Bengaluru, June 19: AJ Styles is back in that position on SmackDown where he can easily claim to be the one who helped this division to be built. Last week, in the finale of the Intercontinental Championship tournament, he delivered a classic with Daniel Bryan and stood tall by the end earning a clean pinfall win.

Thus the Phenomenal One ended up winning the Intercontinental Championship for the first time in his career. Although this didn't earn him a spot at Backlash 2020 pay-per-view, he made a brief backstage appearance to invite the entire SmackDown roster to witness his championship coronation, including the man he defeated to win it, Daniel Bryan.

WWE.com further hyped the segment that is set to happen, tonight,

"It didn’t take long for AJ Styles to make a major impact on the blue brand, as he outlasted a loaded field to win the Intercontinental Championship Tournament. The Superstar is set for a championship presentation fit for a Phenomenal champion.

"Will Styles force the SmackDown Superstars to bend the knee to their new champion? Or will his arrogance lead to an uprising among the ranks?"

The general thought was that AJ Styles was all set to have another rematch over the title against Daniel Bryan but that might not be the case. The reason behind WWE organizing this celebration could be for the newest member of SmackDown.

Former NXT Tag Team Champion “The Original Bro” Matt Riddle will be making his official WWE main roster debut on this week’s SmackDown. WWE reportedly has big plans for the former MMA superstar and the latest updates suggest he’s going to get a major introduction during the coronation segment.

A PHENOMENAL Championship presentation awaits...@AJStylesOrg is set to usher in his #ICTitle reign on #SmackDown!https://t.co/FYrVPQsNzm pic.twitter.com/qAlNogCk9m

— WWE (@WWE) June 18, 2020

Fightful.com has informed that Riddle will get his intro that will involve the Intercontinental Champion AJ Styles in some capacity. He won't be challenging the IC Champion for the title but the intro will probably be a way to plant seeds for a future feud between them. As of now, Riddle’s first feud should happen with King Corbin.

“Matt Riddle is scheduled for a big intro to the SmackDown brand on this week’s show. This intro will somehow involve AJ Styles.

After that, Riddle is scheduled for a program with King Corbin. WWE has high hopes for Riddle, based on how his first day with the brand went,” informed the source.



While Riddle will be built as a top superstar on the SmackDown brand in months to follow, AJ Styles is looking forward to receiving his first opponent to defend the Intercontinental Championship. It seems like the former champ, Sami Zayn would make a surprise return on SmackDown to challenge him for the belt.

Back in May, it was announced that Zayn was in an incompetent state and thus he had to vacate the prestigious title that seemed unfair to him. In reality, he refused to attend WWE TV tapings in Orlando amid the coronavirus pandemic. Now he's ready to be back in action settling differences with the company and it seems he'd be used in the mid-card title picture upon return.