Daniel Bryan won the WWE Championship last night on a notable episode of Smackdown Live! In one night, several of the top matches for Survivor Series 2018 were changed, all with just 5 days to go before the event.

Not only did Bryan win the WWE Championship in a match only announced that same night, but he also turned heel in the process. Bryan low-blowed Styles with the referee out of position moments before hitting him with a running knee to pick up the win. When cameras attempted to catch up with Bryan backstage, however, he was not offering up any explanation for his actions.


While Bryan wouldn’t answer any questions, he did pose for his WWE Championship photo session:


AJ Styles’ WWE Championship reign finishes at 1 year and 6 days. He defended the title 13x successfully on WWE programming (not including house shows). This is Bryan’s 4th run with the title. He has only held the title for a combined 66 days, however. He has twice had to vacate the belt and also lost it in quick succession to Randy Orton at SummerSlam 2013.

Bryan also formerly held the now retired World Heavyweight Championship in WWE once. Bryan held that title for 105 days before losing it to Sheamus at WrestleMania that year.