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When Matt Riddle made his big debut on Friday Night SmackDown, one of the ways WWE got him over to the larger audience was an exciting match with AJ Styles. They took it one step further by having Riddle win that match.
It’s a big part of what led to this week’s episode, where he challenged Styles for the Intercontinental championship in the main event.
But while Riddle’s push has been strong out the gate, that did not mean he would be winning a title so early in his main roster run. Indeed, after a solid match, though maybe not as good as their first encounter, Styles pinned Riddle to retain the title.
After, Riddle showed great disappointment but he ultimately shook the champion’s hand.
As he was doing so, Baron Corbin attacked.
It would seem, then, that he’s already transitioning into the feud it always looked like he was headed for.
Get complete SmackDown results and coverage of this week’s show here.