WWE Extreme Rules 2016 Results: What Miz's IC Title Win Means for Each Star

The Miz escaped WWE Extreme Rules 2016 with the Intercontinental Championship, an event which will reshape the title picture.

Ahead of Sunday's PPV, the chase for the IC belt featured the intertwined issues of four men. Now that The Miz delayed the dethroning so many expected, the field of contenders is set to shrink. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are poised to take their bad blood elsewhere.

Cesaro will no doubt be seething in the weeks ahead. That emotion and the growing anticipation of seeing The Miz fall will be the foundation for the IC title scene as summer arrives.

As fun as it would be to see these four wrestlers try to top the masterpiece they produced at Extreme Rules, signs point to this four-way rivalry morphing into a more traditional one.

Cesaro

The King of Swing will not simply accept defeat. Expect him to demand a rematch as early as Monday's Raw. He has a gripe with how things played out on Sunday night, one that suggests he's far from done with The Miz.

During the bout at Extreme Rules, with Zayn and Owens both out of the ring, Cesaro clamped the Sharpshooter on The Miz. Maryse distracted the referee just as The Miz was tapping out.

The submission went unseen, and later a stunned Cesaro ate the decisive pinfall.

That has to foreshadow that his issues with The Miz will continue. Much like Natalya's battles with Charlotte, he has been cheated out of what looked to be sure wins. Count on WWE to milk this dynamic at Money in the Bank and beyond. 

Cesaro has thrived in this title chase. He and The Miz make quality foes. And there's not an obvious alternative for The Swiss Superman right now.

A rematch is sure to be on its way.

Owens and Zayn

The story of Owens vs. Zayn will veer away from the IC title. Both are so focused on their hatred for each other that they will neglect their pursuit of The Miz's championship. A bigger prize will be up for grabs anyway.

As the Fatal 4-Way match drew to a close on Sunday, Zayn knocked Cesaro out with a Helluva Kick. Owens denied Zayn a win afterward, though, when he yanked his rival out of the ring. The two former friends then brawled near the guardrail.

Because of that moment and the animosity between Owens and Zayn throughout the contest, it's clear they will still be at each other's throats. As indy wrestler El Ligero pointed out, the rivalry is still hot at this point:

In the coming weeks, look for that feud to further heat up but drift away from the IC title picture. Cesaro will no longer share the stage with the former NXT stars. 

Instead, WWE will call upon Owens and Zayn to be a part of the Money in the Bank match at the PPV of the same name. The company will need top performers like them to build the field of contenders, and it makes perfect sense to transport their hatred to another kind of match.

Rather than just have Owens and Zayn go at it in singles competition for the rest of the year, WWE looks to be offering twists on their collision, having them meet in a ladder match at WrestleMania, a Fatal 4-Way at Extreme Rules and now what should be a battle for a briefcase at Money in the Bank.

The Champ

The Miz's win at Extreme Rules is further proof that The A-lister is not just a transitional champion. That looked to be the case when he took the title from Zack Ryder after WrestleMania. After all, the last three times The Miz held the IC crown, he only did so for a total of 31 days combined, per WWE.com.

Sunday's PPV was his latest evasion of comeuppance, extending a reign that is being used to build to a major moment.

The more The Miz slips out of harm's way as he did at Extreme Rules, the bigger impact his eventual loss will have. Chair Shot Reality host Justin LaBar noted that the champ is creating productive heat with the belt in hand:

If The Miz was able to survive having three challengers at once, don't bet on him losing his grip on the gold anytime soon. This Miz train may barrel well into SummerSlam. That's a fitting stage to finally see a babyface knock this braggart out cold and take the IC title out of his hands.

And with The Miz continuing to be IC champ and receiving all the spotlight that brings, it's clear the company is still high on him. Ryback, Wade Barrett and Cody Rhodes all struggled to get consistent airtime in recent months, leading to frustration. 

As for The Miz, he's comfortably roosting on a prominent rung on the WWE ladder. That doesn't appear to be changing in the near future.