Reason for WWE Holding Intercontinental Championship Tournament

WWE announced a No. 1 contender’s tournament for the Intercontinental Championship this past Monday night on “Monday Night Raw,” with the winner meeting Big E for the belt. The first round was held on Monday, with Cesaro, Sheamus, Bad News Barrett and Rob Van Dam advancing.

Originally, this was not the plan for the Intercontinental Championship contendership, reports PWInsider.com. Christian had been slotted to be the No. 1 contender, as established last month. However, he became concussed, and then was removed.

There had been hope that he would have been able to return in time to challenge for the belt, and there were no plans for there to be a tournament as of the beginning of this week. But it was later determined who would not be cleared, and thus, the tournament was put in place.

The semifinals will be held on next week’s “Monday Night Raw.”

Editor’s Note

It was an unfortunate circumstance, but ultimately, I think the tournament is a good thing for WWE. It brings a little bit of relevance back to the title, and gives some midcard guys something to actually do.

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