Seriously, stop reading right at the start of this story if you do not want Tuesday night's edition of WWE SmackDown spoiled for you.
OK, you've been warned.
In a shocker that will surely reverberate through WWE from now until WrestleMania 34, Jinder Mahal was knocked off his perch on Tuesday in Manchester, England, with AJ Styles becoming the new WWE champion in the show's main event.
The title change is the first for the WWE championship since Mahal beat Randy Orton for the strap on May 21. His much-criticized championship reign was longer than many WWE legends and fan favorites including Edge (139 days, four reigns), Eddie Guerrero (133, one), Chris Jericho (98, one) and Daniel Bryan (65, one).
Styles becomes WWE champion for the second time. He first defeated Dean Ambrose for the title on Sept. 11, 2016. He is now scheduled to head to Survivor Series to take on universal champion Brock Lesnar in a champion vs. champion non-title match.
This marks the first time in the history of the WWE championship that it has changed hands outside of North America. Buddy Rodgers became the first then-WWWF champion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on April 25, 1963.
What else happened on SmackDown?
This section is updating live.
- Shane McMahon and New Day opened the show to brag about Monday night's exploits. McMahon first said he held the Raw authority figures personally responsible for injuring Daniel Bryan, promising to take down Raw general manager Kurt Angle at Survivor Series. When New Day hit the ring, they said they did not intend to have their distraction lead to a title change, but those are the consequences of being "under siege."
- Kofi Kingston def. Sami Zayn via pinfall: This led Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn out to tell McMahon he's not cool and complain about not representing SmackDown at Survivor Series. After Kofi Kingston absolutely tore apart Zayn, McMahon made a match between the two for Zayn to prove his worth. It was a tremendous effort from both, but Kingston kicked out of a Blue Thunder Bomb and hit a surprise cross-body splash for the 1-2-3. Owens attacked Kingston briefly after the match.
- There was another Bludgeon Brothers vignette: It was the same as the rest.
- Randy Orton def. Rusev via pinfall: Just as Rusev was getting the upper hand, Orton struck with an RKO out of nowhere to end Rusev's hopes of joining the Survivor Series team.
- Becky Lynch def. James Ellsworth via submission: Backstage, Ellsworth made a series of sexist comments to Lynch, who brushed him off and promised dominance later in the evening. As Lynch was whipping him in the ring, he first tried to escape and then hugged her to make amends. Lynch locked him in the Dis-Arm-Her. After the match, Carmella superkicked Ellsworth in the face.
- McMahon made a women's championship match for next week between champion Natalya and Charlotte Flair with the winner moving on to Survivor Series.
- Tag Team Championship -- The Usos (c) vs. Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin: Live now.
- WWE Championship -- Jinder Mahal (c) vs. AJ Styles: Earlier in the night, Mahal referred to Styles as an appetizer ahead of his main course of Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series.
CBS Sports will update this story shortly and provide a complete recap of SmackDown following Tuesday night's show.
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