List of current champions in WWE
At the top of WWE's championship hierarchy are the WWE Universal Championship on Raw and the WWE Championship on SmackDown. The Universal Championship is held by record two-time champion Brock Lesnar, who won the vacant title by defeating Braun Strowman at Crown Jewel on November 2, 2018; previous champion Roman Reigns had to relinquish the title due to illness (leukemia). The WWE Champion is Daniel Bryan, who is in his fourth reign. He won the title on the November 13, 2018, episode of "SmackDown Live" by defeating AJ Styles.
SummerSlam (2017)
At Battleground, Jinder Mahal defeated Randy Orton in a Punjabi Prison match to retain the WWE Championship with help from The Singh Brothers and the return of The Great Khali. On the following episode of "SmackDown", Mahal demanded a new opponent for SummerSlam and John Cena came out and confronted Mahal. Cena congratulated Mahal for being the champion and then challenged him for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam. However, SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan informed Cena that he had to earn his opportunity and scheduled a number one contender's match between Cena and Shinsuke Nakamura. The following week, Nakamura defeated Cena to become the number one contender for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam. On the final "SmackDown" before SummerSlam, Mahal held a celebration for India's Independence Day and his reign as WWE Champion. Nakamura interrupted and said that he would win the title at SummerSlam.