6 SmackDown Superstars who shouldn't become the next Intercontinental Champion

The Intercontinental Championship is officially vacant. It was reported by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Sami Zayn opted not to work the post-WrestleMania TV tapings (as WWE Superstars are all given the option as to whether they want to work during this time) and the rumors turned out to be true, as no trace of Zayn was seen post-WrestleMania.

WWE officially announced that the Intercontinental Championship was vacated and that a tournament would take place to crown the next Champion. It starts on Friday, 15th of May on SmackDown, with the contestants yet to be announced as of this writing.

While not every Superstar listed here will be in the tournament, we'd like to focus on certain names who we believe shouldn't be Intercontinental Champion next - or anytime soon.

Let's jump right into it:

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#6. Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan came close at WrestleMania 36

This might sound a bit controversial, but hear us out. Daniel Bryan hasn't been Intercontinental Champion in five years now - with his only reign ending in him vacating the title. He's come a long way since and has worked hard for over two years since his return to prove that he is, in fact, still among the best wrestlers in the world.

It would certainly do justice for WWE to give him a legitimate title reign, but the big question right now is as to whether he needs it. Bryan hasn't been in the main event spot since failing to capture the Universal Championship from 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt, but the reality is that he'll be ready for a main event spot at any given time.

He doesn't need to hold any title now and we would be more interested to see him enter a Universal Championship program with Braun Strowman.

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#5. King Corbin

King Corbin lost to Elias at WrestleMania 36

King Corbin is certainly a Superstar who could do with a big Intercontinental Championship win. The only title he's won so far in WWE was the United States Championship, but even that reign didn't last very long.

Despite this, he's had a consistent role on WWE television regardless of which brand he's been in. He's been occupied recently with a feud against Elias, who he lost to at WrestleMania 36. He attacked Elias and seemingly wrote him out of TV for the foreseeable future. However, Elias would return at Money in the Bank 2020 to cost Corbin as he was about to become a 2-time MITB winner.

Corbin was a Superstar who WWE intended to push hard in 2017, but for various reasons unknown to us, the push never sustained. Instead, he's had a spot as an upper midcard heel - a role that he thrives in more than people would like to admit.

The reason why we feel he shouldn't win the Intercontinental Championship is that he isn't in a position to gain a lot of momentum or add prestige to the title the way The Miz did in 2016. Speaking of The Miz...

#4. The Miz

The Miz

The Miz hasn't been a singles Superstar since John Morrison returned in early 2020. Before that, he enjoyed a short but decent run as a babyface where he even had a feud against Bray Wyatt while he was the Universal Champion (though oddly enough, their match at TLC wasn't for the title).

Since then, he's had tag team success and captured the SmackDown Tag Team Championships to cement themselves as one of the top teams of the Blue brand. Since the reintroduction of the brand split in 2016, SmackDown has generally enjoyed higher quality tag team wrestling because their tag team roster has been a lot better. And this isn't even adding to the fact that The Revival and Gallows & Anderson were underutilized on SmackDown.

The Miz was undoubtedly the best Intercontinental Champion this past decade, with his 2016 run being among the best in years. He hasn't been able to top that since, but he isn't in a position to re-enter the Intercontinental Championship picture. He should stick to his tag team with Morrison since they're now the second-most important team on SmackDown behind The New Day.

#3. Kofi Kingston

Can Kofi Kingston have another great singles run

While Kofi Kingston isn't in the same position as Daniel Bryan, he's another WWE Superstar who the company can put in a major program at any given time. 2019 was the year where he proved that he's truly among the best, even as a singles star.

Xavier Woods and Big E selflessly stated for years that their objective as members of The New Day wasn't just tag team success - it was to help Kofi Kingston become the World Champion. And at WrestleMania 35, an incredible decade-long journey for Kofi Kingston culminated with him winning the WWE Championship.

He had a strong reign as Champion, but his incredible dream run ended in just 10 seconds in the hands of Brock Lesnar. Since then, he's been back as a tag team wrestler, already having won the SmackDown tag team Championships twice since November.

It wouldn't make much sense to put him in the Intercontinental Championship picture now as he's already the tag team Champion. Perhaps Xavier Woods returning would be the perfect time for Kingston to transition into singles competition again.

#2. Dolph Ziggler

Maybe in another time, Ziggler would have been in a good spot

When looking back, it's sad to think of all the missed opportunities WWE had with Dolph Ziggler. He had so many different runs over the years where he was hot and could have been utilized better, but the fact that he was able to make his opponents look so good turned out to be a detriment to him.

One big example of a missed opportunity with Dolph Ziggler was in 2016. Not only was WWE having the best year of the PG Era, but SmackDown Live was brimming with Superstars making each other better, both on the men and women's side of things.

Dolph Ziggler was an example of a Superstar who benefited right away, first failing to capture the WWE Championship from Dean Ambrose/Jon Moxley before pursuing the Intercontinental Championship. It was in this run where he gained an unexpected amount of momentum as a babyface, having one of the greatest moments of his career when he dethroned The Miz to win the title at No Mercy that year.

However, he would lose it a month later back to The Miz and has been on a downward slump since. He hasn't had much momentum this year, although he should be credited for helping Otis reach the position he's in right now. Either way, he isn't in the right spot to win the Intercontinental Championship again.

#1. Shinsuke Nakamura

Will Nakamura earn his way back to the title?

Shinsuke Nakamura is a Superstar who has had long runs with the United States Championship and the Intercontinental Championship, but neither did much to help his momentum.

His last run as Intercontinental Champion was decent, but not the most memorable one. He ended up losing to Braun Strowman and after that, Sami Zayn got his time to shine as he pinned The Monster Among Men to win his first title in over five years.

He was relegated to being a sidekick just like Cesaro, but he could be back in the mix for the Intercontinental Championship soon. WON had reported that WWE's initial plans were for Nakamura to break up with Sami Zayn and have a match at WrestleMania, but for various reasons, they seemed to scrap that storyline.

Since Zayn stopped appearing on TV, Nakamura and Cesaro started helping King Corbin and seemingly went from one leader to another. In our opinion, Nakamura shouldn't be having another run with the title anytime soon. Cesaro, on the other hand, would be a true dark horse and a deserving winner.