LOOK: New WWE intercontinental championship belt unveiled on SmackDown kicking off Survivor Series weekend
The new title was awarded as a gift to champion Shinsuke Nakamura from Sami Zayn

As WWE SmackDown continues to settle in at its new home on the Fox network, major changes continued on Friday night as SmackDown aired live from the Allstate Arena in the Chicago area to kick off the Survivor Series weekend festivities. Two weeks ago, it was Bray Wyatt's universal championship that got a minor facelift after he collected it from Seth Rollins and the Raw brand, while this week it was the heralded intercontinental championship title belt that saw a very drastic redesign.
In the third segment of the Survivor Series go-home edition of SmackDown, champion Shinsuke Nakamura and mouthpiece Sami Zayn headed to the ring with Zayn carrying something along with him in a sack. After badmouthing King Corbin, whom Zayn had a brief altercation with backstage just prior to the segment, Zayn revealed that he had a gift for his champion before reaching into the bag and pulling out the brand-new intercontinental championship that will be used going forward on the SmackDown brand.
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"This is from me to you, and ... well, here, I'll just show you," Zayn said before the official unveiling. "Out with the old, and in with the new."
🚨We've got a NEW @WWE Intercontinental Championship on #SmackDown 🚨 pic.twitter.com/xzz8a3mInc
— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) November 23, 2019
You can have an even closer, detailed look at the revamped intercontinental championship below.
Get a closer look at the NEW #ICTitle revealed by @SamiZayn on #SmackDown. pic.twitter.com/Cuv70JLnyG
— WWE (@WWE) November 23, 2019
The classic design of the intercontinental championship title belt that dated back to the mid-1980s was previously ditched during the Attitude Era, but was reintroduced at the 2011 Hell in a Cell event by current All Elite Wrestling executive and star Cody Rhodes. Now it will head back into the vault as we gear up for Survivor Series this Sunday -- where Nakamura head into competition with the new belt to face United States champion AJ Styles and NXT North American champion Roderick Strong -- and beyond.
















