The third and final night of the WWE’s tour of Abu Dhabi saw John Cena frustrated in his attempts to win the Intercontinental title for the first time.

Although the 15-time world champion won against Intercontinental champion Bad News Barrett, he did so after his opponent was disqualified for hitting him with the title belt, and although that meant he won the match, Barrett retained the title due to WWE rules on titles not swapping hands on a disqualification.

Other matches on the night saw wins for Rusev, Dean Ambrose and Sami Zayn. Here are the results from the action at Zayed Sports City.

Ryback and Dolph Ziggler defeated Luke Harper and Tyson Kidd by pinfall in a tag team match

Both Ryback and Ziggler got big reactions from the crowd as they came to the ring. A good opener, with Ziggler the man in jeopardy for much of the match as Harper and Kidd dominated.

The climax saw Ziggler take out Harper with a kick to the face as he tried to interfere, leaving Ryback to perform Shell Shock on Kidd to get the pin and the victory.

Erick Rowan defeated Curtis Axel in an over the top rope challenge

Axel, facing the man who had attacked him from behind at the Royal Rumble as he prepared to enter the event, challenged Rowan to an over the top rope challenge in a bid to get revenge. A very short encounter saw Rowan throw Axel over the rope to get the win. Axel tries to attack Rowan from behind post-match, but is rewarded by being thrown over the top rope again.

Sami Zayn defeated Bo Dallas by pinfall

Zayn, who had lost the NXT title on Wednesday, spoke to the crowd in Arabic beforehand and in a nice touch he kept them engaged during the match.

At one stage he had Dallas in the corner and stood on the turnbuckle and hit him 10 times as the fans counted along. He then did it again, but this time getting the Emiratis to count along in Arabic.

Zayn picked up the pinfall win after delivering the Helluva Kick on Dallas as he stood against the turnbuckle.

Dean Ambrose defeated Seth Rollins by pinfall

Ambrose was a hit with the fans in a slow-paced match, with the crowd roaring him on as he performed his comeback after Rollins had the better of the first half of proceedings.

Rollins went for a Curb Stomp on his former Shield stable mate, but Ambrose moved, and struck Dirty Deeds to get the victory.

After the intermission Bad News Barrett then cut a promo on John Cena warning him he would win in their main event match later in the evening.

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods beat Goldust and Stardust by pinfall in a tag team match

The New Day duo were accompanied by Big E, and the opening exchanges, as an animated Stardust was frustrated by the fast moving Kingston, left the crowd amused.

Stardust’s frustration eventually snapped and he walked out on his brother to the back, leaving Goldust on his own.

He was beaten after Kingston and Woods combined for a diving double foot stop/backbreaker combination, with Woods getting the pin.

Post-match, Curtis Axel ran down and threw Kingston and Woods over the top rope, but was then chucked out of the ring himself by Big E.

Rusev defeated Jack Swagger by submission to retain the United States championship

Rusev was booed heavily throughout, and at one point brought the Russian flag into the ring to wave over the stricken Swagger.

Swagger fought back and had Rusev in the ankle lock for more than a minute before Rusev made the ropes to escape.

The finish came when Rusev raked Swagger’s eyes when the referee was unsighted, kicked Swagger in the face and applied the Accolade to get the victory and retain his United States title.

John Cena defeated Bad News Barrett by disqualification in a match for the Intercontinental championship

A very entertaining match that was fitting of being the main event, with both men having lots of nearfalls and Cena almost being counted out at one stage after being thrown into the ring steps by Barrett.

The referee was knocked out of the ring after being struck in the face by Barrett’s feet as Cena attempted an Attitude Adjustment. Cena then applied his STFU submission move and Barrett tapped out, but there was no official there to see it.

Barrett then hit a low blow on Cena and struck him with the bullhammer and a second referee came out, but Cena kicked out to Barrett’s considerable frustration as he then shoved the second official out of the ring.

Barrett then struck Cena with the title belt, but was seen by the recovering original referee, who disqualified Barrett. The result gave Cena the victory but Barrett retained his title as no WWE championship can be won on a disqualification.

Post-match, Barrett went for another belt shot, but Cena ducked and hit the Attitude Adjustment to delight the fans.

Curtis Axel then ran down and intimated he wanted to throw Cena over the top rope, but received an Attitude Adjustment for his trouble as Cena celebrated with the fans to end the show and the WWE’s three night stay in Abu Dhabi.

gcaygill@thenational.ae