Ricochet wins Intercontinental title on WWE SmackDown

Ricochet is the new WWE Intercontinental Champion.

He defeated Sami Zayn on tonight’s SmackDown to win the championship for the first time. The finish had Johnny Knoxville come out to distract Zayn, which succeeded. Ricochet used the distraction to plant Zayn with a hurricanrana into a pinning combination to win the championship.

Zayn’s reign ends after only 21 days. He originally won the title on the February 11 edition of SmackDown, defeating Shinsuke Nakamura. Zayn had won a battle royal at the end of 2021 that established him as the number one contender for the title.

Knoxville and Zayn have been feuding since the start of the year, with Zayn dismissing Knoxville’s ambitions of winning the Royal Rumble, going as far as eliminating him at the Rumble. Knoxville later challenged Zayn to a match for the Intercontinental title, but Zayn balked at the idea. After Knoxville cost Zayn the match tonight, Zayn issued a challenge to Knoxville for WrestleMania.