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The upcoming episode of WWE SmackDown promises to be unmissable due to the presence of two huge championship matches. While The Street Profits would be defending their SmackDown tag team titles against the duo of Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode, Big E would put his Intercontinental title on the line against Apollo Crews.
During last week's episode of SmackDown, Big E and Apollo Crews defeated King Corbin and Sami Zayn in a tag match, with the former US Champion securing the pin over Zayn. Later in a backstage segment, the reigning champion laid down an IC title open challenge, which Crews quickly accepted.
Crews will be the first challenger for Big E's IC Championship, which he had won in the main event of SmackDown's Christmas episode by defeating Zayn. While not many are expecting Crews to emerge as the new champion, the match itself promises to be great with several possible endings that could make the future interesting.
On that note, let's discuss five possible finishes for the Intercontinental Championship match between Big E and Apollo Crews. Do share your thoughts and predictions in the comments section.
#5 Big E wins cleans despite an impressive showing from Apollo Crews on SmackDown
Considering Big E has just recently won the Intercontinental Championship, it's hard to imagine him losing it so quickly. SmackDown seems committed to present him as a top player, and for that to happen, he must accumulate as many wins as possible against viable challengers. Though Apollo Crews is a tremendous athlete, he hasn't been booked strongly enough that makes him look like he's on Big E's level.
However, SmackDown creative can book Crews to have an impressive showing even while losing cleanly. Having a back and forth clash for nearly 15 minutes with the former US Champion getting enough offense can put him over even in a loss. It can provide him the required momentum to slowly find his way onto the top, culminating in a title win sometime later in the year.
On the other hand, a hard-fought win for Big E would show his fighting spirit and could result in a title reign similar to that of Seth Rollins' IC title run in 2018 and Cena's US Championship reign in 2015.
#4 Apollo Crews stuns the WWE Universe with a shocking win over Big E on SmackDown
It has been proven time and again that WWE and SmackDown love to pull off shocking championship victories that nobody sees coming. One of the prime examples of this was Jinder Mahal's WWE Championship win over Randy Orton at Backlash 2017.
Something like this could also take place on this week's SmackDown if Apollo Crews walks out as the new IC Champion by defeating Big E. The outcome is not completely out of the question as Crews is a former US Champion and has proved before what takes it to be a mid-card champion in the company.
Apart from that, if SmackDown wants to project Big E as the contender for Roman Reigns' Universal Championship at WrestleMania, he can quickly recover from this loss by winning the Royal Rumble 2021. Yes, several fans might question a possible WrestleMania headliner losing to Apollo Crews, but in the long run, it would also open up the opportunity for Crews to step up into the main event scene.
#3 Sami Zayn or King Corbin may end up interfering in the match at SmackDown, resulting in a non-finish
It must be noted that Sami Zayn still hasn't received his rematch for the Intercontinental Championship after losing it to Big E a couple of weeks ago on SmackDown. Apart from that, King Corbin's scheduled singles encounter with Big E on last week's SmackDown was also soon turned into a tag team match after Zayn attacked the Intercontinental Champion.
Both of them have some unfinished with the current Intercontinental Champion, and there's a possibility they might get embroiled in the match to end it on a non-conclusive note. Just when Crews and Big E are gearing up to take the clash onto the next level, either or both of them could play the spoilsport.
All of this could lead up to a four-way clash between all the competitors at Royal Rumble 2021 or sometime later on SmackDown, while also building-up four strong challengers for the title with whom Big E can feud until the WrestleMania season.
#2 Apollo Crews turns heel and takes out Big E after losing the IC title match on SmackDown
While the two having a terrific bout is practically guaranteed, SmackDown creative may also look to extend their one-off match into a full-blown rivalry for the IC title if Apollo Crews turns heel by attacking Big E after losing the match.
The former US Champion may reveal that the reason behind turning towards the dark side was his frustrations, which stemmed after being ignored for years. While he's no expert on the mic, a mouthpiece can do the job while he focuses on taking down his opponents.
A months-long feud with Big E over the Intercontinental Championship on SmackDown could be an intriguing direction to head in, as it could provide Crews the experience to work under the spotlight while also giving Big E a worthy opponent.
Even if he doesn't come up on top by the time the feud culminates, he may find himself in a better spot than he has found himself to be over his four-year-long run on the main roster.
#1 Seth Rollins attacks Big E to mark his return to SmackDown
Soon after Big E comes up victorious against Apollo Crews on SmackDown, a returning Seth Rollins could attack the Intercontinental Champion, thus starting a mouth-watering feud between the two Superstars.
Having been away from action since Survivor Series 2020 after availing a paternity leave, Rollins would be gunning to come back into the thick of things on SmackDown. A prospective feud with Big E might just be the direction these two elite Superstars need at this point. While Rollins' feud with the Mysterio family and Murphy ran for far too long, losing all its momentum mid-way, Big E needs a worthy opponent for his title.
The two have hardly competed in singles action since their terrific feud for the NXT Championship back in 2013. A series of matches between the two running all the way till WrestleMania could greatly benefit Big E into becoming the main event star the fans want him to be. Even if Seth Rollins comes on top in their rivalry, Big E would be a made man capable of regularly working in the main event position.
