Seth Rollins Beats Drew McIntyre To Retain World Heavyweight Title At WWE Crown Jewel

Seth Rollins has escaped with his WWE World Heavyweight Title by the barest of margins, toppling a gallant Drew McIntyre to open the Crown Jewel premium live event. After weeks of teases of a potential heel turn or alliance with The Judgment Day, both men played it straight down the middle to a hot crowd in Riyadh, with the majority of the audience behind the challenger. 

McIntyre dominated the early stages of the bout, using his size and strength advantage, but the champion managed to use his in-ring IQ and trademark counter-offense to remain one step ahead. After kicking out of a couple of near-falls, including from a Future Shock DDT, Rollins would stomp McIntyre's head into the mat, but the Scotsman kicked out. Moments later, McIntyre would hit the Claymore Kick for an agonizingly close near-fall, before Rollins regained his composure to combine with a Pedigree and a second stomp to earn the three-count and continue his reign as the king of "WWE Raw."

The win on Saturday marked Rollins' fifth successful title defense on a premium live event, previously emerging victorious against Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura since becoming the inaugural WWE World Heavyweight Champion in Saudi Arabia back in May.