In December, Ambrose won the Intercontinental Championship for the first time after defeating Owens at . He successfully defended the title against Owens and Ziggler multiple times between December and January 2016. Ambrose competed in the 2016 Royal Rumble match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which he lost after being lastly eliminated by eventual winner Triple H. Ambrose would later lose the Intercontinental Championship back to Owens in a five-way match on the February 15 episode of "Raw", after Owens pinned Tyler Breeze.