on the july 29, 2013, episode of "raw", ziggler defeated big e langston via disqualification after aj lee attacked ziggler. in a rematch on the following week, ziggler was defeated by langston after a distraction by aj and kaitlyn. this led to a mixed tag team match at summerslam, where ziggler and kaitlyn defeated big e and aj. ziggler was later unsuccessful in capturing the united states championship, when he lost to dean ambrose, at night of champions and on the october 16 episode of "main event". ziggler also failed to win the intercontinental championship from curtis axel on the november 11 episode of "raw". in december, ziggler lost two number one contender matches for the intercontinental championship, first to damien sandow and later to fandango.