HUGE WWE Intercontinental Title Match Confirmed For Next Week's SmackDown

AJ Styles is getting a little TNA reunion...

by Jamie Kennedy
AJ Styles Jeff Hardy
WWE

Jeff Hardy will challenge AJ Styles for WWE's Intercontinental Title on next week's episode of SmackDown.

The match was set when AJ bragged about how nobody else deserved to hold the belt. Interestingly, he was accompanied by Joseph Park, who's best remembered as Abyss in TNA. Yep, SmackDown had a bit of a Lockdown 2005 vibe going on.

Those TNA nods happened again when Hardy hit the scene, blasted Styles with a Twist Of Fate and then WWE revealed that the match will go down on Friday night.

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Jeff and AJ last tangled as part of TNA's Bound For Glory Series back on the 25 July 2013 edition of Impact. Seven years on, they've been reunited in WWE for what's sure to be quite the IC Title cracker.

It remains to be seen whether or not Park's appearance was a one off or if he's being installed as some sort of manager/on screen legal representative for Styles. If he is, then it's surely also only a matter of time before he gets some screen time under the mask as Abyss - why not? 2020 has been that kind of year.

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For now though, AJ vs. Hardy is set.

Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.