Daniel Bryan serves as guest General Manager; Kane punishes Ryback
Sunday 7 December 2014 03:36, UK
Dolph Ziggler’s stunning week ended brightly on Smackdown as he clocked Luke Harper with a Zig Zag.
The Show-Off was the sole survivor at Survivor Series on Sunday as Team Cena defeated Team Authority, and he then banded with John Cena on Raw to knock off Seth Rollins and J&J Security.
The Clevelander backed up those triumphs on Friday night by hitting Harper with his finishing move, though he was unable to pinch back the Intercontinental Title from his bearded rival.
Ziggler and Harper’s tussle spilled outside of the ring in Fort Wayne, Indiana but the former managed to scamper back into the ring before the referee reached 10 to win via count-out.
Harper kept hold of his strap, having not been pinned or submitted, but as he tried to attack Ziggler with the belt post-match, he was outwitted by the fan favourite.
The Intercontinental Championship clash was one of many sanctioned by Daniel Bryan, who followed up his stint as guest General Manager on with a similar role on the blue brand.
The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion punished Rusev for failing to carry out the Pledge of Allegiance on Monday by forcing him to defend the United States Title in a 20-man battle royal.
The Super Athlete, however, came through that melee unscathed, lastly eliminating Jack Swagger to retain the strap he nabbed from the now-injured Sheamus in early November.
Bryan also placed Mr Money in the Bank, Rollins, in a bout against Ryback, but the match was curtailed when Kane emerged and walloped The Bug Guy with a steel chair.
The Big Red Monster and Rollins then teamed up to punish Ryback further, before Kane ended the assault by Choke Slamming the Sin City powerhouse onto the metal.
Ryback, though, will get a shot at revenge at the TLC event on December 14, with it having been announced that he will go one-on-one with The Devil’s Favourite Demon in a chairs contest.
Elsewhere, The New Day – Xavier Woods, Big E and Kofi Kingston – made a winning start, conquering the trio of Heath Slater, Titus O’Neil and Curtis Axel.
Nikki Bella, meanwhile, vanquished Emma, but the real drama took place after the bell when the new Divas Champion badmouthed AJ Lee and Lee responded by pummelling Nikki’s sister, Brie.
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