Sami Zayn stripped of WWE Intercontinental Title over mystery absences with Smackdown to begin new tournament – The Sun

SAMI ZAYN has been stripped of the Intercontinental Title with SmackDown set to host a tournament to crown a new champion.

The Underdog from the Underground last appeared on-screen on April 4, when he successfully retained the belt against Daniel Bryan during the first night of WrestleMania 36.

Zayn had held the championship, his first on the main-roster, for just 66 days after he defeated Braun Strowman at Elimination Chamber back in March.

News of the vacancy was announced during an episode of WWE Backstage, with official wording declaring that the Canadian was "unable to compete."

The SmackDown star has not been present at recent tapings at the company's Performance Center, while the Intercontinental title was also not defended at Money in the Bank.

Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Alfred Konuwa of Forbes) reported that it was Zayn's decision not to appear.

He wrote: "The reason Zayn wasn't on SmackDown this past week with Nakamura and Cesaro is that he made the choice not to come, which everyone was told they had that option to do. He was originally part of the show."

Meltzer's comments were in reference to WWE giving wrestlers the choice of whether to continue performing due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The reason Zayn wasn't on SmackDown this past week is that he made the choice not to come, which everyone was told they had that option to do

Vince McMahon's company are said to have assured it's talent that they will not be forced to attend tapings and will not face any backlash from their decision to stay away.

Last week, Meltzer said in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Lennard Surrao of Sportskeeda) that Zayn "had still not agreed to return to work at last word."

The ex-NXT champion – real name Rami Sebei – has been a vocal critic of the American government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although his last tweet on Tuesday, hours before he was stripped of the Intercontinental title, read: "Hope everyone is doing okay."

Despite being one of the few sporting franchises still functioning, WWE has been forced to adjust plans due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The company has already been forced to crown a new interim NXT Cruiserweight champion with Jordan Devlin currently unable to leave Ireland.

England grappler Pete Dunne faces a similar problem, with Timothy Thatcher chosen to replace him in NXT Tag Team Championship matches alongside Matt Riddle.

Most notably was Braun Strowman being inserted into the Universal title match against Goldberg at WrestleMania in the absence of Roman Reigns.

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