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As announced by the WWE, AJ Styles will defend the Intercontinental Championship against Drew Gulak on next week's episode of SmackDown. The match will be Gulak's first opportunity at capturing the IC title.
What happened with AJ Styles on this week's episode of SmackDown?
This week's episode of SmackDown kicked off with AJ Styles' Intercontinental Championship Ceremony, and the newly-crowned Champion came out after being introduced by Renee Young.
The Phenomenal One entered the ring that was surrounded by many SmackDown Superstars, including Daniel Bryan and Drew Gulak. Styles wanted Bryan to award him the title and congratulate him, and the Leader of the Yes Movement eventually did it.
Bryan said that Styles could go down as the greatest Intercontinental Champion if he defends the title against the Superstars surrounding the ring. Daniel Bryan brought up Drew Gulak's name and pointed out that Gulak holds a victory over Styles from a couple of weeks ago.
Styles, however, had no intention of being a fighting champion and said that whoever steps up to him will have to deal with the consequences. Matt Riddle's music hit, and out came the King of Bros for his official SmackDown debut.
If Styles was the face that runs the place, Riddle said that he was the bro that would run the show. An impromptu non-title match was booked between Styles and Riddle.
The first match of the night, which was also Riddle's in-ring debut on the Blue brand, was a solid affair that ended with the King of Bros picking up the victory over the IC Champion. Riddle did get some assistance from the chaos that ensued outside the ring, but a win against an established name in Styles on his first night on SmackDown was huge for Riddle.
The current storyline direction is exciting as Daniel Bryan is still not done pursuing the IC title while his 'training partner' Drew Gulak gets a shot at the title on next week's show.
It's highly unlikely that Gulak will end up winning the Championship, and it could all lead to a rematch between Styles and Bryan. When does Riddle come into the picture? The next few weeks will make for some interesting TV, to say the least.
