Owens lost the NXT Championship to Bálor, ending his reign at 143 days. At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn on August 22, Owens had his rematch for the title in a ladder match against Bálor, but he failed to regain the title in his last match and appearance in NXT. While on the main roster as NXT Champion, Owens successfully defended the title against Zack Ryder during an NXT Championship open challenge on the June 4 episode of SmackDown, against Neville on the June 8 episode of Raw and against Heath Slater on the June 12 episode of Main Event. Intercontinental Champion (2015–2016) Owens made his unannounced main roster debut on the May 18 episode of Raw, responding to John Cena's United States Championship open challenge. However, instead of competing in the match, he attacked Cena and stomped on the United States title in a show of disrespect, setting up a non-title match between the two at Elimination Chamber on May 31, which Owens won cleanly by pinfall. A rematch between the two took place at Money in the Bank on June 14, which Cena won, and after the match, Owens powerbombed Cena onto the ring apron. Owens later challenged Cena to a match for the United States Championship, which took place at Battleground on July 19, which Cena won by submission, thus ending their feud. After the loss to Cena, Owens entered a feud with Cesaro, defeating him in two matches—at SummerSlam on August 23 and on an episode of Raw eight days later. On September 20 at Night of Champions, Owens defeated Ryback to win his first singles title on the main roster, the Intercontinental Championship. On October 3, Owens' first title defense came on the WWE Network special, Live from Madison Square Garden, where Owens defeated Chris Jericho. On October 25, at Hell in a Cell, Owens successfully defended the championship in a rematch against Ryback. Owens then took part in the tournament for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship, in which he defeated Titus O'Neil and Neville, but lost to Dean Ambrose in the semifinals at Survivor Series on November 22. Owens then entered a feud with Ambrose, where he lost the Intercontinental Championship to Ambrose at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 13, ending his reign at 84 days. Going into 2016, Owens unsuccessfully faced Ambrose for the championship on several occasions. On January 24, Owens