The Miz vs. Apollo Crews: Winner and Reaction from WWE SummerSlam 2016

The Miz continued his impressive reign as the WWE intercontinental champion Sunday at SummerSlam, defeating Apollo Crews with the title on the line:

WWE Universe provided a look at how The Miz got the win: 

Despite losing the match, Crews shined with his athleticism. 

SummerSlam's Twitter account provided one of the highlights:

Following Miz's selection to SmackDown during the WWE draft, a need arose for a new No. 1 contender for the IC title. That was settled a few weeks prior to SummerSlam, when general manager Daniel Bryan set up a Triple Threat match.

Crews prevailed over Kalisto and Baron Corbin, which put him in position to vie for championship gold for the first time in his WWE career.

The former NXT star faced a significant challenge, however, in the form of one of the most decorated competitors to ever step foot in a WWE ring.

Miz is a multitime intercontinental and United States champion and a former WWE champion. After coming up short in his bid to capture the IC title in a ladder match at WrestleMania 32, The A-Lister won it from Zack Ryder the following night on Raw.

He entered SummerSlam with a title run of four-plus months to his credit, which featured quality wins over topnotch opponents such as Cesaro, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens along the way.

The Miz narrowly escaped with the belt in tow after a hard-fought match against Darren Young at Battleground resulted in a no-contest.

While Miz was fortunate to hang on to the championship, he faced arguably his biggest challenge yet at SummerSlam.

Although Crews is light on experience at the WWE level, he is among the most incredible athletes on the roster.

Since Crews held an advantage over The Miz in all of those areas, The Awesome One relied on his veteran savvy, his know-how and his penchant for bending the rules to keep pace with the 28-year-old up-and-comer.

SummerSlam seemed like a great stage for Crews' crowning moment, but The Miz had other plans and will continue to anchor the all-important midcard for SmackDown.

The loss was a setback for Crews, but it doesn't mean he's out of the title picture.

A babyface winning a championship means more when the chase is drawn out, so Sunday's defeat may have been just another obstacle on the road toward eventually capturing the IC title.

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