WWE: Ranking The Top 10 Feel-Good Moments Of 2017

7. AJ Styles Defeats Jinder Mahal

When AJ Styles defeated Dean Ambrose for the WWE Championship at Backlash 2016, he started a memorable run with the title that would have seemed implausible years earlier. But Styles quickly became one of Vince McMahon’s trusted favorites ever since he joined the company at the Royal Rumble. We all knew Styles would put on incredible matches, but he also fit the WWE’s style by cutting compelling promos and getting all the little details of working live TV matches perfectly.

When Styles dropped the title to John Cena at the 2017 Royal Rumble, fans grew restless in the months afterwards. Styles had to face Shane McMahon at WrestleMania, and while it was a much better match than it had any business being, it was disappointing that he wasn’t in the WWE Championship picture at ‘Mania. And when Jinder Mahal’s reign rolled forward with boring title defenses against Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura, people were starting to lose hope.

Many believed Mahal would be facing Brock Lesnar in a champion vs. champion match at Survivor Series, but Styles defeated Mahal for the WWE Championship on a pre-taped episode of SmackDown Live in Manchester, England.

It was an unprecedented title change outside of the United States, and the fans went absolutely bonkers for it. People in Manchester were going crazy, and people all over the world were going crazy. That night showed every wrestling fan just how big of a deal Styles is, and he and Mahal put together the Modern Day Maharaja’s best match to date. The two told an incredible story, which was made all the more impactful by the fan’s reaction to Styles’s second WWE Championship win.