10 Best WWE World Title Changes On Free TV

7. AJ Styles (2017)

Not to go against prevailing consensus too much, but I thought Jinder Mahal was a decent WWE Champion. 

He looked the business, had solid enough matches and nobody can say he didn't work hard and put in the time to get there. 

Saying that, however, AJ Styles was a much, much better choice. 

The Modern Day Maharaja was gearing up for an inter-brand showdown with Universal Champion Brock Lesnar in the main event of Survivor Series, when he was booked to defend his title against The Phenomenal One on the November 7, 2017 episode of SmackDown. 

It's somewhat ironic that Mahal had his best match ever in the bout that he was due to drop to title. It's no coincidence that it was against Styles, of course, who fans were itching to see unseat Jinder. 

Their match was a spectacle and Mahal looked good in defeat, eventually going down to a Phenomenal Forearm. The huge pop at the three count amply demonstrated the crowd's preference. 

The Jinder Mahal experiment was over and, importantly, a dream match between AJ and Lesnar was on the horizon.