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A Night of Champions started with a title match, when the Intercontinental belt was the first match on the WWE Network/pay-per-view (PPV) exclusive part of the card.
Ryback, the champion was out first. The Big Guy took it to his challenger, Kevin Owens with feats of strength, sending the Canadian to the floor with a press slam early on:
An early display of INCREDIBLE power by #TheBigGuy @Ryback22 early on! #WWENOC #ICTitle pic.twitter.com/W6k0yCRENm
— WWE (@WWE) September 21, 2015
After sending Big Hungry shoulder first into the ringpost, the left arm was focused on by KO, and the announcers actually supported the strategy in between jokes about The Secret and talking about social media.
That left arm/shoulder of @Ryback22 continues to be targeted by @FightOwensFight! #WWENOC #ICTitle pic.twitter.com/w6APT8GzH7
— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) September 21, 2015
Ryback got a big babyface comeback, including an impressive show of strength lifting Owen even with his damaged shoulder, but a rake of the eyes from KO while he was draped across the champ's shoulder allowed him to slip free, get a roll-up and become the new Intercontinental champion.
It's Owens's first title on the main roster, after an impressive run as NXT champ in the "Developmental" promotion. The heel-ish nature of the win almost guarantees that we'll see more of this pairing again.