WWE SmackDown: Predicting the IC Title Tournament Bracket and Winners

WWE SmackDown is set to take place on May 15, 2020 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT live on FOX with no audience in attendance. Sami Zayn has recently been stripped of his Intercontinental Championship, and the following will predict the announced Intercontinental Championship Tournament Brackets and Winners.

As my colleague, Bruce Lee Hazelwood, thoroughly expatiated, Sami Zayn was unjustifiably stripped of the Intercontinental Championship this week. Indeed, it was hypocritical of the WWE to completely vacate the Intercontinental Championship when it did not do the same for Jordan Devlin’s NXT Cruiserweight Championship, for which an Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship Tournament has been held every week on NXT.

Due to the current circumstances of the world today, Sami Zayn should have received the same privilege from the WWE. There should have been an Interim Intercontinental Championship Tournament every week on Friday Night SmackDown, in which the winner would be considered the Intercontinental Champion during Zayn’s absence and battle Zayn to determine the undisputed Intercontinental Champion once Zayn returns.

Evidently, the WWE saw Jordan Devlin’s situation as mandatory and Zayn’s situation as voluntary, so they handled the situations differently. However, it is not Zayn’s fault for voluntarily staying home during a pandemic that has been taking away so many lives. Health comes first, but that may be too much to ask from a company that pays their wrestlers as independent contractors and thereby do not have to offer them health insurance or retirement benefits.

Whether mandatory or voluntary, the WWE superstars should have a choice to stay home where it’s safest because their lives are on the line not only in the ring but also everywhere they go. Clearly, the recent actions of the WWE nowadays have been egregious and have evoked nothing but bad publicity and intolerable business ethics. The true colors of those ethics have been clearer nowadays than ever before.

Nonetheless, the show continues to go on with a regular, not interim, tournament to determine the new Intercontinental Champion. Based on all the mid carders that have a significant role on Friday Night SmackDown, the contestants will most likely be: (1) Jeff Hardy, (2) Sheamus, (3) Daniel Bryan, (4) Drew Gulak, (5) Cesaro, (6) Shinsuke Nakamura, (7) King Corbin, and (8) Elias.

"Left Bracket (1) Jeff Hardy (2) Cesaro (3) Shinsuke Nakamura (4) Elias Right Bracket (1) King Corbin (2) Daniel Bryan (3) Drew Gulak (4) Sheamus"

The tournament will begin on this week’s Friday Night SmackDown. The following will predict the  Intercontinental Championship Tournament Brackets and Winners. Without further ado, let’s begin with the qualification rounds for the left bracket.