Kevin Owens defeated by Cody Rhodes at the Royal Rumble

In the last few months, Kevin Owens has vowed to get revenge on every “friend” that, in his mind, turned their backs on him by teaming up with Roman Reigns. The former Universal Champion started with Rhodes after the WWE Champion teamed with the Tribal Chief at the WWE Bad Blood event. Owens assaulted Rhodes outside the building after the show aired. Next, the Canadian superstar attacked his former tag partner Randy Orton for allegedly choosing Rhodes over himself. Orton tried to keep peace between Rhodes and Owens which, in the prize fighter’s perspective, “The Viper” chose Rhodes over their friendship. This would lead to Owens giving the man that made the letters “RKO” famous, a piledriver (a move previously banned for a long time in WWE), effectively injuring Randy Orton.

Owens got another shot at the world title at Saturday Night’s Main Event, but once again, he came up short against Rhodes. All of this built up to the Royal Rumble, where Owens and Rhodes faced off in a high-stakes ladder match to decide the champion. Leading up to the match, Owens tried to get his longtime best friend, Sami Zayn, to have his back and help him win. But when the moment came, Zayn stayed silent, refusing to get involved. In the end, Owens lost to Rhodes for the third time, setting the stage for what was to come between him and Zayn.

This would set the stage for what would follow with Zayn and Owens.