10 Booking Steps For WWE SmackDown

2. Remember The Intercontinental Championship

Putting Shinsuke Nakamura in the Universal Championship number 1 contender match on Raw this week was a big move. Having him pin Ricochet and spar with Styles was even bigger still. This, combined with his recent resurgence under Sami Zayn's stewardship, means things are finally looking up for him, given the entire world assumed he'd be rolling over to The Miz a few weeks ago.

As mentioned prior, there's no shortage of worthy opponents who could give the Intercontinental Championship a much-needed TV feud. Rusev's return would add some excitement to the picture, Ali and Buddy Murphy arguably deserve the chance to step-up, and in Aleister Black, there is a hard-kicking dream match just waiting to happen.

SmackDown on Fox would benefit no end for having a competitive midcard full of great wrestlers determined to claim WWE's second-most historic prize for themselves, and the groundwork is already there to make it happen. The IC belt's had a rotten, rotten 2019, but there's no reason it can't end the year on a high.