On May 12, 2020 WWE announced that due to Sami Zayn being unable to defend the Intercontinental Championship, it was revealed on WWE Backstage on FS1 that the title has been declared vacant.
A tournament began on May 15, 2020 on Friday night on SmackDown to crown a new champion.
| Quarterfinals (May 15, 2020), (May 22, 2020) |
Semifinals (May 29, 2020) |
Final (June 12, 2020) | |||||||||||
| Daniel Bryan | Pin | ||||||||||||
| Drew Gulak | 12:47 | ||||||||||||
| Daniel Bryan | Pin | ||||||||||||
| Sheamus† | 11:59 | ||||||||||||
| Jeff Hardy | Pin | ||||||||||||
| Sheamus | 14:05 | ||||||||||||
| Daniel Bryan | Pin | ||||||||||||
| AJ Styles | 38:10 | ||||||||||||
| Elias | Pin | ||||||||||||
| King Corbin | 16:07 | ||||||||||||
| Bye† | – | ||||||||||||
| AJ Styles | – | ||||||||||||
| AJ Styles | Pin | ||||||||||||
| Shinsuke Nakamura | 13:15 | ||||||||||||
† Neither Jeff Hardy nor Elias were able to compete in the semifinals, as Elias was injured in a car crash and Hardy was accused of causing it and arrested. Sheamus replaced Hardy in the semifinals after winning a battle royal to qualify for the spot. Styles was not allocated a new opponent and advanced directly to the finals.
Image gallery[]
Daniel Bryan v Drew Gulak[]
Elias v King Corbin[]
AJ Styles v Shinsuke Nakamura[]
Jeff Hardy v Sheamus[]
Daniel Bryan v Sheamus[]
Daniel Bryan v AJ Styles[]
References[]
- Friday Night Smackdown - May 15, 2020
- Friday Night Smackdown - May 22, 2020
- Friday Night Smackdown - May 29, 2020
- Friday Night Smackdown - June 12, 2020