What happened when the Intercontinental Championship was up for grabs at WWE Fastlane?
For the past several weeks, Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler have wrestled each other numerous times. on Raw and SmackDown. While Owens won the majority of the early matches, more recently Ziggler has come out victorious.
After the impromptu fatal five-way match on this week’s Raw, Owens walked out as the Intercontinental Champion yet again. Ziggler issued a challenge for a championship match at WWE Fastlane, and here we are.
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Check out what happened during tonight’s match below.
There's about to be A LOT of SHOWING OFF on @WWENetwork as @HEELZiggler looks to capture the #ICTitle! #WWEFastlane pic.twitter.com/mD7V81dOt6
— WWE Network (@WWENetwork) February 22, 2016
A headbutt from Owens led to an early advantage for the champion. As he locked in a headlock, Owens pointed out that he was a bigger favorite than the hometown hero Ziggler.
"Your hometown likes me more than you!" - @FightOwensFight to @HEELZiggler #WWEFastlane #ICTitle pic.twitter.com/7dr4Qt3Kx5
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) February 22, 2016
Owens continued to dish out the punishment, and whipped Ziggler into the turnbuckle with more force than anyone in recent memory has been able to show. The referee had to keep Owens away to check on The Show-Off before allowing the match to continue.
That might has well have been a MAC TRUCK @HEELZiggler just ran into! #WWEFastlane #ICTitle @FightOwensFight pic.twitter.com/Wdlj4BCoOd
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) February 22, 2016
Owens hit a pair of vicious senton splashes, but still wasn’t able to put Ziggler away. Perhaps getting a bit frustrated, Owens took his time showing off a bit, and Ziggler side-stepped a shoulder tackle in the corner, sending Owens shoulder-first into the ringpost and to the outside.
When the action returned to the ring, Ziggler was finally able to get some momentum going, hitting a series of elbow drops onto Owens. A pin attempt only got a two count.
The house is ROCKIN' for @HEELZiggler! Can he capture the #ICTitle in Cleveland?! #WWEFastlane pic.twitter.com/rG9odey4zV
— WWE (@WWE) February 22, 2016
Owens regrouped and managed to get Ziggler down in the corner, setting up his signature cannonball splash.
CANNONBALL connects! Is the end near for @HEELZiggler? #WWEFastlane #ICTitle @FightOwensFight pic.twitter.com/93BPj1llir
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) February 22, 2016
After Owens hit a suplex-slam from the top rope, the action moved to the outside of the ring, and there was a brief superkick party both on the outside and back in the ring. After a Ziggler superkick, he fell into a pin attempt for two, and Owens rolled to the outside. When Ziggler followed, Owens attempted an apron powerbomb, only to have it reversed into a hurricanrana with Owens going head-first into the ring steps.
The #ShowOff @HEELZiggler was THIS CLOSE to getting sent crashing into that ring apron! #WWEFastlane #ICTitle pic.twitter.com/6IjNTbzE9V
— WWE (@WWE) February 22, 2016
Back in the ring, Ziggler hit a Fame-asser for a two-count, and then Owens ducked under a superkick attempt, in which Ziggler almost hit the referee. The brief distraction let Owens hit his own superkick, followed by a short-arm, pop-up powerbomb for the victory.
His post-match celebrations are certainly...unique! #WWEFastlane @FightOwensFight #ICTitle pic.twitter.com/agwc29Pl3P
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) February 22, 2016
Two straight above-average matches to kick off Fastlane? I’ll take it! Hope the rest of the show can live up to the openers here.