carter eventually got out of, but Cross then applied a sleeper. The story of this match was Carter not being used to singles competition as a few times it looked as though she was reaching for a tag.
Carter got out of the sleeper and began a comeback, hitting a running punch to the face, a kick, and a springboard leg drop off the bottom rope. Cross got the near fall with a bulldog and Carter got one off an STO. Cross eventually won with a flying crossbody which was little surprising if you ask me.
Final Thoughts:
In case you’re wondering how this show lasted an hour, we got some lengthy recaps of Raw, SmackDown, and NXT. If you want to know more about those shows, go read the remarkable recaps written by Steve Khan (Raw), Chris Aiken (NXT), and Colin McGuire (SmackDown). I approve of anything The Judgment Day does, but do you really need to know that?
Veer Mahaan appeared on Tuesday’s NXT, teasing a reunion with former tag team partner Sanga.
Backstage, Sanga was talking to Nathan Frazer about the final spot in the North American title ladder match at Halloween Havoc on October 22. After Frazer left, Veer appeared. The two stared each other down as the segment ended.
Mahaan and Sanga recently reunited at a NXT house show on September 24, teaming for the first time since early 2021 under their Indus Sher name. Mahaan had been on WWE TV since April, mostly competing on Raw. However, he only appeared on TV a few times since Triple H was named head of WWE creative in July.
Indus Sher first started teaming in 2018, and at one time were featured on NXT TV managed by Malcom Bivens (Stokely Hathaway in AEW). After the team split up, Sanga reappeared on NXT 2.0, first as a heel bodyguard for Grayson Waller and later in a babyface role, encouraging others backstage.
Indus Sher, the former tag team featuring Veer Mahaan and Sanga, have reunited.
At a house show in Citrus Springs, Florida, the two reunited to face Andre Chase and another talent. It is the first time that the two have teamed together since January 2021, when they teamed with Drew McIntyre to defeat Jinder Mahal and The Bollywood Boyz at WWE Superstar Spectacle, a show highlighting Indian talent.
The two started to team together back in 2018. At one time, they were featured on NXT television managed by Malcom Bivens, now known as Stokely Hathaway in NXT. They were split up, with Veer later being called up to Raw. After feuding with the Mysterios, he has only been seen a few times on television since Triple H took over WWE creative in July.
Sanga was later reintroduced in NXT 2.0 as a bodyguard for Grayson Waller. However, Sanga soon split up with Waller and became a babyface, encouraging others in a positive way in backstage segments. His most recent match aired on Tuesday’s NXT, where he lost to Von Wagner.
A match between former tag team partners is set for tonight’s episode of NXT.
WWE has announced that Grayson Waller will face Sanga on NXT tonight. Sanga (Saurav Gurjar) was introduced as Waller’s bodyguard on NXT this January, but their partnership ended when they lost last week’s gauntlet match for the vacant NXT Tag Team titles.
Sanga was pinned by Julius Creed in the gauntlet match. Pretty Deadly then defeated The Creed Brothers at the end of the gauntlet to become the new NXT Tag Team Champions.
In a post-show video last week, Waller blamed Sanga for their loss and said their business relationship is over. Waller said he doesn’t need anyone and has never needed anyone. Waller declared that he’s going to the top of NXT on his own.
WWE has also announced that, following their Tag Team title win last week, Pretty Deadly will be appearing on NXT tonight. Pretty Deadly made their NXT 2.0 debut two weeks ago when they were revealed as The Creed Brothers’ mystery attackers.
Before coming to NXT 2.0, Pretty Deadly were part of the NXT UK roster. They held the NXT UK Tag Team titles once.
Three title matches have been announced for next week’s WWE NXT.
Mandy Rose will defend the NXT Women’s Championship against Dakota Kai, Cameron Grimes will defend the NXT North American Championship against Solo Sikoa, and MSK will defend the NXT Tag Team titles against Grayson Waller and Sanga. Kushida will also face Von Wagner in a singles match.
Rose was involved in the finish of tonight’s NXT Women’s Tag Team title match, allowing Jacey Jayne and Gigi Dolin to regain the titles from Kai and partner Raquel Gonzalez. Later, in a backstage promo, Kai promised revenge.
MSK will defend against Waller and Sanga following an interview that took place on tonight’s show. MSK were doing a promo when Waller and Sanga walked up, with Waller boasting about how he was trending after Saturday. Lee told Waller they won the tag team titles, but Sanga told MSK that they wouldn’t be champions for long. MSK challenged them to a match for tonight’s show, but Waller and Sanga rejected the offer, with Waller pointing to his injured elbow. Waller told them they would take the titles when they were ready.
As Cameron Grimes came out to celebrate his North American title win, Solo Sikoa came out and was respectful, saying that now comes the hard part of becoming champion – defending it. Grimes said he had to fight every day to be here and told Solo that the match was on.
