Dean Ambrose won the Intercontinental Championship at the WWE TLC defeating Seth Rollins. The rivalry between these two was ongoing since the day he backstabbed his former Shield brethren on October 23rd. It happened on the very same day when Roman Reigns had to leave WWE Raw due to his battle with Leukemia. Thereafter, Dean Ambrose cemented him as the biggest heel on the WWE Raw roster. His position became even stronger after winning the mid-card title.
The feud against Seth Rollins on WWE Raw was supposed to continue since the Intercontinental title rematch was due. But Triple H denied arranging the contractual rematch. The other McMahon decided to keep things fresh on the show. So he wanted someone new to challenge Dean Ambrose over the Intercontinental Championship.
So a battle royal was official on the show. A number of mid-card talents competed in the match that WWE referred as the fresh start battle royal. Baron Corbin looked the favorite to win as he was rolling in the match eliminating all three members of the Lucha House Party. Curt Hawkins tried to go up against him but got thrown out of the ring. Corbin even eliminated Finn Balor from the match!
But he forgot Apollo Crews was standing behind his back. The former NXT superstar put the former WWE Raw acting GM over the top rope to win the entire thing. He received a chance to square off against Dean Ambrose over the Intercontinental Championship on the same night of WWE Raw. The champion did not seem very happy about defending the title on two weeks in a row. But he had to do it at a later part of the show.
Apollo Crews seemed hot favorite in this match who delivered a big clothesline to keep Dean Ambrose out of the ring. He delivered a moonsault to put down his opponent on the floor! Inside the ring, Apollo pulled off a standing shooting star press followed by the Blue Thunder Driver. But Ambrose put his hands on the rope to break the count. Crews missed the top rope splash that allowed Ambrose to hit him with the Dirty Deeds. This earned him an expected win on WWE Raw and close 2018 with the momentums being in his side.