AJ Styles vs. Matt Riddle for the Intercontinental title confirmed by WWE
As confirmed on this week's episode of SmackDown, AJ Styles will defend the Intercontinental Championship against Matt Riddle on next week's episode of SmackDown.
AJ Styles, as expected, wasn't too pleased after he was informed about the match, but the title showdown has been set nonetheless.
The Phenomenal One was involved in a backstage segment on this week's SmackDown in which he was proud of his victory over Drew Gulak from last week. Styles highlighted the fact that he destroyed Daniel Bryan's coach and that he plans on being the Intercontinental Champion for a very long time.
AJ Styles's feud with Matt Riddle
Matt Riddle made his main roster debut on the SmackDown episode of June 19th, and WWE booked his first appearance on the Blue brand to seem like a big deal.
Riddle interrupted Styles' segment and challenged the Champion to a non-title match. The SmackDown roster surrounded the ring as they were out there for Styles' Championship celebration segment.
The match got underway, and WWE booked Riddle to go over Styles in his first match on SmackDown. The King of Bros celebrated with other SmackDown Superstars to end a memorable debut segment.
It was recently reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the expected plan was to build towards an Intercontinental Championship match between Matt Riddle and AJ Styles for SummerSlam.
WWE, however, seems to have pulled the trigger on the title match sooner than expected. The match has now been confirmed for the final episode of SmackDown before Extreme Rules.
As reported by Sportskeeda's Gary Cassidy, WWE's plan was to have Riddle feud with King Corbin, a report that was corroborated by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful and Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer.
There is a possibility of King Corbin interrupting the title match next week to potentially set up a match against Riddle at Extreme Rules. WWE could then book a title rematch between Riddle and Styles at SummerSlam.
It may be too soon for WWE to have Riddle win the IC title from AJ Styles; however, stranger things have happened in the past.
How do you see WWE booking the storyline going forward? Is it too soon for Riddle to win his first title on SmackDown? Should WWE wait for SummerSlam? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.