At No Mercy, Dolph Ziggler defeated The Miz in a career vs. title match for the Intercontinental Championship. Ziggler offered The Miz a rematch for the title, but The Miz refused. On the November 1 episode of "SmackDown", after successfully defending the Intercontinental Championship against Curt Hawkins, Ziggler made an open challenge to any wrestler from the Raw brand to face him for the title at Survivor Series. On the November 7 episode of "Raw", Sami Zayn revealed that Mick Foley wanted him to face Ziggler for the Intercontinental title, but Stephanie preferred Rusev and scheduled a match between the two, with the winner going on to face Ziggler. Zayn defeated Rusev, earning the title match. However, his opponent changed when The Miz regained the title from Ziggler, albeit with help from Maryse, on "SmackDown"s 900th episode on November 15.