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AJ Styles walked out of Manchester as WWE Champion after toppling The Modern Day Maharaja and ending Jinder Mahal's 170-day title reign.
A lot of people were wondering why WWE decided to flip SmackDown's top title so close to the big November showcase known as Survivor Series. The WWE Champion will face Brock Lesnar regardless of who it is, and it looks like AJ Styles will now receive that honour.
But what was WWE's motivation for shaking things up? Let's explore 6 possible reasons.
#1 Jinder Mahal injured
It didn't look like Jinder Mahal was injured from the way he performed against AJ Styles, but reports suggested he might have been nursing a shoulder injury. Of course, there's always the chance he was able to gut through the pain. But he performed a few nice moves that would have been pretty hard to pull off if he had really been injured.
It was a hard-fought match and Jinder Mahal didn't look like he was working hurt. He was also working the entire tour up to that point which probably wouldn't have happened if he was really injured.
Jinder Mahal told ESPN he wasn't working injured and still denies the claims he was working hurt. He seemed to be just fine, though, except for the fact he lost.
But the fact Mahal was making towns wearing Kinesio Tape made some people wonder how he was doing.
#2 AJ Styles sells more tickets
Let's face it, AJ Styles is a much bigger name than Jinder Mahal. Many would regard a match between Brock Lesnar and AJ Styles as a dream match of sorts as well.
AJ Styles getting the spot against the Universal Champion is certainly going to bring a lot more eyes to the Survivor Series show. It might be possible that WWE was looking to boost WWE Network subscriptions or ticket sales at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
SmackDown Live's ticket sales have also been on the decline, so that could have also played a huge part in things.
Therefore, it is plausible that WWE pulled the plug on Jinder Mahal's title reign because he wasn't moving the needle as much as the company would've liked.
#3 Playing hot potato with the title
There's always the possibility Jinder Mahal will get his WWE Championship back next week on SmackDown Live. After all, WWE really needs to get people to keep watching their television show and having a bunch of unexpected moments is certainly a good way to get people to tune in.
Next week's SmackDown Live is coming from Atlanta, Georgia and Jinder Mahal very well could capitalize on a rematch clause. During their championship match, the Raw roster could invade and cause enough of a distraction for Jinder Mahal to hit a Khallas and score a pinfall.
So, don't count your chickens until they hatch because there could still be time for Jinder Mahal to regain his prized possession.
#4 Royal Rumble retribution
Jinder Mahal could fail to regain his WWE Championship but he won't give up the fight. He could appear on television each week while talking about how badly he was cheated out of his title and how he is still the Modern Day Maharaja. If they do this correctly, Mahal could draw just as much heat without his title as he did with it.
Mahal's goal could be the Royal Rumble and he would could about how he intends on fulfilling his destiny by winning the big match and claiming his spot at WrestleMania 34.
In the end, Jinder Mahal could win the Royal Rumble and earn a spot in a marquee match at the Show of Shows in New Orleans.
#5 Just wait until India
WWE has been looking to make a concentrated push in the Indian market for a while now. After all, the country's fan base accounts for a majority of WWE's social media activity. Jinder Mahal carried the WWE Championship for India's people, all 1.3 billion (2016 estimate) of them.
What if Jinder Mahal finds himself winning his cherished title back while touring his homeland? If WWE plans on having Jinder Mahal pick up his WWE Championship when WWE tours India, it would be a great moment not only for Jinder Mahal's career but also for international public relations.
Even though he's not WWE Champion anymore, Jinder Mahal is still likely to take part in the tour. All they would need to do is invite the WWE Champion along for the trip as well and this match could be plausibly set up for Jinder Mahal to win the title back in a place where he would be very over as a babyface
#6 Reward for A
The old saying is "if you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" and when AJ Styles took off from WWE's South American tour to fly fifteen hours and make the TLC pay-per-view in Minneapolis it was a big way to scratch WWE's back.
The fact that he not only had an amazing match against Finn Balor but also wrestled the next night on Raw too was just icing on the cake.
Randy Orton was said to have been given a WWE Championship run because he did WWE a solid by taking those sick stiff elbows from Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam that busted his head open like a melon. Sometimes, it pays off to go the extra mile because Vince McMahon and Company always remembers favours.
AJ Styles proved once again how he is one of the hardest working guys in the business when he made magic happen at TLC in a pinch and continued on without any well-deserved days off. Therefore a WWE Championship run might be Vince McMahon's unique way of sending the world's best thank you card.
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