Breaking: Tournament to crown new Intercontinental Champion set to begin on SmackDown

After Becky Lynch relinquished her title due to pregnancy to make Asuka the new RAW Women's Champion, it appears that the WWE Universe will also be getting a new Intercontinental Champion.

Renee Young announced on WWE Backstage that on SmackDown this Friday, a tournament to crown a new Intercontinental Champion would be starting. Brackets would also be revealed on Friday's show.

BREAKING NEWS:@SamiZayn is unable to compete and defend the Intercontinental Championship, therefore @WWE has declared the title vacant. A tournament to crown a new Champion will begin on Friday Night Smackdown on FOX. pic.twitter.com/5qZgUyL9rC

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) May 13, 2020

New Intercontinental Champion

This announcement comes after current Intercontinental Champion, Sami Zayn, has elected to stay home during the pandemic with the title. Since the title cannot be defended, interim titles are sometimes created. There isn't an end in sight to the pandemic, however, so it appears WWE would rather have the title represented on TV rather than wait for the Champion to reappear.

Part of the announcement revealed that the tournament and the brackets would be revealed on Friday. There are many deserving men who could be considered. The likes of Shinsuke Nakamura, Jeff Hardy, Sheamus and Daniel Bryan are all likely to be included in the match. It would also be interesting to see if Chad Gable and Mustafa Ali return for the tournament or if they remain off of TV. We could also see the likes of Dolph Ziggler, Drew Gulak, Miz, John Morrison and many others involved. This past week has truly shifted the landscape of the WWE.