In the second major championship shift in the past 2 days, Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn was forced to vacate his title. The WWE has slated to conduct a tournament during SmackDown on Friday to find a new InterContinental champion.
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
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Does Sami Zayn have health concerns?
WWE has given its performers the ability to choose whether they want to appear on regular programming. Zayn’s official reasons for not taking part in the weekly shows are ‘undisclosed’. But speculations suggest that the champion is taking precautions against the COVID19 pandemic. He was also absent during the recent Money In The Bank pay-per-view event.
Zayn had won the title in March during an Elimination Chamber match with Braun Strowman. Sami had last appeared in the ring at WrestleMania 36. He defended his title against Daniel Bryan in this event. The WrestleMania match showed signs of blossoming into a full feud, following the title defense. Bryan was the #1 contender to challenge the champion for the title, with many talks regarding a second title match during Money In The Bank. The (former) champion has, however, refused to come back to perform even after the pay-per-view event.
Zayn recently also had his wisdom teeth removed, which may have added to his decision to not participate in regular weekly programming. This would be a legitimate reason, but would not justify his absence from the pay-per-view events. The Superstar may also have an undisclosed medical condition, which may put him at a greater risk of infection. He would be the second high profile star to use this reason after Roman Reigns pulled out of WrestleMania 36 due to health and family reasons.
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In lighter news, I had my wisdom teeth taken out last week so I’ve been on an #AllPuddingDiet for days and now I’m ripped to shreds.
— Sami Zayn (@SamiZayn) April 20, 2020
Championship Shifts in the WWE
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WWE has accommodated championship changes since the start of the pandemic and global lockdown. Jordan Devlin, the NXT Cruiserweight Champion, recently vacated his belt as well. He was unable to travel from Ireland to the taping of the regular programming because of the coronavirus pandemic. Having the title be undefended during the weeks would be detrimental to the show. To avoid this, the WWE had instituted an eight-man round-robin tournament to crown a new champion.
The WWE also accommodated Becky Lynch relinquishing her title ahead of her exit after her pregnancy announcement.
