Dolph Ziggler Outlasts Seth Rollins in Iron Man Match at WWE Extreme Rules 2018
July 16, 2018
Dolph Ziggler beat Seth Rollins 5-4 in a 30-minute Iron Man match at Extreme Rules on Sunday night in Pittsburgh to retain the Intercontinental Championship.
The two wrestled to a 4-4 tie over the first 30 minutes, which led Raw general manager Kurt Angle to announce a sudden-death overtime period. The first fall would determine the champion.
Shortly after the bell rang for the extra period, Drew McIntyre, who had already been banished from ringside, ran in from the crowd to distract Rollins. That gave Ziggler an opening to hit the Zig Zag for the win:
Bleacher Report's Kevin Berge thought the match told a good story:
Sunday's bout came several weeks after Ziggler surprisingly beat Rollins for the IC title on Raw the night after Money in the Bank.
The Architect had won a hard-fought match against Elias at the June 17 pay-per-view, but rather than resting on his laurels, he issued an open challenge the following night.
That came back to bite him, as a distraction from McIntyre allowed Ziggler to pin Rollins and become intercontinental champion for the sixth time in his career.
Rollins had a chance to prove the loss was a fluke when he was given a rematch the following week on Raw.
The Architect appeared to be on the verge of regaining the title, but McIntyre jumped in the ring and attacked him, leading to a disqualification.
Roman Reigns leveled the playing field by helping his former Shield brother during a two-on-one beatdown at the hands of Ziggler and McIntyre, but it was difficult for The Big Dog to focus solely on that situation since he was also feuding with Bobby Lashley.
Rollins entered Extreme Rules in a somewhat difficult spot since McIntyre's presence seemingly gave The Showoff a huge advantage.
Otherwise, the Superstars appeared to be on equal footing since both have shown over the years they are capable of competing at a high level in long matches.
Sunday's contest was highly anticipated because of the fact Rollins and Ziggler have great chemistry and because Iron Man matches are so rare.
The last Iron Man match in WWE occurred last year at Great Balls of Fire between The Bar and The Hardy Boyz.
Prior to Sunday, though, no men's singles Iron Man match had occurred on a PPV since John Cena beat Randy Orton at Bragging Rights in 2009.
With Ziggler beating Rollins to retain the Intercontinental Championship at Extreme Rules, he showed he is still at the top of his game deep into his career, and he likely set the stage for a new rivalry leading up to SummerSlam on Aug. 19.
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