Sami Zayn Stripped Of WWE Intercontinental Championship

The coronavirus pandemic has prevented NXT Superstars Jordan Devlin and Pete Dunne from defending their respective championships. WWE recently addressed their situations as a round-robin tournament was established to crown an Interim Cruiserweight Champion and Timothy Thatcher was recruited by The Bruiserweight to defend the NXT Tag Team Championships until his return.

WWE took a different approach with Sami Zayn, however, as it was announced on WWE Backstage that he had been stripped of the Intercontinental Championship. A tournament will begin on this week's episode of Friday Night SmackDown to crown a new champion.

WWE's official wording was that Zayn was "unable to compete," at this time but reports in recent weeks have noted that The Underdog From The Underground has decided not to travel to SmackDown tapings because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The leader of the Artist Collective enjoyed 66 days as Intercontinental Champion. He captured the title from Braun Strowman at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view and was successful in his only title defence when he defeated Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 36.