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What's the story?
Following AJ Styles' historic WWE Championship win on SmackDown Live, the Manchester crowd was treated to a tag team match featuring four of the blue brand's biggest stars.
In case you didn't know...
WWE's television tapings in the United Kingdom are usually humdrum affairs, but that accusation can't be levelled at the last two nights in Manchester. Monday night saw Sheamus and Cesaro defeat Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose for the RAW Tag Team Championships, making the most of a distraction caused by The New Day.
SmackDown Live managed to top this, however, with the first ever recognised WWE Championship change outside of North America. AJ Styles defeated Jinder Mahal in the main event, undoubtedly the best match of Jinder's reign, hitting a Phenomenal Forearm and pinning the Maharaja much to the delight fo the Manchester fans.
All of a sudden, Survivor Series has gone from a missable show to a genuine must-see.
The heart of the matter
The unprecedented rush of emotion experienced by those in attendance last night made for a good feeling all around, and WWE decided to keep the good vibes flowing in the post-show dark match. Shinsuke Nakamura and Bobby Roode, former rivals in NXT, teamed up to take on another pair of former foes, Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin.
A good back and forth match was had, but there was only ever going to be one outcome. Shinsuke Nakamura hit The Showoff with the Kinshasha for the pinfall, sending the WWE Universe home happy.
Nakamura and Roode posed for the crowd before leaving, bringing the curtain down on a truly spectacular night for SmackDown Live!
What's next?
WWE Survivor Series 2017 has changed dramatically in just 48 hours. Brock Lesnar vs. Jinder Mahal didn't excite the senses of many, but Lesnar vs. AJ Styles is a match that fans have been hoping to see for at least a decade now. It has the potential to be one of WWE's best matches of 2017.
WWE returns to the USA at the end of this week, and for the first time in a long time, fans are truly looking forward to the next episodes of RAW and SmackDown Live!
Author's take
WWE dark matches are often entertaining spectacles, and it seems as though this was no different. There was more chance of Gary Neville deciding to support Manchester City than of Ziggler and Corbin winning, of course – Nakamura and Roode standing tall was the only possible outcome.
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