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What's the story?
According to Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, WWE’s internal list of absentees states that Jinder Mahal is on course to return from injury at the beginning of 2020.
In case you didn't know…
In April 2019, Jinder Mahal began to establish himself as a singles competitor on WWE’s main roster again after being separated from his two sidekicks, The Singh Brothers, who returned to 205 Live.
However, following a short stint in the 24/7 Championship picture, which included a title triumph over R-Truth at Frankfurt airport, Mahal ruptured his patella tendon in a match against Ali at a live event in Denver, Colorado on June 15.
Two weeks later, the former WWE Champion took to social media to reveal that he had undergone surgery and the condition of his knee was better than expected.
The heart of the matter
In an update on Fightful Select, Sean Ross Sapp reported that WWE has listed Jinder Mahal’s return date as January 1, 2020.
Jinder Mahal's patella injury has him listed as a "January 1" return. He'd just signed a new five-year deal ahead of the injury. Previous reports had indicated a possible return at the end of the year.
Sapp also noted that he has heard from employees and Superstars that some dates are not in line with when the Superstars themselves expect to return, so the list is merely an estimated date when absentees are likely to be available again.
What's next?
If the internal list is anything to go by, Jinder Mahal has another five months on the sidelines before WWE fans can expect to see him inside a squared circle again.
The 33-year-old was drafted to SmackDown Live in the 2019 Superstar Shake-Up but he continued to appear on Raw in the weeks that followed the roster changes, so it remains to be seen which brand he will be part of when he returns.
See WWE Smackdown Results, Highlights of event, & more on WWE Smackdown Results page
