Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz WWE Extreme Rules 2017 Match Preview and Pick

One man's manipulation could be the downfall of another's run as intercontinental champion Sunday night, as The Miz challenges Dean Ambrose in a match wherein The Lunatic Fringe will lose his title if he is disqualified.

The Hollywood A-lister will undoubtedly attempt everything imaginable to get Ambrose to lose his cool and take drastic measures. Perhaps he spits in the titleholder's face. Maybe he yells insults or relentlessly cheats behind the referee's back, forcing Ambrose to become incensed and return the favor.

Whatever the case may be, Sunday's title bout figures to be a psychological tour de force that may not settle the intensifying issues between Ambrose and Miz but propels them and sets up another high-profile bout sometime down the road.

Will Miz succeed in his attempts to wrest the title away from Ambrose by any means necessary, or will Ambrose thwart the chicanery of his rival and retain his title?

Take an in-depth look at Sunday's IC title bout with this full match preview.

The Background

Some will look back at the April 10 episode of Raw for the emphasis of the rivalry between intercontinental champion Dean Ambrose and The Miz, but their issues predate that first night of the Superstar Shake-up. The differences between the unhinged babyface and Hollywood A-list villain go back the tail end of 2016 and their time on the SmackDown Live brand.

It was there Miz insulted Ambrose's significant other, Renee Young, to the point she slapped him. The blue brand was also home to the Lunatic Fringe's victory over Miz for the Intercontinental Championship on January 3.

The Superstars would go their separate ways, each preoccupied with different matters, before reigniting their rivalry upon their arrival on Raw.

Ambrose interrupted Miz and Maryse on the April 10 episode, and everything went downhill from there. 

The two found themselves opposed in many ways, including the May 8 episode of Raw, where they were co-general managers in Kurt Angle's absence. No night was essential to the build and hype of Sunday's championship clash more than the May 15 episode of WWE's flagship program, when Ambrose defended his title against his longtime antagonist.

In that contest, a frustrated Ambrose kicked Miz below the belt, getting himself disqualified. Infuriated, Miz demanded a rematch against the leader of the Ambrose Asylum. Not just any match, though. He demanded a bout in which a disqualification would earn him the title.

His request was granted, and the Extreme Rules pay-per-view had a significant title bout.

To hammer home how easy it would be for Ambrose to get disqualified and lose his title, Miz interfered during a match between Ambrose and "The Drifter" Elias Samson and attacked his fellow heel, costing the champion the non-title match.

An angle not unlike many others witnessed under similar situations, it served its purpose in that it reminded fans of the incredible stakes that face the hero Sunday night.

The Match

Ambrose and Miz have an in-ring chemistry that has resulted in several wildly entertaining bouts.

They rely on late-match counters, reversals and near-falls to build drama before finally ending the match with an emphatic finishing maneuver.

The added stipulation of disqualification costing Ambrose his title will surely factor into the match's build and execution. Rather than wrestling the tried-and-true match we know they can have, Ambrose and Miz will have to force elements of the stipulation into their match.

When that happens, the result is typically a more disjointed match that never gets the chance to organically build. The bout is never as good as it should be, leaving fans underwhelmed and a storyline suddenly colder than it may have been prior to the contest.

Ambrose and Miz have worked with each other so many times and are creative enough performers that they may be able to overcome the oppressiveness of the gimmick hovering over the match.

Arguably one of the best-built matches on the card, the emotion and heat behind it should help it overcome whatever booking roadblocks WWE Creative throws in front of the performers.

The Prediction

If Ambrose defeats Miz Sunday night and retains his title, the story is over. There is nowhere for the WWE Creative to take the story that allows it to continue and still make sense.

Should Miz emerge with the title, the guaranteed rematches for The Lunatic Fringe would allow the Superstars to continue telling their story while management figures out the feuds it wants to highlight on the road to SummerSlam.

The stipulation the company has placed on the match suggests it plans to utilize it in some form or fashion. Otherwise, why bother?

With that said, and with no clear feud waiting for either man post-Extreme Rules, Miz will use underhanded tactics that result in Ambrose's disqualification. Consequently, The Miz will win the Intercontinental Championship despite doing nothing of honor to earn it.

Miz becomes even more unlikable, Ambrose is a somewhat sympathetic figure for having lost his title in controversial fashion and anticipation for their next match is even greater than it is for Sunday's contest.

Prediction

The Miz wins the Intercontinental Championship.