With WWE having taped this coming Friday's Christmas Eve episode of SmackDown, Sami Zayn is the new #1 contender for the Intercontinental Title held by Shinsuke Nakamura.
Via PWInsider, this upcoming blue brand offering will feature a 12 Days of Christmas Gauntlet Match to crown the next in line to face King Nakamura for his prize, and Zayn was the one left standing tall at the close of this bout. Sami last eliminated Ricochet to pick up the win, with Cesaro, Sheamus, Angel, Humberto, Mansoor, Drew Gulak, Erik, Ivar, Jinder Mahal and Shanky the others involved in this match.
As a result of this victory, Zayn - himself a two-time IC Champ - will challenge Nakamura for the Intercontinental Title at WWE Day 1 on New Year's Day.
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The King of Strong Style defeated Apollo Crews to become Intercontinental Champion on the 13 August 2021 episode of SmackDown. Since winning the belt, Nakamura has surprisingly only defended the title once - which was against the aforementioned Crews on a September SmackDown offering.
Elsewhere, this upcoming episode of SmackDown will also see Charlotte Flair defending her SmackDown Women's Title against Toni Storm, and Drew McIntyre will team with The New Day to take on Madcap Moss and The Usos in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight.
Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics.
As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.
