Extreme Rules 2018 Intercontinental Championship Match: Dolph Ziggler vs Seth Rollins, winners, video highlights, and analysis
Seth Rollins stepped into an Ironman match for the Intercontinental Championship against Dolph Ziggler, knowing full well that Drew McIntyre will be at ringside and could be a deciding factor in this match. Rollins lost his title to Ziggler a few weeks ago on Raw, and in recent months he has proved that his stamina could be a huge advantage since he managed to last over an hour in a gauntlet match ahead of Elimination Chamber in February.
Seth Rollins stated that he knew that he had three opponents tonight Ziggler, McIntyre and the clock, but he was prepared for the fight and hoped to leave Pittsburgh with the Intercontinental Championship.
The match started with both men scoping each other out before Ziggler headed to the ropes to break the hammerlock and Rollins then took the match to the mat.
Rollins went for the first pin attempt with a quick schoolboy that didn't even get a one count, Ziggler then returned the favour with a schoolboy of his own before The Architect delivered a backslide. Both men made it clear that they were looking for the early pin before The Champion decided to roll to the outside to take a breather.
Rollins connected with the bucklebomb followed by an Oklahoma Roll which awarded the former Champion the first fall of the match.
Rollins and Ziggler once again exchanged roll-ups where Ziggler had the tights before it was then turned into a deadlift powerbomb attempt, Ziggler turned this into a sunset flip but The Architect reversed into a Curb Stomp for a second fall.
Drew McIntyre attacked Rollins after the fall which automatically gave the former Champion a third fall when the referee called for the bell for a disqualification. The attack continued before he was ejected from ringside but he ensured that he delivered Claymore before he left, which gave Ziggler his first fall of the match.
Ziggler was then able to take the match to 3-2 when he delivered a superkick to Rollins before The Architect was thrown into the ring post and then hit with a ZigZag to even up the scores with 17 minutes left on the clock.
Rollins went for a suicide dive, but Ziggler nailed a forearm to the face before using the ropes as leverage to pick up the fourth fall. The match then slowed down somewhat as Ziggler locked in a submission move on the neck and arm of the former Champion but Rollins refused to quit.
Ziggler then locked in the sleeper hold but Rollins fought out and threw Ziggler shoulder first into the ring post. The Kingslayer was then able to deliver a suicide dive on each side of the ring before delivering a springboard blockbuster.
Rollins hit the Kingslayer knee for a near fall before he made his way to the top rope but was stopped in his tracks by Ziggler. Rollins headbutted Ziggler off the top rope before delivering a frog splash for a two count. The Champion attempted to grip the bottom rope to prevent himself from being pinned, before a picture-perfect superplex followed by The Falcon Arrow.
Another back and forth led to Rollins bouncing Ziggler off the top turnbuckle followed by a quick roll up to level up the match at 4-4 with just three minutes to go.
Rollins managed to hit the Curb Stomp with four seconds on the clock but was unable to pin Ziggler before the match came to an end, which means that The Champion retained because it was a draw.
Raw General Manager Kurt Angle took the match into sudden death, but interference from Drew McIntyre allowed Ziggler to hit the ZigZag off a distraction to retain his Championship with a 5-4 victory.
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