Former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal Returns to WWE, Fights Jeff Hardy on 'Main Event'

Jinder Mahal returned to action Monday, facing Jeff Hardy at the WWE Main Event taping prior to Raw.

According to WrestlingInc.com's Marc Middleton, Mahal was flanked by Rinku and Saurav, who previously wrestled as the tag team Indus Sher in NXT.

It marked Mahal's first match since the WWE Network special Superstar Spectacle in January, which saw him team with The Singh Brothers in a losing effort against Drew McIntyre and Indus Sher.

Before that, Mahal had not had a match since the May 12, 2020, edition of Main Event because of a knee injury.

He suffered the injury just a few weeks after returning on the April 27, 2020, episode of Raw following a 10-month absence caused by a previous knee injury.

The 34-year-old veteran has been back with WWE since 2016, when he re-signed with the company after being released in 2014.

Mahal's first WWE run wasn't particularly successful, but things went far better for him the second time around, as he shockingly beat Randy Orton for the WWE Championship in 2017 and held it for 170 days before dropping it to AJ Styles.

Jinder also won the United States Championship once, beating Orton, Robert Roode and Rusev in a Fatal 4-Way match for the title at WrestleMania 34.

Mahal's WWE title reign did receive the best reviews, but it was clear that WWE's higher-ups saw something in him after he improved his physique significantly and developed into a hated heel.

It is unclear if Indus Sher will be by Mahal's side when he eventually returns on Raw or SmackDown, but aligning him with the behemoths would freshen his act up significantly after having the diminutive Singh Brothers as his lackeys during his WWE Championship reign.

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