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#4 AJ Styles becomes the one and only WWE Intercontinental Champion
In one of SmackDown’s most interesting storylines and a throwback to WrestleMania 10, the question of who is the real WWE Intercontinental Champion remains.
To recap the situation, Sami Zayn won the WWE Intercontinental Championship earlier this year from Braun Strowman in a three-on-one handicap match. After successfully defending the title at WrestleMania 36, Zayn disappeared from WWE television due to personal reasons.
AJ Styles later won a tournament to be crowned the new champion, defeating Daniel Bryan in the final. Jeff Hardy was also in the tournament, but was taken out by Sheamus and lost his opportunity. Hardy later challenged Styles for a title match and won.
Zayn returned shortly after and stated that he is the true Intercontinental Champion. This has led to Clash of Champions, where a Triple Threat Ladder match to crown the true champion awaits.
The match itself could easily be the match of the night on Sunday and possibly even the match of the year. There is no easy choice for a winner though, as any one of Styles, Zayn or Hardy would make an excellent champion.
With that said, considering the current landscape of SmackDown, the best choice in this situation is AJ Styles. The reason why Styles is the best option to win this match is that while Zayn and Hardy have potential feuds without the IC title, Styles doesn’t.
If Hardy loses, a case can be made for him to be the next challenger for Roman Reigns’ WWE Universal Championship if his feud with Jey Uso is over. Zayn can try to realign himself with Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura, who weren’t so thrilled to see him when he returned.
Either way, Zayn has options without the title around his waist. As for Styles, without the IC title, there is nothing for him to do. He’s already feuded with guys like Bryan, Drew Gulak and Matt Riddle.
While him holding the championship wouldn’t help that, Styles can have great matches with random babyfaces until the WWE Draft, which is rumored to be happening soon. After the draft, Styles would have new faces to feud with and would make the Intercontinental Championship feel important once again.
