Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus: Winner and Reaction from WWE Extreme Rules 2015

After being on the receiving end of attacks from Sheamus for the past few weeks, Dolph Ziggler exacted revenge Sunday night at Extreme Rules by winning a "Kiss Me Arse" match.

After narrowly avoiding a Brogue Kick, Ziggler pinned Sheamus on a quick three count. Sheamus was not pleased, and instead of kissing Ziggler's arse, he hit him with a low blow and a Brogue Kick. Sheamus then rubbed his arse in Ziggler's face. 

The match received positive reviews from Bryan and ShayLa:

Sheamus tweeted his thoughts after the match: 

The Celtic Warrior made his return to WWE programming the night after WrestleMania. He had been out of action for several months due to injury, and he immediately made his presence felt by taking out both Ziggler and Daniel Bryan, which firmly established him as a heel.

Since that moment, the Irish Superstar has dedicated himself to preying on and destroying smaller wrestlers. Ziggler is representative of that group, and Sheamus set out to embarrass him at the pay-per-view. The WWE Universe snapped a photo of Sheamus' look during the match:

Rather than challenging Ziggler to a normal match or adding a more conventional stipulation, Sheamus decided to go completely off the board. He set the stage for a "Kiss Me Arse" match and stated that The Showoff would be forced to pucker up and kiss his behind, according to the WWE Universe on Twitter:

On the heels of that declaration, Sheamus continued to make examples of other Superstars like Neville and Zack Ryder. Ziggler struck back, though, and added some heat to their rivalry ahead of Extreme Rules.

Even as Ziggler proved that he wouldn't back down, Sheamus remained defiant and tossed some mean-spirited jabs in his opponent's direction on social media:

Ziggler was undeterred, though, as he and Sheamus engaged in a hard-hitting and entertaining affair that may ultimately be viewed as one of the best matches Extreme Rules had to offer.

While Ziggler's pushes to the top have stopped and started with alarming frequency, there is no question that he is among the best in-ring workers in the business. Sheamus, on the other hand, doesn't get a ton of credit for his wrestling acumen, but he has proved to be capable of putting on solid matches with almost anyone.

It was essentially a foregone conclusion that Ziggler and Sheamus would mesh well at Extreme Rules, and that is precisely what happened.

Few are likely to argue with Ziggler scoring a win on pay-per-view, considering how poorly he has been booked at times, but having him defeat Sheamus seems like a curious decision on the surface.

It seemed as though the WWE wanted to establish the former WWE champion as a top heel, but he took a major hit by losing his first big match since returning from injury.

The WWE has a chance to make both Superstars major players moving forward, regardless of Sunday's result, but it remains to be seen whether the company will commit to either of them as anything more than midcarders.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.