Following his exit from WWE after WrestleMania due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, Sami Zayn never lost the Intercontinental Championship. Instead, the company declared the title vacant and held a tournament to crown a new champion. That tournament was eventually won by AJ Styles, who has since lost the IC belt to Jeff Hardy. However, we saw Zayn return to SmackDown on Friday night with his old title belt in tow, setting up a champion vs. champion feud on the horizon.
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Zayn followed up his SmackDown return with an appearance on Talking Smack on Saturday morning. He continued his story of declaring himself the real Intercontinental Champion.
“Jeff Hardy knows in his heart of hearts that he’s not the Intercontinental Champion,” Zayn said. “I think he knows I’m the champion. He missed the boat to call me and denounce his fraudulent title win, but I think now he’s going to do the right thing.”
We will have to see where this feud goes moving forward. The title will not be defended tomorrow night during WWE Payback on the WWE Network.
The full card for WWE Payback is as follows:
- WWE Universal Championship No Holds Barred Match
The Fiend (c) vs. Braun Strowman vs. Roman Reigns - WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Match
Bayley and Sasha Banks (c) vs. Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax - WWE U.S. Championship Match
Apollo Crews (c) vs Bobby Lashley - Randy Orton vs. Keith Lee
- Dominick Mysterio and Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins and Murphy
- Matt Riddle vs. King Corbin
- Big E vs. Sheamus
ComicBook.com will have full coverage of WWE Payback on Sunday evening. Which match are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments section below! Additionally, you can give me a follow on Twitter @ryandroste for all things WWE and AEW.
