IC title match finally announced for Night of Champions

Just a couple of days before Night of Champions, and the entire card had been set. Well, except for one match: The Miz had no opponent announced for an Intercontinental title defense. That changed earlier tonight on Smackdown! when Teddy Long, Booker T’s assistant, informed The Miz that he now has a title challenger. Instead of one opponent, however, he will be taking on three in a fatal 4-way match: Rey Mysterio, Cody Rhodes and Sin Cara.

For the past month, Miz has been on a losing streak, thanks to these three men. He has been defeated by both Mysterio and Sin Cara in tag team matches, and Rhodes has cost him matches on more than one occasion. Earlier tonight on Friday Night Smackdown, Miz had a non-title match against Sin Cara and it appeared that Miz would win with the Skull-Crushing Finale, but Sin Cara was able to escape the move and roll Miz up with a La Magistral cradle to get the three-count.

After the commercial break, Miz was about to be interviewed by Matt Striker about his then-yet-to-be-named opponent for NoC. Rhodes, Mysterio and Sin Cara all approached him, stating their cases as to why they deserve a championship match (well, except for Sin Cara, who just stood there and pointed at the belt). At this point, Long approached the group and informed them of the 4-way, since all three challengers had a strong case for wanting the title match.

Although Miz has been on a losing streak lately, it seems unlikely he will lose the belt on Sunday night, given the fact he hasn’t been champion for all that long, and the match stipulation would allow him to easily come in and steal a pinfall at the end (all four men are legal at the same time). While Rhodes could win it back, rumor has it he’s in line for a feud with Sheamus over the World title soon, so I don’t see it happening. As for the two masked men, the current plan has them winning the Tag Team titles at some point, then turning that into a feud or “friendly rivalry” that sees them heading into Wrestlemania for a one-on-one match (WWE is still looking to break the “indoor mask” record, and will likely do what they can to make that happen with these two). Plus, Triple H is looking for longer title reigns out of his champions, so the odds of Miz retaining here are very much in his favor.