AJ Styles Vs. Daniel Bryan Set For For Intercontinental Title After Controversial Jeff Hardy Angle

By Marc Middleton

The finals for the tournament to crown a new WWE Intercontinental Champion have been announced to air in two weeks during the June 12 SmackDown on FOX episode.

The finals will see Daniel Bryan battle AJ Styles. The winner of that match will win the vacant WWE Intercontinental Title.

The plan going into tonight's SmackDown episode was for two semifinals matches to take place – Bryan vs. Jeff Hardy and Styles vs. Elias. The winners of those matches were to meet in the finals at a later date. However, SmackDown opened with a controversial angle that made it look like Elias had been injured in a car crash outside of the WWE Performance Center, with what appeared to be an intoxicated Hardy. Elias was taken away in an ambulance while Hardy was arrested and taken away in a police car.

The car crash angle led to a 10-Man Battle Royal with the winner earning a spot in the semifinals against Bryan. The Battle Royal featured King Baron Corbin, Shorty G, Drew Gulak, Jey Uso, Dolph Ziggler, Shinsuke Nakamura, Lince Dorado, Gran Metalik, Cesaro, and the winner, Sheamus. Sheamus then faced Bryan in the main event but lost after Hardy returned to the Performance Center to provide a distraction.

There's no word yet on where they are headed with the controversial angle with Hardy, or how they will explain his return to the building at the end of the show as it looked like he was fine, but it looks like the Sheamus vs. Hardy feud will continue.

Bryan vs. Styles for the vacant title will take place just two days before the WWE Backlash pay-per-view on the go-home edition of SmackDown. The title was recently declared vacant after WWE stripped Sami Zayn. The storyline reason is that Zayn is injured, but we know that he chose not to work during the coronavirus pandemic due to potential health concerns. There's still no word on when Zayn will be back.

Stay tuned for updates on Zayn's status, Hardy vs. Sheamus and Bryan vs. Styles. Above and below are shots from tonight's related matches and angles:

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