We recently reported on a rumor that Matt Riddle was being lined up as the next challenger for the Intercontinental Championship, and WWE made it official last night on SmackDown when they announced that the King of Bros will go one-on-one with AJ Styles next Friday night.
Riddle picked up a non-title win over Styles when he debuted on SmackDown a few weeks ago, and their feud was expected to pick up steam in the weeks leading up to SummerSlam. However, WWE clearly decided to pull the trigger earlier and have the match next week instead, possibly in an effort to improve ratings. This week's episode was... not great.
Riddle was recently accused of sexual assault, but that doesn't seem to have had much of an impact on his career, and the powers that be clearly believe his version of events. In fact, Vince McMahon is said to be very high (no pun intended) on the former NXT star, and has been impressed by his in-ring skill and promo work.
Is there a chance he could win the title here? Probably not, but a great showing against Styles should help take him to the next level.