WWE SmackDown: 5 Biggest news stories - Drew McIntyre confronts Roman Reigns, happy ending for Mysterio family (November 13, 2020)

#4: Sami Zayn defended his WWE Intercontinental Championship against Apollo Crews before Survivor Series

LIGHT WORK. 💪 #SmackDown #ICTitle @WWEApollo pic.twitter.com/2tihRSreXN

— WWE (@WWE) November 14, 2020

Sami Zayn and Bobby Lashley's "Champion vs. Champion" clash is one of the only few stories that was addressed frequently on the road to Survivor Series, other than WWE RAW's buildup for the traditional tag team matches at the aforementioned event.

Before the pay-per-view, Sami Zayn was ordered to defend his Intercontinental title against the former United States Champion, Apollo Crews, on this week's WWE SmackDown. Lashley had defeated Crews to become the current U.S. Champion in the recent past.

As expected, Zayn ended up winning this match, but not via pinfall or submission. Zayn tied up Crews' foot using the ropes underneath the ring, which allowed the Intercontinental Champion to successfully retain via count-out this week.

On the other hand, Sasha Banks was ambushed by Carmella for the second consecutive episode on WWE SmackDown. The Legit Boss was involved in a short segment before that where she talked about proving the critics wrong by defeating Bayley. Her Survivor Series match against Asuka remained mostly unaddressed, unlike Zayn and Lashley's upcoming clash.

.@CarmellaWWE STRIKES AGAIN!#SmackDown @SashaBanksWWE @itsBayleyWWE pic.twitter.com/k8YouLS42g

— WWE (@WWE) November 14, 2020

One may have hoped to see Banks being integrated in a more extensive way on last night's show, given that her appearance on Season Two of The Mandalorian has grabbed some mainstream attention recently.