For the first time since SummerSlam 1992, the Intercontinental Championship was up for grabs in a singles main event of a WWE pay-per-view, as Dolph Ziggler defended against Seth Rollins in a 30-minute Iron Man match.
Rollins scored the first fall 4:35 into the match when he followed up a buckle bomb with a roll-up that pinned Ziggler's shoulders to the mat.
The Architect took a 2-0 lead after seven-plus minutes, delivering his stomp finisher to pin The Showoff and put the champion in a significant hole.
Just as Rollins was tuning up the band, McIntyre entered and unloaded on him, drawing a disqualification and handing him a 3-0 lead.
The Scot assaulted Rollins, leaving him lying in a battered heap. McIntyre was sent packing by the referee but not before destroying The Architect with the Claymore Kick.
Ziggler followed up the beatdown with a pinfall, earning his first fall of the match.
A superkick allowed Ziggler to move within a fall, the scoreboard sitting at 3-2. The Zig Zag earned Ziggler his third fall in less than two minutes, as the score evened.
Ziggler gained his first lead of the match, catching a charging Rollins with a hard right hand and rolling him up, his feet on the ropes, for the win. Score 4-3 for the champion.
The pace of the match slowed as Ziggler worked a sleeper hold, keeping the challenger grounded and unable to score a quick fall to tie the score. Rollins would recover and take the fight to Ziggler, desperately attempting to even the score. Ziggler, showing resilience not typically reserved for lead heels in WWE, was able to fend off the challenge of The Architect.
With under four minutes to go, Rollins found himself down a fall. After surviving a cradle attempt, he delivered a slingshot into the corner and pinned Ziggler off a sunset flip to tie the score at four falls apiece with 2:30 left.
With just over two minutes left, Rollins applied the Sharpshooter. Ziggler fought through the pain. Rollins applied a cross-face but Ziggler, again, resisted the urge to tap out. A frustrated Rollins tried for the stomp, but Ziggler rolled out of the ring. Back inside, the champion delivered a last-gasp Fameasser for a near-fall.
Time ticked off the clock as the commentary team asked if we were heading to a tie.
Rollins delivered his stomp finisher but time ran out on the challenger as the commentators teased heartbreak for the challenger. Just as it appeared as though Ziggler would retain his title via tie, Kurt Angle appeared and demanded the match head to sudden death overtime.
McIntyre appeared from out of nowhere, provided the distraction and allowed Ziggler to score the win in the restarted match.
Ziggler defeated Rollins, 5-4
The pacing of this one was all over the place, with the competitors showing exhaustion way too early and then sprinting through high spots and near-falls late as if they had suddenly guzzled three large cans of the awful Mountain Dew Kickstart shilled during the Kickoff Show.
Add to that a crowd that was intolerable as the fans in attendance took it upon themselves to mock the clock, thus stealing the attention from the Superstars and placing it on themselves, and you have issues that definitely kept the match from achieving a higher grade.
With that said, this was set up to infuriate fans and create heat for Ziggler and McIntyre. While the true effectiveness of it will be seen Monday night on Raw, it is difficult to argue that it did not accomplish that, particularly in the closing seconds.
Ziggler and McIntyre are an act gaining steam and getting stronger with every passing week. Spotlighting them in the main event of this pay-per-view is as great a sign as any that WWE is behind them. That should mean big things for both Ziggler and McIntyre in the weeks and months to come.
