WWE Intercontinental Championship Review: Roman Reigns stands tall as Owens and Zayn sneak one

Reigns wraps up first successful title defence on Raw before his next challenger reveals himself

Roman Reigns captured the title from The Miz just last week (Getty)

Roman Reigns looks set to take on all comers in defence of his new Intercontinental Championship after overcoming Elias on Raw this week.

Reigns captured the title from The Miz just last week and quickly made it known that he’ll face anyone looking to take it from him. Raw’s resident musician was the first to step up to the plate, beaten by a thunderous spear.

There is no rest for the wicked, however; Samoa Joe appeared after the match to dish out some punishment to The Big Dog and put down his marker as the next challenger – the pair now likely to go out at it next week.

Over on Smackdown Live this week, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn continue to push the patience of the brand’s chiefs Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon. Despite being banned from ringside, Zayn provided interference and the assist for Owens to beat Randy Orton to leave the pair in even hotter water.

An interesting aside to this angle is the teased tension between McMahon and Bryan – that’s something to keep an eye on.

New faces in the women’s division on the respective rosters continue to impress. The Riott Squad – Ruby Riott, Sarah Logan and Liv Morgan overcame Naomi, Charlotte Flair and Natalya in tag team action on Smackdown, while Raw saw Paige, Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose once again leave their mark on Sasha Banks, Mickie James and Bayley.

Singles action on Raw saw Samoa Joe and Bray Wyatt pick up wins over Titus O’Neill and Matt Hardy respectively, while Smackdown’s Bobby Roode signalled his intent to challenge Baron Corbin for the United States Championship.

The deterioration of the Hype Bros relationship also reached breaking point this week – after yet another loss, Mojo Rawley turned on partner Zack Ryder. WWE Champion AJ Styles was also in action as he beat The Singh Brothers in a two-on-one bout.