AJ Styles News: The Phenomenon's 140-Day Reign Record Broken by Jinder Mahal
With Jinder Mahal successfully defending his WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) title after beating Shinsuke Nakamura during the Hell in a Cell PPV (pay-per-view) event, he has now dislodged AJ Styles, who earlier held the record of having the longest WWE Championship reign.
Mahal now holds the distinction of having the longest WWE reign, 141 days, after defeating Nakamura for the second time last October 8. Prior to Mahal, the distinction belonged to Styles, who reigned for 140 days without any defeat.
Styles won the WWE Championship at last year's Backlash pay-per-view and held the title for 140 days. He only dropped the belt after facing John Cena at this year's Royal Rumble event, who eventually became a 16-time World Champion.
Mahal has held on to his title since defeating Randy Orton at the Backlash pay-per-view event last May. While Orton, Baron Corbin, and Nakamura attempted to steal the belt from him, Mahal has successfully defended his title and kept his belt as he creamed his challengers.
While nothing is official as of this writing, it is suspected that Mahal will be facing Styles in his next match. After all, Styles, who lost the US Title to Corbin during the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event, has said recently that he wants to challenge Mahal for the championship.
Mahal's current record has already beaten not only that of Styles. Even if the record of Roman Reigns, who won three title reigns, and Rick Flair's two championship reigns are combined, his record is still worth the distinction. With rumors claiming that Mahal's next opponent will be Styles, it remains to be seen whether Mahal will continue to make a record, or Styles will successfully cut his winning streak.
Meanwhile, Styles has recently expressed his two cents worth on Shane McMahon's defeat after Sami Zayn helped Kevin Owens in the Hell in a Cell event. Speaking to Renee Young and Peter Rosenberg on "Talking Smack," Styles said he can only hope that McMahon recovers soon so that he can beat Zayn.