One week early, we have a new United States champion.
Bobby Roode defeated Jinder Mahal tonight to win the championship for the first time. Both Roode and Mahal won their semifinal matches tonight against Mojo Rawley and Xavier Woods, respectively. Roode grabbed a mic after his match (where the Singh Brothers tried to jump him, to no avail) and said he was ready to go tonight. Mahal said he wanted another week. Daniel Bryan then came out and made the match for tonight.
Here are the final minutes of the match tonight, courtesyof our live coverage:
Jinder stretches Bobby around the ring post as we come back from commercial, then Jinder keeps focusing on his ribs until he drops Roode with a knee for a near fall. Roode sends Jinder out of the ring before hitting a cross body oonce he's back in the ring, but Jinder rolls through for a near fall. Bobby hits a blockbuster off of the top for a near fall before they clothesline each other, then they counter each other until Roode hits the Glorious DDT for the pin and the win.
The title was declared vacant last month when Daniel Bryan could not contact Dolph Ziggler, who won the title at Clash of Champions, The new champion was to be crowned at the Royal Rumble, but was moved to January 23, then was moved again to tonight.
