6 Ups And 6 Downs From WWE Backlash 2016

3. IC Title Match Delivers

the miz daniel bryan
WWE.com

With six matches on the card, one of which got scuttled by injury, Backlash needed a dark horse, an unexpected bout that really exceeded expectations. Thankfully, the Miz and Dolph Ziggler were up to the task.

The two veterans delivered a very solid Intercontinental Championship match, with Miz aping Daniel Bryan’s moveset and breaking out moves like an inverted surfboard and a slingshot powerbomb. Ziggler sold a knee injury throughout the match and rallied several times before the inevitable defeat, this time due in large part to Maryse spraying something (mace? Arrogance?) in Dolph’s eyes.

The match won’t be remembered as a classic, but on a PPV that really needed something that got fans involved and invested, this did the trick nicely. Now, let’s just hope that Ziggler doesn’t just go back to being the plucky underdog on Tuesday again. As mentioned in the preview column, something has to change with him.

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Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.