As advertised, Jinder Mahal defended his WWE Championship against A.J. Styles on this week’s edition of SmackDown Live in Manchester, England.

While it was believed that “The Modern Day Maharaja” was simply going to use the match to “deliver a message” to WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar ahead of their “champion versus champion” showdown at WWE Survivor Series later this month, “The Phenomenal One” had different plans.

A.J. Styles defeated Jinder Mahal in the main event of this week’s edition of SmackDown Live, which was taped on Tuesday afternoon at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.

Featured below is a recap of the match from our Complete WWE SmackDown Live *SPOILERS* report.

WWE Championship

Jinder Mahal (c) vs. A.J. Styles

The Singh Brothers mock Paul Heyman as they bring out “The Modern Day Maharaja” to defend his WWE Championship against A.J. Styles.

The bell sounds and here we go. Styles is using his speed and wrestling prowess early on to control the action. Mahal is starting to take over in spots. The Singh Brothers interfere and end up launching Styles onto the announce table.

Back in the ring, Styles is getting back into the action and showing signs of life. He blasts The Singh Brothers with some Phenomenal Forearms when they attempt to interfere in the match again.

Styles gets hit by Mahal with The Khallas for a near fall. Mahal takes Styles to the top rope for a Super Khallas, but Styles ends up reversing it and blasting Mahal with a Phenomenal Forearm for the pin. A.J. Styles just beat Jinder Mahal to become the new WWE Champion. The crowd is going nuts and Styles is celebrating big and soaking it in.

Winner and NEW WWE Champion: A.J. Styles

With the win, it would appear that Brock Lesnar vs. A.J. Styles is now the “WWE Universal Champion vs. WWE Champion” showdown for WWE Survivor Series, which goes down from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on Sunday, November 19th, airing live via the WWE Network and pay-per-view.