Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler: Winner and Reaction from WWE SummerSlam 2016

In his first title defense since the brand split officially took hold, Dean Ambrose defeated Dolph Ziggler Sunday at SummerSlam to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

The WWE SummerSlam Twitter account provided a look at the finish: 

Arash Markazi of ESPN and Bleacher Report's Kevin Berge provided their initial takes on the match:  

Aaron Oster of Rolling Stone made a joke about how disinterested the crowd seemed by the entire match: 

Ambrose beat both Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in the highly anticipated Shield Triple Threat match at Battleground, which ensured that the WWE Championship would remain exclusive to the SmackDown brand.

In order to determine who the Lunatic Fringe's first challenger would be, Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan set up a Six-Pack Challenge featuring Ziggler, John Cena, AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews.

Much to the surprise of most observers, The Showoff came out on top by virtue of a Superkick to Styles, which made him the No. 1 contender for Ambrose's belt at SummerSlam.

The road to SummerSlam wasn't without obstacles for Ziggler, though, as Wyatt challenged him to a match for the No. 1 contendership one week after he earned it.

Although there was no true incentive for him to do so, Ziggler accepted the challenge to prove a point, and he did precisely that by beating The Eater of Worlds.

Despite Ziggler's recent string of success, Ambrose remained unimpressed during the build toward SummerSlam. The latter was confident that he would maintain his spot atop the mountain, according to WWE Universe on Twitter:

Ambrose even proceeded to dismiss Ziggler's credibility as a challenger and suggested that The Showoff possessed little in the way of substance:

While Ziggler has often been the prime case of underutilized talent over the course of his career, he has enjoyed some big moments as well.

He entered SummerSlam as a two-time World Heavyweight champion and Money in the Bank ladder match winner. He also held the Intercontinental and United States Championships on multiple occasions, so his resume was far from barren.

Sustained success had eluded him, though, which is why he was such a significant underdog against the red-hot Ambrose.

A Ziggler win would have made for a feel-good story, but WWE decided to keep Ambrose as the face and champion of the SmackDown brand.

It is difficult to argue with Ambrose as the top guy since he is the total package, but it can be argued that Ziggler is as well.

Regardless of the result, both Superstars put on a fantastic show at SummerSlam, and even though WWE has often failed to maintain its faith in Ziggler over the years, he may have done enough to remain a featured part of SmackDown moving forward.

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