Brock Lesnar’s Reported Return, MVP’s WWE Status and Jinder Mahal Injury Update

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Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Lesnar Reportedly Expected Back for SummerSlam

Brock Lesnar has not appeared on WWE programming since dropping the WWE Championship to Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 36 in April, but his hiatus reportedly may not last much longer.

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside News), Lesnar is expected to be part of the SummerSlam pay-per-view, which is currently scheduled for Aug. 23 in Boston.

It is unclear if the event will be able to take place in Boston and if fans will be able to attend due to the coronavirus pandemic, so it is possible that WWE may have to move it to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, as has been the case with every pay-per-view since WrestleMania.

Regardless of where SummerSlam is held, having Lesnar in the fold for the event would be huge for WWE. The Beast Incarnate has been a huge part of SummerSlam over the years with matches against The Rock, Kurt Angle, The Undertaker, Triple H, Randy Orton, CM Punk, John Cena and Seth Rollins.

Since Lesnar lost the WWE title to McIntyre, it stands to reason that the Scottish Superstar will be on his radar when he returns.

McIntyre is set to defend the WWE Championship against Bobby Lashley at the upcoming Backlash pay-per-view, so it is possible that Lesnar could go after Lashley if he beats McIntyre for the title as well.

Lesnar vs. Lashley has long been viewed as a dream match, and now would be the perfect time to do it since Lashley has his own version of Paul Heyman in MVP.

No matter who Lesnar comes back to face, his mere presence on the SummerSlam card would make it feel like a big deal to WWE fans.

Update on MVP's Role with WWE

MVP is reportedly working only as an on-screen talent in WWE currently despite getting hired as a producer after making his return to the company at the Royal Rumble in January.

According to Meltzer (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Marc Middleton), MVP was furloughed from his role as a producer along with several others as part of budget cuts related to COVID-19 in April. Rather than sending MVP home, however, WWE decided to utilize him as a talent.

MVP has been a part-time wrestler and recently became the mouthpiece for Lashley. Meltzer noted that Heyman, who is the Executive Director of Raw, wanted MVP to be part of the overall package for an eventual Lashley WWE Championship run.

Meltzer added that it is possible MVP could resume his role as a producer once operations return to normal in the form of live events and fans attending shows.

While things may not have gone according to plan for MVP, there is no question that he has been great in his role as Lashley's manager and has a chance to take Lashley to heights he has never experienced before in WWE.

The Lashley-MVP pairing worked once before in Impact Wrestling when Lashley won that promotion's world title, and there is reason to believe that a similar result could be forthcoming at some point in WWE.

Mic work is the one weakness in Lashley's game, but MVP is one of the best in that regard, and he has helped Lashley become a complete performer.

Mahal Undergoes Knee Surgery

Jinder Mahal announced Friday that he is once again out of action because of a knee injury.

Mahal posted the following message on Instagram accompanied by a photo of himself standing in front of a walker with his right leg wrapped up: “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.”

The former WWE champion missed nearly 11 months with a knee injury before making his return on the April 27 edition of Raw in a winning effort against Akira Tozawa. Mahal also won two matches on Main Event last month before disappearing from WWE television.

WWE seemed to be building Mahal up for a big push and there was some thought that he would enter into a feud with McIntyre since they are real-life friends and previously teamed together as part of 3MB.

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Mahal beat Randy Orton for the WWE Championship in 2017, marking one of the most shocking moments in wrestling history. He held the title for over five months before dropping it to AJ Styles.

While The Modern Day Maharaja fell down the card after that loss, he won the United States Championship at WrestleMania 34 just over two years ago.

Mahal had the makings of a solid midcard heel on Raw, but now that he is on the injured list again, WWE will look for someone else to step up in his absence.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

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