Last week, Drew McIntyre defeated Kurt Angle in a match that The Scottish Psychopath framed as nothing less than a remaking of Raw in his own image. But before that, he leveled Finn Bálor in an apparent display of dominance. So, when The Extraordinary Man Who Does Extraordinary Things came out demanding satisfaction, he got an opportunity to do so against … Dolph Ziggler?
Yes, in something of a backhanded compliment, McIntyre sent The Showoff — who he dubbed the true “best in the world” — into battle against Bálor so the Irishman could prove he was worthy of McIntyre “lowering himself” to the Irishman’s level sometime down the line. Of course, then he blasted Finn with a Glasgow Kiss, effectively handing the bout to The Showoff, barring incident.
Cue the incident. Ziggler toyed with Bálor on the mat in yet another display of amateur-style proficiency, and the former Universal Champion slowly but surely crawled his way back, eventually taking out Ziggler and McIntyre with a suicide dive. With McIntyre stunned by the maneuver, Bálor reversed a fireman’s carry rollup from The Showoff into a pinning combo of his own to earn the win. He also earned a little something extra: Impressed with Bálor’s conviction, Stephanie McMahon named the Irishman to the Men’s Survivor Series team — much to the chagrin of McIntyre and Ziggler, though the Commissioner made it clear she only expected the assembled rivals to play nice through this Sunday, and not a second longer.