WWE announced that Sami Zayn will not be defending the WWE Intercontinental Championship going forward so WWE has vacated the title. A new champion will be determined by way of a tournament that is set to kick off this Friday on SmackDown.
BREAKING NEWS:@SamiZayn is unable to compete and defend the Intercontinental Championship, therefore @WWE has declared the title vacant. A tournament to crown a new Champion will begin on Friday Night Smackdown on FOX. pic.twitter.com/5qZgUyL9rC
— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) May 13, 2020
On Monday, it was reported here on the site by John Pollock that the status of the Intercontinental Championship would be addressed this week, as Sami Zayn has not been present at the recent WWE tapings at the Performance Center.
Sami Zayn first won the title at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in March and successfully defended the title against Daniel Bryan on night one of WrestleMania 36. In the aforementioned POST Wrestling story, it was noted that WWE would be introducing a spin-off of the ‘Wild Card’ rule that will allow talent from RAW and SmackDown to go back and forth between brands. On next week’s episode of RAW, WWE Champion Drew McIntyre is taking on SmackDown’s King Corbin.
