Just two days before Survivor Series, WWE has unveiled a new Intercontinental Championship.Sami Zayn presented current IC Champion Shinsuke Nakamura with the new belt on this Friday's WWE SmackDown. The celebration was short-lived, however, when NXT's Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O'Reilly, and one of Nakamura's Sunday opponents, Roderick Strong) attacked the SmackDown superstars.
The WWE then tweeted out a closer look at the belt. The sharp new black-and-white design brings the Intercontinental belt more in line with other recent WWE belt changes, with a design similar to the Cruiserweight and Tag division titles. It also features custom side plates, with Nakamura's already installed as Sami Zayn presented the new belt to him. This is the second WWE title belt design change this month, with the Universal Title receiving a new blue design courtesy of current champion Bray Wyatt.
Former WWE Superstar and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes originally re-introduced the iconic white belt to WWE in 2011. When asked by fans on Twitter if he thought the belt was changing due to the success of AEW, Rhodes replied that it was more likely just time for a change.
Shinsuke Nakamura has held the Intercontinental title since July of this year, when he defeated Finn Balor for the belt at Extreme Rules. He'll face off at Survivor Series against United States champion AJ Styles and Undisputed Era's Roderick Strong, who is NXT's current North American champion.
WWE Smackdown on Fox airs live every Friday night at 8:00 pm ET.