Brock Lesnar Refused To Work With THIS WWE Star

Then-Universal Champion Brock Lesnar said no to a match WWE really wanted.

by Jamie Kennedy
Brock Lesnar Jinder Mahal
WWE

Brock Lesnar told WWE he didn't want to work with Jinder Mahal back in 2017.

Dave Meltzer noted on a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that Lesnar refused to wrestle Jinder as planned at the company's Survivor Series 2017 pay-per-view. So, less than two weeks before the show, AJ Styles was booked to defeat Mahal for the WWE Title on a UK tour.

That super-rare international title change happened on the 7 November episode of SmackDown in Manchester, England. It was one few saw coming, presumably including Jinder. WWE scripted the hasty title switch so that they could promote Brock vs. Styles at Survivor Series instead.

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Lesnar was responsible for that.

Meltzer didn't reveal exactly why Brock was so dead set against working with Mahal. AJ's win came before Jinder could headline another international jaunt too - he was supposed to main event as WWE Champ on upcoming shows in India.

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Instead, he dropped the belt to Styles and was ousted from the pay-per-view picture altogether. WWE had already started pushing Lesnar vs. Mahal on television, so the sudden change came as a surprise to fans as well.

Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.