Dean Ambrose Retains IC Title After DQ Finish vs. The Miz on WWE Raw

The Miz beat Dean Ambrose Monday night on Raw, but Ambrose retained the Intercontinental Championship after the match ended in a disqualification.

Ambrose blocked an attempted low blow by The Miz as the referee was distracted by Maryse, who was arguing on the ring apron. In retaliation, Ambrose blatantly kicked The Miz below the belt. The referee noticed the infraction and called for the bell.

Ambrose didn't appear to be apologetic for how he kept the intercontinental belt:

Bleacher Report's Kevin Berge was a fan of the back-and-forth match:

After initially locking horns on SmackDown Live, Ambrose and The Miz rekindled their rivalry when they were both moved to the red brand as part of the Superstar Shake-up.

With universal champion Brock Lesnar not appearing regularly on television, The Lunatic Fringe stepped up in an effort to highlight the IC title and make it an integral part of WWE programming every week on Raw.

That garnered interest from The Miz, Seth Rollins and Finn Balor, which set the stage for a Triple Threat match to determine a No. 1 contender.

Due to interference from Samoa Joe and Bray Wyatt, The A-Lister managed to pick up the victory and establish himself as Ambrose's challenger.

The title match was initially supposed to occur at Extreme Rules, but Raw general manager Kurt Angle moved it up due to the animosity between Ambrose and Miz.

Things reached a fever pitch last week when Ambrose and The Miz were appointed co-general managers for the night with neither Angle nor Stephanie McMahon able to attend.

Ambrose ordered a match between Miz and Balor to be restarted, which resulted in The Demon coming away victorious.

The Miz then booked Ambrose in a match against Bray Wyatt and interfered on Wyatt's behalf to cost his unstable opponent.

Miz stood over Ambrose during the aftermath and announced his intention to take back the title he helped return to the spotlight, per WWE Universe on Twitter:

During much of Ambrose's match against Wyatt, The Miz was on commentary and discussed the notion that Ambrose didn't do enough to make the Intercontinental Championship feel important.

Miz had a long run with the title on SmackDown before Ambrose beat him for it, and his reign went a long way toward restoring some of the prestige that may have been lost or forgotten over the years.

While he was unable to recapture the title and become a six-time IC champion Monday, the fact that Extreme Rules is approaching suggests The Miz may get another opportunity in the coming weeks.

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