Wrestler Dexter Lumis reveals new shaggy look ahead of his rumored WWE return in Saudi Arabia

It's been more than a year since Dexter Lumis has appeared in any WWE programming, but the 40-year-old wrestling star is rumored to be on his way back to the ring, where he may be hard to recognize.

Lumis (real name: Sam Shaw) has appeared in several social media photos sporting scruffy facial hair and a longer mane atop his head. He had previously been known to have a neatly trimmed mustache with a well-maintained fade.

This may seem innocuous to non-wrestling fans, but the new look appears to be part of a bigger plan by the WWE to reintroduce Lumis as part of the new 'Uncle Howdy' faction, which is expected to debut at Saturday's King and Queen of the Ring Tournament in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The WWE gave a major Uncle Howdy clue to fans recently with the use of a QR code that revealed the postal code in Jeddah: 22423. 

WWE stars such as Randy Orton, Bianca Belair, and GUNTHER will participate in the event, where the men's and women's winners are expected to be given a shot at a title.

But the biggest buzz may center around the return of Bo Dallas as Uncle Howdy, who is expected to lead a new faction that will likely include Lumis, according to multiple reports.

Lumis was a regular with WWE until May of 2023, when he mysteriously vanished from promotion broadcasts. There had been reports that the WWE simply had no creative plans for Lumis.

The 37th annual SummerSlam will be held on Saturday at the Jeddah Super Dome, which comes during a resurgent year for the wrestling circuit following the Vince McMahon's sudden resignation over accusations of sex trafficking.

McMahon, a long-time wrestling promoter, is being sued by a former WWE employee over several accusations, including the claim that he trafficked her to other men in the company.

Despite that, the WWE, a sports entertainment company that is part of TKO Group, is now among the top 10 most subscribed YouTube channels globally, with no professional sports leagues currently in that mix.

Others in the top 10 include Indian record label and film production company T-Series, Sony Entertainment Television and social media personalities MrBeast and PewDiePie.

WWE joined YouTube three years after its launch and says that the company currently has more than 81 billion lifetime views on the platform. Part of its YouTube success comes from carefully curating its content - and making sure there is a continuous flow of it.

That includes highlights from its weekly television shows, Raw, Smackdown and NXT, which are immediately uploaded to the platform when the shows end. There's also pay-per-view and premium live event archives as well as original content, including press conferences held after premium live events, WWE career retrospectives and vlogs from wrestlers.