on the july 3 "smackdown", ziggler defeated alex riley to qualify for a spot in the world heavyweight championship money in the bank ladder match. on july 13, ziggler, zack ryder and justin roberts were involved in a car accident in san diego while driving from comic-con; none of them suffered severe injuries. two days later at the money in the bank pay-per-view, ziggler won the money in the bank ladder match to guarantee him the opportunity to challenge for the world heavyweight championship at a time of his choosing within the next year. later that night, ziggler attempted to cash in the briefcase on sheamus after alberto del rio attacked him after their match, but del rio stopped ziggler from cashing in. on the following episode of "smackdown", ziggler again attempted to cash in the briefcase on sheamus following a tag team match with alberto del rio, but was laid out by rey mysterio and sheamus before he could do so. during this time, ziggler began a feud with chris jericho after claiming he had lost his touch, which resulted in jericho attacking him on two occasions, and defeating him in a singles match at summerslam. the night after summerslam, ziggler defeated jericho in a rematch; as a result ziggler retained his money in the bank contract and jericho's wwe contract was terminated. following this, ziggler began feuding with randy orton on "smackdown" four days later, after orton hit him with an "rko" when ziggler tried to cash his money in the bank contract on a vulnerable sheamus. the following week on "smackdown", ziggler faced orton in a match that was won by orton, ziggler defeated him in a rematch on "raw" by pinning him while holding his tights. ziggler faced orton again at night of champions where he lost again, ending the feud. on november 18 at survivor series, ziggler captained the traditional 5-on-5 elimination tag team match opposite mick foley and won the match by last pinning orton, making him the sole survivor of the match.