Bengaluru, July 2: AJ Styles arrived on the SmackDown brand with a bang by starting his first Intercontinental Championship reign in WWE. He defeated Daniel Bryan in the final round of the tournament that was going on the blue brand over the prestigious title. Bryan was thought to be stuck in the pursuit of the gold for weeks to follow but that's not the plan.
The following week, AJ Styles faced the debuting Matt Riddle in a non-title match and ended up losing the bout. It is now being reported that the upset result of this match was intentionally done so to set up a future pay-per-view match over the Intercontinental Championship. It looks like these two will soon compete in a rematch for the title.
The Wrestling Observer revealed that AJ Styles is moving into a feud against Matt Riddle on SmackDown. Now the former UFC superstar will be gearing up for his first title match on WWE main roster within a month of his debut. This match is likely to take place at Extreme Rules: The Horror Show on July 19th.
“AJ Styles vs. Matt Riddle looks to be the major IC title destination after Riddle debuted and beat Styles in a non-title match.”