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WWE has announced that Sami Zayn being unable to compete has forced them to vacate his Intercontinental Championship.

On Tuesday night’s episode of WWE Backstage on FS1, host Renee Young broke the news that the Intercontinental Championship is being vacated. The news comes after it being revealed that current champion Sami Zayn is unable to compete.

While no reason was given as to why Zayn is forced to vacated the title, it is believed that his status as a native Canadian is prohibiting him to travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Canada/US border is still closed, leaving him unable to travel and make any scheduled appearances.

To crown a new champion, WWE will hold a tournament for the title. First-round matches will take place beginning this week on Friday Night SmackDown. WWE’s social media platforms will have more information on this situation over the next couple of days, including possible details on who will be involved in the tournament.

Zayn won the title on March 8 at the Elimination Chamber event, in a 3-on-1 handicap match. Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro were instrumental in Zayn defeating then-champion Braun Strowman, giving him his first main-roster WWE singles championship.

He hasn’t addressed the situation, as he most recently checked in with the WWE Universe on his Twitter account.

Hope everyone is doing okay.

— Sami Zayn (@SamiZayn) May 12, 2020

WWE is currently running their weekly Raw and SmackDown broadcasts, along with regular monthly pay per view events, at the Efficiency Center in Orlando, as they were considered as “essential business” by the Florida guv. They run their occasions without fans remaining in presence, in an effort to keep social and safe distancing in the middle of the existing coronavirus circumstance.

There’s no word on when the border will resume, as different parts of the United States are gradually resuming. One would presume Zayn would have an instant difficulty for the title when he returns, as he might declare that he never ever lost the title and established a fight with the ultimate winner of the competition.

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The post Sami Zayn unable to compete, forced to vacate I-C Title appeared first on World Weekly News.