Possible Reason Why WWE Changed ‘Survivor Series’ Main Event Revealed
Many fans were expecting Universal champion Brock Lesnar to face WWE champion Jinder Mahal in the main event of Survivor Series. However, plans have changed as AJ Styles defeated Mahal to become the new WWE champion and he will be facing Lesnar instead. The latest backstage news has revealed the reason why the WWE decided to change the main event of Survivor Series.
As recapped by the official website of the WWE, Mahal defended his WWE Championship against Styles this past Tuesday on SmackDown Live in Manchester, England. Despite the interference of The Singh Brothers, Styles became a two-time WWE champion and earned a shot at Lesnar after defeating Mahal using The Phenomenal Forearm.
According to Pro Wrestling Times, the real reason why the WWE changed their mind about Lesnar vs. Mahal is Lesnar himself. The report noted that Lesnar went to Vince McMahon a couple of weeks ago during his appearance on Monday Night Raw and expressed his lack of desire to face Mahal at Survivor Series.
It was also mentioned that Lesnar threatened to no-show Survivor Series if there won’t be a title change before his next scheduled appearance next week on Monday Night Raw. Lesnar allegedly does not like Mahal as WWE champion because he would not be a draw. Lesnar also felt that facing Mahal was a waste of his limited appearances in his contract.
On the other hand, PW Insider (h/t Sportskeeda) reported that it was Vince McMahon who made the call to have AJ Styles defeat Jinder Mahal and become the new WWE champion. The move was done in response to the bad ratings of SmackDown Live, especially the Halloween episode in Norfolk, Virginia.
The original plan for the Survivor Series main event was Lesnar vs. Mahal with John Cena as the special guest referee. It was being rumored that Cena will cost Mahal the match, leading to a feud for WrestleMania 34 next year. However, the bad ratings eventually helped changed Vince’s mind with Styles winning the WWE Title and Cena being named as the fifth member of Team SmackDown.
The report added that McMahon made the decision last week with some people pushing for Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles. One of those people was Paul Heyman, as reported by Cageside Seats. Heyman had a lot of things to say about Mahal during his promo. He made fun of Mahal being a former jobber and he said that Mahal did not deserve to be a WWE champion.
It should be noted that these are still just speculations at the moment so take it with a grain of salt. The WWE tends to change their plans on a regular basis. There are even rumors of AJ Styles dropping the WWE Championship back to Mahal in India next month during the company’s tour of the country.
[Featured Image by WWE]
