Intercontinental Champion Ricochet loses to 2 SmackDown stars in a row; Big Title match set
It wasn't a good night for Intercontinental Champion Ricochet on SmackDown. A few weeks ago, he quickly dethroned Sami Zayn to win the title, but on the latest episode of the blue brand, he lost to two superstars in a row, with major WrestleMania implications.
By March, there was a rumor that Ricochet was internally slated for a big push. Although Sami Zayn dethroned Shinsuke Nakamura to become the Intercontinental Champion, the title did not need to be involved in his feud with Johnny Knoxville at WrestleMania. So WWE decided to put the title on The One and Only former US Champion.
This week on SmackDown, the current Intercontinental Champion faced Angel [Garza] in a Championship contender's match. Thanks to a little assist from his family member Humberto [Carrillo], Angel got the roll-up pin on the champion.
Ricochet then called out Los Lotharios as they were making their exit, inviting Humberto for a match. Although he was in cruise control, the champion lost again via count-out as Angel held his leg under the ring.
The current champion had no choice but to accept defeat. This means that he won't be involved with The New Day at WrestleMania.
Thanks to @humberto_wwe, @AngelGarzaWwe steals one over @KingRicochet!
#SmackDown https://t.co/4DTalRmtxc
Why isn't Ricochet heading to WrestleMania?
As the road to WrestleMania winds down quickly, the Intercontinental Champion has his match set in place. It looks like Los Lotharios won't be involved in the Tag Team Title picture but the Intercontinental Championship instead.
The numbers game gets the best of @KingRicochet tonight on #SmackDown.
#LosLotharios @humberto_wwe @AngelGarzaWwe https://t.co/JKdBLOJ6RD
It was officially announced that Ricochet would defend his Intercontinental Championship against Humberto and Angel in a Triple Threat match on the special episode of "WrestleMania SmackDown," - which will happen before the Hall of Fame ceremony and one night before WrestleMania Saturday.
It will be interesting to see if the champion retains on the night before WrestleMania or if WWE arranges a surprising title change to get some buzz ahead of the biggest show of the year.