Former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal Returns to Action on WWE Raw

Jinder Mahal made his first appearance on WWE television since June 2019 on this week’s Monday Night Raw when he beat Akira Tozawa in a squash match. The former WWE Champion last appeared at the Super ShowDown event in the 50-man battle royal, then faced Ali at a house show before WWE broke the news that he had suffered a knee injury. Mahal wound up needing surgery and had a return timetable between six months and a full year, though reports of him already being 100% started popping up several weeks ago.

Mahal had a rather infamous run as WWE Champion back in 2017, holding the championship for 170 days from May to November of that year. He originally beat Randy Orton for the title, then retained it against the likes Baron Corbin and Shinsuke Nakamura before dropping it to AJ Styles just before that year’s Survivor Series. The majority of WWE fans were against the reign, especially since Mahal had been portrayed as a jobber months before his sudden rise to the top of the card. And with the exception of a very brief United States Championship run, he hasn’t been anywhere close to that spot since.

Here’s the Money in the Bank card as of now:

• WWE Universal Championship: Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt
• WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins
• SmackDown Women’s Championship: Bayley vs. Tamina
• Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match (Filmed at WWE Headquarters): Daniel Bryan vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Aleister Black vs. Apollo Crews vs. King Corbin vs. Otis/Dolph Ziggler
• Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match (Filmed at WWE Headquarters): Asuka vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Nia Jax vs. Dana Brooke vs. Lacey Evans vs. Mandy Rose/Carmella