AJ Styles Becomes New WWE Intercontinental Champ On SmackDown
The true definition of a workhorse champion.
AJ Styles toppled Daniel Bryan in the finals of WWE's Intercontinental Title tournament to win the 'workhorse belt' for the very first time on this week's SmackDown.
The pair put on a slow-burning clinic that crossed multiple ad breaks and ended when Styles hit his Phenomenal Forearm for the pin. Afterwards, he cut a standard heel promo and said he'd just shown the world how good he truly is.
WWE decided to put the IC Title decider on SmackDown rather than saving it for Backlash, and that proved a shrewd decision. Together, AJ and Bryan worked hard to give the program purpose - they succeeded. This will go down as one of the best WWE TV matches of 2020, and definitely one of the finest from this odd empty arena era.
Some expected Bryan to eventually feud with current partner Drew Gulak had he won the belt, but WWE went with AJ as champ instead. There's no indication as things stand on what the promotion has planned for Styles as Intercontinental Champ, although a series with Jeff Hardy seems likely.
The win means AJ is a two-time WWE, three-time United States and one-time IC Champion since joining the company in 2016.