Daniel Bryan wins WWE title, will face Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series

Just days before Survivor Series, the WWE Championship changed hands on SmackDown.

Daniel Bryan defeated AJ Styles tonight to become the new WWE Champion. For the finish, Styles accidentally bumped into the referee when Bryan moved out of the way of the Phenomenal Forearm. Bryan then kicked Styles low while the referee wasn’t looking and hit the running knee to win the title.

Bryan attacked Styles after the match and stomped on his head.

With the title change, Bryan will now face Universal Champion Brock Lesnar in a non-title champion vs. champion match at Sunday’s Survivor Series pay-per-view.

Styles’ second reign with the WWE Championship had lasted for over a year before dropping it to Bryan. He defeated Jinder Mahal on the November 7, 2017 episode of SmackDown to become champion.

This is Bryan’s first title reign since he was cleared to return to the ring earlier this year.

Tonight’s Styles vs. Bryan match was set up in SmackDown’s opening segment with a storyline where Paul Heyman interrupted Styles and said he was close to being as good as Bryan. Styles reminded him that he made Bryan tap out in their last title match, Bryan came out, and it led to a brawl between them.