7 WWE Superstars who have reportedly had backstage heat in 2020 (and the reasons why)

#1 Sami Zayn (WWE SmackDown)

SmackDown Superstar Sami Zayn was stripped of the Intercontinental Championship in May 2020 after he decided to stop working WWE’s shows during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This led to an eight-man tournament on SmackDownto crown a new champion, with AJ Styles defeating Daniel Bryan in the final to win the Intercontinental Championship for the first time in his career.

The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that, although nobody in WWE will publicly criticize Zayn for not working, there is “a lot of unhappiness” backstage over his decision.

When it was announced that the Intercontinental Championship would be vacated, many fans pointed out on social media that WWE had taken a different approach with Jordan Devlin’s NXT Cruiserweight Championship.

Devlin, who is in Ireland and cannot travel to the United States, kept hold of his Cruiserweight Championship, while a tournament took place on NXT to crown a new Interim Cruiserweight Champion.

In contrast, Zayn was simply stripped of his title, meaning Styles is the official – not interim – Intercontinental Champion.