WWE confirms Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn's next title defense
This week, Sami Zayn appeared on SmackDown to celebrate his Intercontinental Championship victory and cross paths with his next challenger: Ricochet.
Zayn defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to reclaim the title on SmackDown earlier this month. His third stint with the aforementioned championship reign started with Zayn boasting about his gold.
.@SamiZayn has lost it!
#SmackDown #ICTitle @realjknoxville https://t.co/YuDe3LgoHf
However, he was interrupted by an old rival: Jackass star Johnny Knoxville. The latter wanted payback against Zayn because he interrupted Knoxville's movie premiere. Although Johnny intended to return the favor, things didn't go as planned.
Furious at the disrespect, Zayn attacked Knoxville inside the ring for interrupting his celebrations on SmackDown. Right before that, the newly crowned champion talked about how he'd like to defend his gold against credible challengers.
Following his segment with Knoxville, Zayn was involved in a heated backstage conversation with WWE official Adam Pearce. Ricochet interrupted them, saying he was precisely the challenger Zayn would want to face.
Despite Zayn's reluctance, his Intercontinental Championship match against Ricochet was confirmed for SmackDown next week.
.@KingRicochet will challenge @SamiZayn for the #ICTitle NEXT WEEK on #SmackDown! @ScrapDaddyAP https://t.co/CMlIpBl3bH
Interestingly, Ricochet worked alongside Cesrao on the blue brand until the latter recently left the company. The Resident Superhero gained momentum off the back of his feud with Sheamus & Ridge Holland. He's expected to pose serious threat to Zayn's title reign on the Road to WrestleMania.
WWE confirms another title match for next week
The Intercontinental Championship will be defended on Smackdown next week, but RAW also has a huge title match scheduled for Monday night. The United States Champion Damian Priest will put his title on the line against Finn Balor.
The Prince returned to the red brand earlier this week as Tommaso Ciampa's surprise tag team partner. The two former rivals beat Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode. Following his victory, Balor challenged Priest to a title match. The latter accepted.
The latest episode of SmackDown also saw Sasha Banks make a return and reunite with Naomi to reform Team B.A.D. The two superstars declared their intentions to compete for the Women's Tag Team titles in the coming weeks.