New WWE Champion Brock Lesnar reportedly refused to work with Jinder Mahal back when Mahal was champion.
It was noted on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio how Lesnar vs. Mahal was set to take place at the 2017 Survivor Series pay-per-view, but Mahal ended up dropping the title to AJ Styles before the bout could happen.
Word is that AJ won the title from Mahal because Lesnar did not want to work with The Modern Day Maharaja. This led to WWE switching up the plans, but there’s no word on exactly why Lesnar didn’t want to wrestle Mahal.
AJ’s title win over Mahal was historic as it was the first time the strap changed hands outside of North America. The title change took place during a taped episode of SmackDown from Manchester, England. Mahal only held the title for 170 days, and lost it before he was able to headline WWE’s tour of India as champion. AJ held the WWE Title for 371 days before dropping it to Daniel Bryan on the November 13, 2018 edition of SmackDown from St. Louis.
Lesnar became a five-time WWE Champion by winning the Fatal 5 Way main event of last Saturday’s WWE Day 1 event, defeating former champion Big E, Kevin Owens, Bobby Lashley and Seth Rollins. He will be on Friday’s SmackDown to continue the feud with WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, but is also scheduled to defend the WWE Title against Lashley on January 29 at the Royal Rumble.
AJ is currently feuding with his former tag team partner Omos. This week’s RAW saw AJ lose their first singles match against each other. Mahal is currently working the SmackDown brand in a tag team with Shanky.
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