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Seth Rollins and Elias have been feuding over the past few weeks, ever since Rollins tried to kick The Drifter out of the ring ahead of his match with Jinder Mahal a few weeks ago. Rollins lost the match via DQ but was still able to retain his Championship, but as he celebrated Elias resurfaced and attacked him with a guitar.
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Last week on Raw, Rollins destroyed a guitar that Elias was given by John Mayer himself, which has led to a lot of bad blood between these two men leading into this Intercontinental Championship match. Elias has never held a Championship in WWE and during his time on the main roster, the talented musician has only ever fought for the IC title, since he was part of a Championship match against Roman Reigns earlier this year.
Elias made his way to the ring first and once again pointed out that WWE stood for "Walk With Elias," before Rollins interrupted and the crowd erupted for the Intercontinental Champion. Rollins appeared wearing the attire that he won The Money in the Bank contract with back in 2014, in the hopes that luck was on his side once again.
The two men started the match with a technical exchange with Rollins gaining the upper hand before Elias then stomped on the Champion and received a number of left hands for his efforts. Rollins ended the international with a dropkick before he delivered a crossbody to the outside and sent his challenger back into the ring.
A flying clothesline from the top rope followed by a beat down in the corner allowed the Champion to gain the advantage before a wicked clothesline on the apron took The Kingslayer to the floor on the outside.
Elias' game plan was seeming to exploit Rollins neck as he focused much of his abuse on his injured body part and a thunderous DDT offered the challenger the first near fall of the match. Elias locked in a modified Cobra Clutch as he continued to target this weakened part of his anatomy, but the Champion refused to give up.
Elias missed a knee to the sternum and The Kingslayer was able to take advantage, lighting up his chest with chops. Rollins then hit the slingblade followed by an incredible suicide dive on the outside and his blockbuster on the second rope to notch up a near fall of his own.
Rollins' knee buckled as he attempted the springboard clothesline and Elias took this chance to deliver a knee to the face but Rollins was able to kick out at two. The Champion fought out of an electric chair attempt before Elias stacked him up for another near fall and the two men then exchanged left and right hands in the centre of the ring.
"The Architect" delivered a kick to the face but as he went in for the cover he once again clutched his injured knee before he went to the top rope, looking for his frog splash, Elias got his knees up and the challenger was able to gain another two count.
Elias headed up to the top rope and Rollins foiled his attempts at a high-risk manoeuvre when he delivered a superplex followed by a one-legged Falcon Arrow. The Champion was just one count from retaining and set himself up for The Stomp but Elias rolled out of the ring, Elias caught Rollins off a Suicide Dive and sent him into the steel steps.
The Drifter then delivered an impressive elbow from the top rope but Rollins was able to kick out at two and three quarters to deny him his first Championship. Elias looked for the "Drift Away" but Rollins foiled him and played possum on the top rope, looking for the Buckle Bomb but his knee buckled once again.
The two men exchanged roll-ups before Rollins grabbed the tights and was able to retain his Championship with the added leverage. However, it was definitely surprising to see "The Architect" pulling off this move as he hasn't relied on such methods since 2016.
