On October 8, at Hell in a Cell, Zayn turned heel by saving Kevin Owens from an elbow drop off the Hell in a Cell structure through an announcer's table by Shane McMahon, then dragging Owens onto Shane for the pinfall. On the October 10 episode of "SmackDown Live", Zayn referred to Owens as his "brother" and explained that his actions were due to McMahon not giving Zayn opportunities despite the SmackDown brand being dubbed the "Land of Opportunity".