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AJ Styles beats Jinder Mahal to become WWE Champion

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We've picked out the best moves from the top matches from this week's WWE Smackdown

AJ Styles became the new WWE Champion after defeating Jinder Mahal on Smackdown Live at the Manchester Arena on Tuesday night.

Styles floored the champ with The Phenomenal Foreman in the night's main event to become a two-time world champion.

Now it is The Phenomenal One who will be representing Team Blue against the WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series on November 19 live on Sky Sports Box Office.

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AJ Styles changed the landscapes of both Smackdown and Survivor Series when he defeated Jinder Mahal to capture his second WWE Championship

The former United States Champion had been granted a title opportunity after back-to-back wins over the Singh Brothers in the past fortnight. And Mahal's sidekicks certainly made their presence felt last night, pulling the Modern Day Maharaja from the ring after Styles connected with a 450 splash, before being taken out by the challenger.

That distraction almost proved costly when Mahal caught Styles with the Khallas inside the ring, but Styles got his foot on the rope just in time to break the official's three-count.

After evading a second attempt at the Khallas from the top rope, Styles hit his signature move to claim the title.

Brock Lesnar had some strong words for Braun Strowman ahead of their Universal Championship battle.
Image: Styles is now set to face Brock Lesnar in a Survivor Series clash

Carmella spectacularly turned on James Ellsworth after his defeat to the Irish Lass-Kicker Becky Lynch. Seconds after Ellsworth had tapped out to the Dis-Arm-Her, Carmella entered the ring to confront Lynch.

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But just as the pair looked set to trade blows, Miss Money In The Bank super-kicked Ellsworth before exiting the ring, much to the surprise of the SmackDown Live women's captain and the SmackDown women's locker-room, who were standing at ringside.

Kofi Kingston scored a win over Sami Zayn as a rivalry between The New Day and Kevin Owens and Zayn appears to be brewing.

Prior to the contest, KO and Sami had interrupted The New Day's celebration with SmackDown Live commissioner Shane McMahon, after the trio gate-crashed Raw on Monday night, costing Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose the WWE Raw tag team champions.

Tired of yet another Zayn-KO verbal assault on Shane 'O' Mac, The New Day interjected setting up the contest, which Kingston finished with a splash from the top rope.

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After winning the WWE Championship, AJ Styles celebrates and looks ahead to his Champion vs. Champion Match with Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series

Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin may have got the win in their WWE SmackDown Live tag team championship match against The Usos, but an error in judgement from Benjamin saw The Usos escape with the titles.

Benjamin and Gable had the champions on the ropes when the latter took out Jey Uso's knee with a savage chopblock outside the ring. The decision proved costly, as The Usos' legal man failed to make the referee's ten count.

An RKO out of nowhere saw Randy Orton deny Rusev the fifth and final spot on Team SmackDown Live for the five-on-five elimination match at Survivor Series.

The Bulgarian Brute was seemingly on his way to presenting Team Blue, but The Viper struck with his signature move to end the contest.

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After winning the WWE Championship, AJ Styles celebrated with the Manchester crowd

The action continues next week on Monday Night Raw from midnight on Sky Sports Arena and Sky Sports Main Event.

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