On June 12, 2014, Mahal was released from his WWE contract. However, he returned in August of 2016 looking much stronger than when he left. At WrestleMania 33, he was the last person eliminated from the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royale which was won by Mojo Rawley. On the April 18, 2017 episode of SmackDown, he won a #1 contender's six-pack challenge for the WWE Championship and at Backlash, he won the title from Randy Orton. This made him the first wrestler with family from India to win the title.