This week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown opened with a ceremony for AJ Styles, who won the Intercontinental championship last week. He had Daniel Bryan put the title around his waist and told a group of wrestlers standing around the ring that this is as close as they would get to the title.
Bryan told him he should defend the title against the many stars the blue brand has to offer if he wants to be considered an all time great. That’s when Matt Riddle showed up.
The #FaceThatRunsThePlace meet The #BroThatsGonnaRunTheShow. #SmackDown @AJStylesOrg @SuperKingofBros pic.twitter.com/EKmQWAcyaQ
— WWE (@WWE) June 20, 2020
Riddle’s confrontation was rather simple. He made sure to note he never wears shoes, and he’s “the bro that’s gonna run the show.”
This led to an impromptu match. It was initially announced the Intercontinental championship would be on the line but Styles quickly said that wasn’t the case.
The idea here was clearly about showcasing Riddle’s skills with Styles giving him one hell of a debut match. In the end, Riddle won said match with much of the roster celebrating in the ring with him while commentary put it over as one of the biggest debuts they’ve seen.
That's 1⃣!@SuperKingofBros picks up the win over @AJStylesOrg in his #SmackDown debut! pic.twitter.com/XvGqSvsBHH
— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) June 20, 2020
This all comes on the heels of Riddle being the subject of abuse allegations, which he has denied through a statement from his lawyer. WWE has said the company is looking into the matter.