AJ Styles To Defend WWE Championship Against Jinder Mahal At Clash Of Champions
The rematch will take place at the PPV on December 17th.
Nov 22, 2017
It has been heavily suggested that the WWE Championship rematch between AJ Styles and Jinder Mahal will take place at Clash of Champions on December 17th.
The recently-dethroned Jinder appeared on the TitanTron on SmackDown, challenging Styles to the match - and the Phenomenal One appeared to more than happy with the suggestion. He was then jumped by both Singh brothers, only to fight them off to the dismay of Mahal.
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Styles defeated Mahal on the November 7th edition of SmackDown in Manchester, England - the first time the WWE Championship has ever changed hands on UK soil. The result surprised many, with reports suggesting that Jinder would carry the title until at least WWE's upcoming visit to India was over.
The change caused a reshuffle of last week's Survivor Series card, with AJ taking Mahal's place to face Brock Lesnar in a champion vs. champion match. Although he lost the bout, Styles was made to look dangerous, and was put over heavily by Paul Heyman in the aftermath of the pay per view.
Should Jinder win the title back, it will be his second reign as WWE Champion. His first was a controversial one, drawing much criticism throughout its 170-day duration. Many felt that Mahal had been elevated far too quickly from the undercard, and lacked both the star quality and in-ring expertise to make for an entertaining champion.
Speculation circulated online suggesting that WWE had only made the booking decision in order to further woo the sizeable Indian market, given Jinder's Indian heritage. This was either proven to be untrue, or WWE's plans simply changed, when he lost the title to Styles - although the defeat hasn't left Mahal without a marquee matchup in India. On December 9th at a live show in New Delhi, he will face Triple H in a bout billed by The Game as 'the biggest in India's history'.