WWE SummerSlam 2018 results: Dean Ambrose helps Seth Rollins win the Intercontinental Title

From closing Extreme Rules to opening SummerSlam, the Seth Rollins/Dolph Ziggler Intercontinental Championship feud kicked off the pay-per-view (PPV) portion of the Biggest Party of the Summer in Brooklyn on Sun., Aug. 19.

The difference, of course, was that Rollins brought back-up. A recently returned (and buff) Dean Ambrose was in Barclays Center to back-up his Shield brother and seve as an equalizer against the champ’s muscle, Drew McIntyre.

The crowd was certainly excited to see The Lunatic Fringe and The Kingslayer...

Fan speculation was swirling about Ambrose’s role, however. Would the bond they reestablished before Dean tore his biceps and missed nine months hold, or would standard pro wrestling storytelling kick in just days after the Grand Slam Champ’s return?

Early on, he had Seth’s back, stepping to the bigger McIntyre as soon as the Celtic Collosus tried to get involved in the action...

Action spilled to the outside not long after that, too, as we continued to be reminded about the two guys not fighting for the belt. But they only stared one another down, at least initially...

Rollins controlled the early battle between the ropes, but Ziggler eventually got the upperhand. From that position, he talked lots of trash and wore the challenger down with mat-based work. Seth’s knee was targeted, and numerous big bumps in the corner and on the floor left Michael Cole, Corey Graves and Johnathan Coachman talking about back and neck issues for Rollins, too.

It looked like it was a factor when the Architect set-up for a suplex, lost his balance and went tumbling over the top rope along with The Show-Off. It allowed Dolph to catch Rollins when he climbed for a frog splash, too, but Seth fought him off as the middle stretch of the match featured numerous counters from both men.

Ziggler thought he’d finished things with a DDT on the apron...

... and again when he countered the Frog Slash by getting his knees up and rolling up the Kingslayer. They weren’t done, either. Rollins caught up with Dolph on the top and nailed an inverted superplex - and followed that up with Paroxysm! - but still the champ kicked out.

McIntyre finally got involved, distracting Seth by hurling Ambrose into the steel steps, but somehow Seth got his shoulders up before three after a Zig Zag! When Rollins regained momentum, Drew tried to interfere again, but this time, Dean was ready. After a Dirty Deeds to the big Scot...

... Seth nailed Ziggler with a superkick before the champ could hit him with one. Then, it was Blackout time, and we had a new champ.

The camera lingered on the ring afterwards, but the speculated upon betrayal didn’t come from the Lunatic... for now.

Get complete SummerSlam results and coverage of the entire card here.