Dolph Ziggler Wins Intercontinental Championship in Shocking Upset Over Seth Rollins

Dolph Ziggler brought Seth Rollins’ white-hot Intercontinental Championship reign to an end on Monday night, defeating the champ to win the title in an open challenge on Raw.

Rollins opened a segment on Raw saying he had just barely escaped Elias the night before at Money in the Bank but wanted another challenge. Out came Ziggler with Drew McIntyre by his side.

Late in the match Rollins hit the Buckle Bomb and was setting up for the Curb Stomp, but McIntyre hopped pn the apron for the distraction. Ziggler rolled up Rollins, the champ countered, only for Ziggler to counter again in the same fashion Rollins defeated Elias on Sunday night.

Ziggler and McInytre celebrated the win, then team up on Rollins with a Claymore/Zig-Zag double team finisher.

The win ends Rollins’ first reign with the title at 72 days. The former Shield member first won the gold in a triple threat match with The Miz and Finn Balor at WrestleMania 34, then went on to successfully defend it in a four-way ladder match at the Greatest Royal Rumble, a one-on-one rematch with Miz at Backlash and multiple open challenge matches against the likes of Balor and Kevin Owens on episodes of Raw.

Ziggler is now in an exclusive group of men to hold the Intercontinental Championship at least six times. That group includes Chris Jericho with nine reigns, The Miz with eight and Jeff Jarrett and Rob Van Dam at six.

The new champ and McIntyre cut a promo backstage after the win.

“Breaking News, ‘Monday Night Rollins’ is canceled,” Ziggler said. “And you can cry online, write a blog about it but there is no reboot coming. It’s over. This right here, this is our show now.”

Ziggler’s last reigh with the title began in late 2015, when as a babyface he feuded with The Miz over the title for several months. After being thwarted on several occasions by Miz (and his wife Maryse) cheating, he finally captured the gold in a title vs. career match at No Mercy 2016. His run was short lived, as Miz won the title back just over a month later on an episode of SmackDown Live.

This past December Ziggler was finally champion again, winning the United States Championship in a triple threat at Clash of Champions. He inexplicably relinquished the title nine days later, and aligned himself with McIntyre when he was drafted over to Raw as part of the Superstar Shake-up in April.