United States champion Bobby Lashley beat intercontinental champion Sami Zayn at WWE Survivor Series on Sunday in a meeting between the midcard titleholders on Raw and SmackDown.

Zayn attempted to take the easy way out when he purposefully tripped over MVP's foot on the outside, begging for the referee to call for a disqualification. He returned to the ring once that gambit failed, and Lashley placed him in the Hurt Lock.

Lashley vs. Zayn was one of many champion vs. champion matches booked for Survivor Series, which featured the tagline "best of the best."

While Lashley undoubtedly had a huge physical advantage over Zayn thanks to his size and strength, The Great Liberator attempted to get inside the U.S. champion's head and under his skin leading up to the pay-per-view.

Zayn cut a passionate promo on SmackDown a few weeks ago claiming he was a superior champion to Lashley since he represents every continent, while The All Mighty only represents one country in the United States of America.

Lashley didn't take kindly to those words, as he responded with a short and sweet promo on Raw, vowing to make Zayn pay at Survivor Series.

The heel vs. heel aspect of Lashley vs. Zayn made for an intriguing match, as did the possibility of Hurt Business members MVP, Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander interfering on his behalf if need be.

Lashley entered Survivor Series on an impressive hot streak having mowed down the competition with his Full Nelson finisher, while Zayn hadn't wrestled much since beating AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy for the IC title in a ladder match at Clash of Champions in September.

Zayn is among the most slimy and dastardly heels in the business, though, which meant Lashley had to have his head on a swivel and be ready for any tricks his opponent had up his sleeve.

Sunday's match was the reprisal of a feud between Lashley and Zayn from the spring and summer of 2018. The former was a face and the latter was a heel then, and The All Mighty won decisively at Money in the Bank 2018.

While Zayn waited a long time to get revenge after losing every match to Lashley in their previous feud, he was unable to concoct a scheme good enough to prevail at Survivor Series.

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