Cody Rhodes defended his title against Kevin Owens on the return of the TV show Saturday Night’s Main Event – and Owens took his revenge.
Cody Rhodes appears to be going into the new year as WWE Champion – but the last word has not yet been said in his feud with Kevin Owens.
On Saturday night’s return of the nostalgic TV show Saturday Night’s Main Event, the “American Nightmare” defended his title against his former ally, but was the victim of a nasty attack and carried out of the arena on a stretcher. It looks like the rivalry between the two will continue at least until the first major event of 2025: the Royal Rumble on February 1 in Indianapolis.
Kevin Owens attacks Cody Rhodes badly
Rhodes and Owens were allies for a long time in the fight against the Bloodline, but their friendship broke two months ago due to Owens’ festering frustration at losing a title match against Rhodes at Bash in Berlin over the summer – also because he wanted to take advantage of a knee injury Rhodes suffered out of pity.
The topic of pity is no longer an issue, at least not since Owens lost the fight at the venerable Nassau Coliseum on Long Island – Rhodes defeated him with his finisher Cross-Rhodes on a chair, which Owens had previously wanted to use himself – and he finally lost his cool.
When Rhodes addressed the audience in the arena with a victory speech after the show and the end of the TV broadcast, Owens knocked him down from behind and delivered his most powerful move: the package piledriver on the neck.
Owens steals Rhodes’s nostalgic belt
While refereeing legend Charles Robinson called for help, Owens took the title belt that Rhodes was wearing that night: a reissue of the “Winged Eagle Belt”, which was also worn by Hulk Hogan, “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Bret Hart.
While Rhodes was being carried away and loaded into an ambulance – like Randy Orton, Cody’s mentor, who was similarly attacked by Owens a few weeks ago – Owens clashed with league executive “Triple H” Paul Levesque in the entrance area.
The entire post-match skirmish was not shown on TV, but WWE told the full story to fans outside the arena in social media videos instead.
EXCLUSIVE: After narrowly losing to Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens brutalizes The American Nightmare with a Piledriver just moments after Saturday Night’s Main Event goes off the air. pic.twitter.com/cSYV89siX0
— WWE (@WWE) December 15, 2024
Chelsea Green wins new women’s title
The second main story of the show was the coronation of the first United States Women’s Champion: Chelsea Green secured the new secondary title of the SmackDown roster with a victory over the other tournament finalist, Michin.
Meanwhile, Liv Morgan retained the RAW Women’s Title against Iyo Sky, while Austrian World Champion Gunther retained his World Title in a three-way battle against ex-champion Damian Priest and his archrival Finn Balor, as expected. In the opening match, Drew McIntyre returned against Sami Zayn with his first victory after losing the feud against CM Punk.
Saturday Night’s Main Event was originally a big TV special on NBC that had been introduced in the first boom era of the former WWF in the 1980s. The entire show was done in a retro style, and the nostalgia factor was further enhanced by the appearance of legendary commentator Jesse “The Body” Ventura and special guests Tito Santana, Greg Valentine, Koko B. Ware and Jimmy Hart, Hulk Hogan’s long-time manager.