The Brock Lesnar vs Jinder Mahal match at the Survivor Series 2017 was apparently changed because the Beast refused to work with The Modern Day Maharaja.
Since the reintroduction of the brand split in 2016, Survivor Series has been the event where champions from both brands clash against each other.
The announced main event for the 2017 event was the Universal champion Brock Lesnar vs the WWE champion Jinder Mahal.
However, Mahal lost his title to AJ Styles during the November 7, 2017 episode of SmackDown. As a result, the Phenomenal one replaced Jinder in the match against the Beast Incarnate.
Dave Meltzer talked about this match on Wrestling Observer Radio. He revealed that Lesnar actually refused to work with the former NXT star, leading to the change.
While Styles helped put on a great match at the PPV, the loss for Jinder Mahal meant that he didn’t get to carry the title during his India tour shortly afterward.
The loss ended Mahal’s only world title reign at 170 days. AJ Styles would go on to hold the championship for 371 days, before losing it to Daniel Bryan during the November 13, 2018 episode of SmackDown.
Brock Lesnar on the other hand has had multiple reigns with the world title since then. His latest run started only a few days ago when he won the WWE championship in a fatal five way during Day 1.
