Former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal returned to Monday Night Raw back on April 27 after being out of action for nearly a full year due to a ruptured patella. And while some fans (and Drew McIntyre) speculated he was on his way back to the world championship picture, it looks like that won’t be happening anytime soon. Mahal took to Instagram on Friday to reveal that he had to undergo another knee surgery, showing off a cast that covered his entire right leg. There’s no word yet on when he’ll return.
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“Unfortunately I had to go under the knife again to fix some knee issues. The journey has hit a speed bump, but I will be back stronger than ever,” he wrote.
Given his history in the 3MB faction with McIntyre, it seemed like a feud between the two over the WWE Championship was an easy storyline for “The Scottish Psychopath.” McIntyre seemed to agree when he spoke with Metro back in early May.
“I don’t know if the fans would necessarily accept it right away,” McIntyre said. “Jinder and I have that legitimate, real story. He just has to get a bit of a run going, build up some steam and when the time’s right, come together. Aside from what people saw on television, besides the fact he won the title before me and everyone kind of crapped on it, then I won the title and everybody kinda praised it, there’s a lot of backstage stuff we can put on-screen and I know it’ll be fantastic. We just have to do it at the right time.”
With Mahal gone, McIntyre was slotted into a storyline involving Bobby Lashley and his new manager, MVP. The two big men will clash at the Backlash pay-per-view this Sunday.
Check out the full card for Backlash below:
- WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley
- WWE Universal Championship: Braun Strowman vs. The Miz & John Morrison
- United States Championship: Apollo Crews vs. Andrade
- Raw Women’s Championship: Asuka vs. Nia Jax
- WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Sasha Banks & Bayley vs. The IIconics vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross
- Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus
- Edge vs. Randy Orton
