After the Royal Rumble, Bryan began a rivalry with Drew Gulak, who claimed to have "found holes in Bryan's game". This led to a match being made for the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on March 8, which Bryan won. On the March 13 episode of "SmackDown", Bryan formed an alliance with Gulak, as Gulak managed Bryan during his match against Cesaro, where both were subsequently attacked by Cesaro, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn. On the March 27 episode of "SmackDown", after Gulak defeated Nakamura, Bryan earned an Intercontinental Championship match against Zayn at WrestleMania 36, which he lost. At the Money in the Bank event on May 10, Bryan competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match, but was unsuccessful as the match was won by Otis. On the May 15 episode of "SmackDown", Bryan defeated Gulak in the quarter finals of a tournament for the vacant Intercontinental Championship. On the May 29 episode of "SmackDown", Bryan then defeated Sheamus in the semi finals who replaced Bryan's scheduled opponent Jeff Hardy, who was arrested for crashing his car into Elias and who had won a battle royal to face Bryan. Bryan ultimately lost to A.J. Styles in the finals on the June 12 episode of "SmackDown".