Roman Reigns to challenge for IC title on WWE SmackDown
Roman Reigns is getting an Intercontinental title shot on SmackDown this week.
WWE has announced that Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura (w/ Sami Zayn) will defend his title against Reigns on tomorrow’s SmackDown. The episode is taking place at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The match was set up via tweets from Zayn and Reigns. Zayn wrote: “Nakamura-san & I were eligible to be drafted together & got picked in the 3rd round by #Smackdown. Imagine being able to get a generation-defining performer AND the Intercontinental Champion together in one pick & still deciding to pick The Big D Roman Reigns first. Unreal. – SZ”
Reigns then responded: “Don’t concern yourself with the Big D Sami [laughing emoji] but if you and Shin want to go from 3rd round to face #1…you know where to find me. And bring the #ICTitle with you. #BigDog #BigDeal #SmackDown”
Nakamura became Intercontinental Champion by defeating Finn Balor for the title on the Extreme Rules pre-show this July.
Reigns has held the Intercontinental title once in his career. He won it in November 2017 and lost it in January 2018.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.