Dom Mysterio Beats AJ Styles to Retain WWE Intercontinental Title at SummerSlam 2025

Dominik Mysterio beat AJ Styles on Night 2 of WWE SummerSlam on Sunday to retain the Intercontinental Championship.

The title bout was months in the making, as Styles built up a ton of momentum on Raw and parlayed it into an opportunity to become a two-time IC champion.

At WrestleMania 41, Dominik won his first Intercontinental Championship by prevailing in a Fatal 4-Way match that also included Bron Breakker, Penta and Finn Bálor.

Styles experienced a heartbreaking loss to Logan Paul at that same event, but he seemingly used the defeat as fuel, as he has been on a roll ever since.

In May, Styles announced his intention to come after the IC title to Mysterio, which prompted Dirty Dom to enlist his Judgment Day teammates in Bálor and JD McDonagh to stand in his way.

After Styles beat the Irishman on the May 12 episode of Raw, The Judgment Day did get revenge when Bálor and McDonagh defeated Styles and Penta one week later, although it was due to interference from El Grande Americano.

Styles gained retribution with a victory over Americano's perceived alter ego in Chad Gable on the June 9 Raw, leading to a Styles vs. McDonagh singles match the following week.

The Phenomenal One was victorious once again, and he also managed to escape with Mysterio's intercontinental belt after Dom and Bálor attempted to attack him.

Styles handed the belt over to SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis later in the night, and Aldis used his power as the fill-in GM of Raw for the night to grant AJ a title match at Night of Champions.

Mysterio was not cleared to compete at Night of Champions, though, which caused the match to be postponed until he was finally cleared in advance of SummerSlam.

Facing undoubtedly the biggest challenge of his IC title reign, Mysterio was up to the task, as he retained his championship and spoiled Styles' title opportunity.