Kevin Owens

On August 12, 2014, WWE announced that Owens had signed with them and was due to report to their developmental system *NXT* on August 25. *NXT* began airing promotional videos from November 20 to hype his upcoming debut.

At NXT TakeOver: R Evolution, Owens defeated CJ Parker in his debut match, in which Parker legitimately gave him a broken nose with a *Third Eye* (palm strike); later that night, when Sami Zayn won the NXT Championship, Owens came to the ring to congratulate Zayn before attacking him with a powerbomb onto the ring apron, establishing himself as a heel in the process. On the December 18, 2014 episode of *NXT*, Owens wrestled former NXT Champion Adrian Neville to a double countout and powerbombed Neville onto the apron after the match. After yet another post-match attack by Owens on Zayn, an irate Zayn demanded a match against Owens, but Owens refused to wrestle unless it was for the championship—Zayn agreed and a title match was set for NXT TakeOver: Rival on February 11, 2015. At the event, two months to the day after his debut, Owens captured the championship from Zayn via referee stoppage after repeatedly powerbombing a disorientated Zayn. On the March 25 episode of *NXT*, he successfully retained the NXT title against Finn Bálor. At NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, Owens' rematch for the title against Zayn went to a no contest after Owens continued to beat down an injured Zayn, until the debuting Samoa Joe stopped him. After weeks of tension between the two, Owens faced Joe on the June 17 episode of *NXT*. After the match went to a no contest, the two continued to brawl until they had to be separated.

On the July 4 WWE Network special, The Beast in the East event held in Tokyo, Owens lost the NXT Championship to Bálor, ending his reign at 143 days. At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, 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*.

Owens made his unannounced main roster debut on the May 18 episode of *Raw*, responding to John Cena's United States Championship open challenge, but 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 in June, at Money in the Bank, 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, 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 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. 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. On the January 14, 2016 episode of *SmackDown*, Owens challenged Ambrose for the Intercontinental Championship, with the match ending in a double countout. On January 24 at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Owens got a rematch for the title in a Last Man Standing match, which he was unsuccessful.

The following night on *Raw*, Owens entered a feud with Dolph Ziggler, with the two trading victories over each other on back to back episodes of *Raw*. On the February 15 episode of *Raw*, Owens won the Intercontinental Championship for a second time, defeating former champion Dean Ambrose, Stardust, Tyler Breeze and Ziggler in a fatal five-way match. At Fastlane, Owens successfully defended the Intercontinental Championship against Ziggler. At WrestleMania 32, Owens lost the title against Zack Ryder in a seven-way ladder match. He resumed the feud with longtime rival Sami Zayn after he attacked him on *Raw*, which led to a match at Payback, where Owens defeated Zayn. At Extreme Rules, Owens faced Zayn, Cesaro and The Miz in a fatal four-way match for the Intercontinental Championship, but failed to regain the title when Miz pinned Cesaro. The following night on *Raw*, Owens defeated AJ Styles to qualify for the 2016 Money in the Bank ladder match, but he failed to win the match.

During the 2016 WWE draft, Owens was drafted to Raw, along with rival Sami Zayn. At Battleground on July 24, Owens was defeated by Zayn. At SummerSlam on August 21, Owens teamed with Chris Jericho to defeat Enzo Amore and Big Cass. On the August 22 episode of *Raw*, Owens defeated Neville to qualify for the vacant Universal Championship four-way elimination match the following week. On the August 29 episode of *Raw*, Owens defeated Big Cass, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins with interference from Triple H to win the Universal Championship, his first world title in WWE. Between September and October, Owens successfully defended the title against Rollins, first in a singles match at Clash of Champions on September 25, and then at Hell in a Cell in a Hell in a Cell match on October 30, both times after interferences from Jericho. Owens and Jericho were later announced as co-captains of Team Raw for the traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series inter-promotional elimination tag team match against Team SmackDown, alongside Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins at Survivor Series on November 20, with Owens being eliminated via disqualification for using "The List of Jericho" as a weapon to attack AJ Styles, subsequently showing tension between Jericho and Owens. Team Raw would later go on to lose the match.

After Owens defeated Rollins in a no disqualification match to retain the championship, once again following the interference of Jericho, United States Champion Reigns issued a challenge to Owens, who stated he did not need Jericho's help against him, and Owens suffered his first pinfall loss since becoming champion after losing a non-title match to Reigns that same night, thus earning Reigns a WWE Universal Championship match against Owens at Roadblock: End of the Line. At Roadblock: End of the Line, after failing to help Jericho defeat Rollins, Owens retained the championship by disqualification when Jericho intentionally attacked him with a *Codebreaker*. This led to Reigns' rematch at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event being under the stipulation that would see Jericho (who would pin Reigns in a handicap match, also involving Owens, to win the United States Championship on the January 9, 2017 episode of *Raw*) being suspended above the ring in a shark proof cage. On January 29 at the Royal Rumble event, Owens defeated Reigns in a no disqualification match after Braun Strowman interfered. The following night on *Raw*, Owens defended the title against Strowman (who revealed that he helped Owens retain the WWE Universal Championship because of his dislike for Reigns and because Owens had promised him a title shot) and once again retained the title after Reigns attacked both him and Strowman. On the February 6 episode of *Raw*, Owens was challenged by Goldberg to a championship match at Fastlane, which Jericho accepted on Owens' behalf, much to his dismay. On the February 13 episode of *Raw*, Jericho hosted a "Festival of Friendship" for Owens, who was not impressed with Jericho's idea of humour and instead then presented Jericho with a new list as a gift, but when Jericho realized that it was "The List of KO" and that he was the first name on it, Owens turned on Jericho and viciously attacked him. At Fastlane, Owens lost the title to Goldberg in 22 seconds, after a distraction from Jericho, thus ending his championship reign at 188 days.

The following night on *Raw*, Owens accepted Jericho's challenge for a match at WrestleMania 33 on April 2 as long as Jericho would defend the United States Championship, which Owens would go on to win for the first time in his career. On the April 11 episode of *SmackDown Live*, Owens was traded to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2017 WWE Superstar Shake-up. Owens, who would still defend his newly won title against Jericho at Payback with the winner going to SmackDown as well, started referring to himself as the "Face of America" and also began sporting a different look, having trimmed his beard and hair down, while wearing a suit. At Payback on April 30, Owens lost the title back to Jericho, thus ending his reign at 28 days. However, Owens would reclaim the title on the May 2 episode of *SmackDown Live* by defeating Jericho, and then attacking and injuring him after the match as well. At Backlash, Owens defeated AJ Styles by count-out to retain the United States Championship. Owens was later announced as one of the participants in Money in the Bank ladder match at Money in the Bank, along with Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, Styles, Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin, in which Corbin emerged victorious.

During a house show at Madison Square Garden on July 7, Owens lost the United States Championship to Styles ending his second reign at 66 days, but regained it at Battleground and lost it back to Styles two days later on *SmackDown* in a triple threat match also involving the returning Chris Jericho. The following week, Owens received a rematch, where Styles retained after the referee did not see Owens' shoulder up, due to being accidentally struck by Owens earlier in the match. After the match, Owens demanded a rematch with a competent official. *SmackDown Live* General Manager Daniel Bryan then made a match between Owens and Styles for the United States Championship at SummerSlam, with Commissioner Shane McMahon as the special guest referee. During that time, Owens dropped the Face of America gimmick and reverted to the Prizefighter persona, shedding both the suits, America-orientated promos and his pursuit of the United States Championship. At SummerSlam, Owens was defeated by Styles, in a match where both wrestlers argued with Shane over his decisions. On the August 22 episode of *SmackDown Live*, Owens demanded another rematch which Shane allowed, with Baron Corbin as the special guest referee, but was once again unsuccessful, after Corbin walked out on the match and Shane took over, distracting Owens enough for Styles to capitalize and win. This also meant that as long as Styles held the title, Owens could not challenge Styles for the title again, ending his feud with Styles.

On the September 5 episode of *SmackDown Live*, Owens demanded another shot at the United States Championship; when Shane refused, Owens insulted Shane's children, which caused him to attack Owens. As a result, Shane was suspended and Bryan announced that Mr. McMahon would be on *SmackDown Live* the following week. On the September 12 episode of *SmackDown Live*, McMahon announced Owens would face his son in a Hell in a Cell match at Hell in a Cell. Owens shook McMahon's hand, taking the opportunity to headbutt him, and then repeatedly assaulted him. At Hell in a Cell, Owens defeated Shane after Zayn interfered and pulled Owens off the announce table as Shane attempted a *Leap of Faith* off the cell. On the following episode of *SmackDown Live*, Zayn then referred to Owens as his "brother", after revealing why he helped Owens rather than allow Shane to win. On the October 17 episode of *SmackDown Live*, they defeated Nakamura and Randy Orton in a tag team match in the main event after Zayn gave Orton a low blow. In the build-up to Survivor Series, neither Owens or Zayn gained a spot in Team SmackDown (with their losses coming against Nakamura and Orton respectively), and on the November 7 episode of *SmackDown*, they initiated a feud with The New Day. Owens was ringside when Zayn faced Kofi Kingston, but failed to break up the pin resulting in Zayn losing, and beat up Kingston after the match. On the November 14 episode of *SmackDown Live*, Owens and Zayn fought Xavier Woods and Big E, but the match was interrupted by The Shield, as part of *Raw'*s invasion of *SmackDown*. Owens and Zayn rolled out of the ring and escaped, allowing The Shield to attack The New Day.

At Survivor Series, Owens and Zayn attacked Shane McMahon during the main event, but it backfired after McMahon attacked both with a steel chair and Orton delivered an *RKO* to Owens. On the November 21 edition of *SmackDown*, Shane was about to fire both Owens and Zayn, before Daniel Bryan interrupted him and made a tag team match for them against The New Day in a lumberjack match in which Owens and Zayn were victorious, but The New Day attacked Zayn after the match, while Owens escaped. At Clash of Champions, Owens and Zayn defeated Orton and Nakamura in a tag team match with their jobs on the line and with McMahon and Bryan as special guest referees, after Bryan gave them a fast count. Going into 2018, both would compete for AJ Styles's WWE Championship; first in a handicap match at Royal Rumble in January and secondly at Fastlane in March, where they competed in six-pack challenge that also involved Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin and John Cena, but were unsuccessful both times. After that, they continued their feud against Bryan and McMahon, culminating in a tag team match at WrestleMania 34, where Bryan made his in-ring return, being defeated after Bryan submitted Zayn.

The night after WrestleMania 34, Owens, now a free agent, showed up on *Raw* along with Sami Zayn and asked Raw General Manager Kurt Angle for a job. Though he was reluctant, Angle made a match between Owens and Zayn where whoever won the match and would receive a Raw contract, but the match ended in a no contest and Owens and Zayn remained free agents. This decision was overruled the following week, as both men would be awarded Raw contracts by Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon. Later that night, Owens teaming up with Zayn, The Miz, Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas and lost to Finn Bálor, Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman, Bobby Lashley and Bobby Roode in a 10-man tag team match. On the May 7 episode of *Raw*, he lost a Money in the Bank qualifying match to Braun Strowman. At Backlash, Owens and Zayn were defeated by Strowman and Lashley. On the May 14 episode of *Raw*, he was given another opportunity to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match, in which he won by defeating Lashley and Elias in a triple threat match with Zayn's interference after replacing an injured Jinder Mahal. At the event, Owens failed to win the ladder match as it was won by Braun Strowman.

In the following weeks, Owens attempted to develop a partnership with Strowman to replace an injured Sami Zayn, but Strowman rejected his offer and destroyed Owens' car. At Extreme Rules, Owens won a cage match against Strowman after Strowman threw Owens from the top of the cage, through the announce table meaning Owen's feet touched the floor first and rendering him the winner. On the July 23 episode of *Raw*, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon granted Kevin Owens an opportunity to face Strowman at SummerSlam under the stipulation that if Owens wins, he receives Strowman's Money in the Bank contract. At the event, Owens was defeated by Strowman. On the August 27 episode of *Raw*, after failing to win the Intercontinental Championship from Seth Rollins, Owens sat in the middle of the ring and said the words, "I Quit."

On the September 3 episode of *Raw*, Owens returned to attack Bobby Lashley. The following week, he attacked Tyler Breeze before their match and explained that he had quit the week prior but was talked into coming back by Acting General Manager Baron Corbin who promised him that there would be no repercussions for anything he does.At the Super Show-Down event, Owens teamed with Elias in a losing effort against Lashley and John Cena. On the October 8 episode of *Raw*, Owens lost to Lashley. The next day, WWE announced Owens suffered injuries to both knees that required surgery.

In late 2018, WWE began airing return vignettes on *Raw* and *SmackDown Live* programming to promote Owens' return. In the later vignettes, they appeared to frame him as a babyface character. In January 2019, Owens tweeted about his recovery, and it was reported that Owens had reported to the WWE Performance Center to start working on a comeback. On the February 11 episode of *Raw*, Owens announced he had been cleared for a return within the month but the McMahon family had not yet decided whether he'd be re-joining *Raw* or moving on to *SmackDown Live*.

On the February 26 episode of *SmackDown Live*, Owens made his return, replacing Kofi Kingston in the WWE Championship match at Fastlane against Daniel Bryan, per Vince McMahon's orders. At the event, Owens failed to win the title. After WrestleMania 35, Owens started a storyline where, on the April 16 episode of *SmackDown*, he congratulated Kingston for winning the WWE Championship and joined the New Day as their honorary third member since Big E was recovering from an injury, being dubbed "Big O". However, since Daniel Bryan suffered an injury at WrestleMania 35, SmackDown needed a top level heel, so on the April 23 *SmackDown*, Owens turned on Kingston and attacked him and Xavier Woods, proclaiming that he wanted the WWE Championship, thus turning him back into a heel. The following week, Kingston challenged Owens to a match at Money in the Bank with his title on the line where Owens failed to win the title. Owens teamed with Sami Zayn at Stomping Grounds to defeat New Day members Xavier Woods and Big E.

On the July 2 edition of *SmackDown*, Owens questioned Shane McMahon's decisions and under-handed tactics, before they were interrupted by Dolph Ziggler, leading to McMahon booking them in a #1 contenders match against Woods and Big E and for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at Extreme Rules, but they were defeated after a miscommunication between Owens and Ziggler. The following week, Owens stated his distaste in McMahon's constant dominance on television before fleeing as McMahon called for security. Later that night, Owens interfered in Dolph Ziggler's match against Roman Reigns and hit McMahon with a *Stunner*. At Extreme Rules, Owens defeated Ziggler in 17 seconds. During the special episode WWE Smackville, Owens defeated another Shane's allied, Elias. Owens faced McMahon at SummerSlam in a winning effort where had Owens lost, he would be fired. Owens' victory came with a consequence as he assaulted McMahon's chosen special guest referee Elias, resulting in Owens being issued a heavy fine. On August 13, episode of *SmackDown*, Shane McMahon was involved in a backstage segment with Owens, where he recruited the willing Samoa Joe to be Owens' surprise opponent, to whom he lost against later during the show. Owens was announced as a participant in the 2019 King of the Ring Tournament, losing to Elias in the first round (after interference by McMahon). Shane "fired" Owens on the September 10 *SmackDown* after tapping out to Chad Gable in their King of the Ring semi-final match. The following week, Owens attended *SmackDown Live* as an audience member, but announced he had also filed a kayfabe wrongful termination lawsuit against McMahon. On the October 4 first episode of *Friday Night SmackDown* on Fox, Owens faced McMahon again in a rematch, this time in a ladder match. Owens won again, and McMahon was fired before Owens hit him with a stunner and leaving the ring. On October 11, Owens moved back to Raw as part of the 2019 WWE draft.

On November 23 at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Owens was revealed as Tommaso Ciampa's mystery fourth partner for the WarGames match against The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O'Reilly, and Roderick Strong), where Team Ciampa ultimately emerged victorious. At Survivor Series, Owens was made up part of Team *Raw* in a losing effort to Team *SmackDown*, also involving Team *NXT*. The next night on *Raw*, Team *Raw* captain Seth Rollins criticized the *Raw* roster and questioned Owens' loyalty, due to Owens appearing at NXT TakeOver: WarGames; Owens would then perform a stunner on Rollins. Owens then became the target of AOP (Akam and Rezar). Owens accused Rollins of being behind AOP's attacks, however, Rollins denied the accusations, though he ultimately joined with AOP. Rollins then began to refer himself as the "Monday Night Messiah" and recruited Murphy into his new faction. Rollins would soon challenge Owens to a match at WrestleMania 36, which was accepted by Owens. At WrestleMania, Owens defeated Rollins to end their feud.

As part of the 2020 draft in October, Owens was drafted to the *SmackDown* brand. Owens defeated Dolph Ziggler on the October 30 episode of *SmackDown* to qualify for Team *SmackDown* at Survivor Series. At the event, Team *SmackDown* lost in a clean sweep by Team *Raw*. In December, Owens challenged Roman Reigns for his Universal Championship at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in a TLC match. On the December 11 episode of *SmackDown*, while cutting a promo, Jey Uso attacked him. Later that night, Owens returned the favor. At TLC, Owens failed to win the title. He was unsuccessful once again against Reigns at the Royal Rumble event on January 31, 2021. At WrestleMania 37, Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn in a singles match and attacked special guest Logan Paul after the match. At Hell in a Cell, Owens lost to Sami Zayn. Owens returned on the July 2 episode of *SmackDown*, defeating Zayn in a Last Man Standing match to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at Money in the Bank. In the match itself, Owens was unsuccessful as the match was won by Big E.

As part of the 2021 Draft, Owens was drafted to the *Raw* brand. Owens would then enter a feud with Big E and Seth Rollins, which began on the November 1 episode of *Raw* after Big E hit the *Big Ending* on Owens after their non-title match. The following week, Owens would attack Big E after the former's match against Seth Rollins, turning heel for the first time since 2019 in the process. The week after, Owens would cement his heel turn by defeating Finn Bálor after a low blow. On the November 29 episode of *Raw*, Owens defeated Big E by disqualification to be added to the WWE Championship match at the Day 1 pay-per-view, making it a triple threat match. At Day 1, Owens was unsuccessful in capturing the title as Bobby Lashley and Brock Lesnar were also added to the match and Lesnar won the title. Over the following weeks on *Raw*, Kevin would begin an alliance with Seth Rollins. On the March 7 episode of *Raw*, Owens and Rollins failed to capture the Raw Tag Team Championships in a triple threat tag team match against RK-Bro and Alpha Academy. Later that night, Owens revealed he was hosting *The KO Show* at WrestleMania 38 and invited "Stone Cold" Steve Austin to be the guest; Austin accepted the invitation the next day. At WrestleMania, Owens revealed the invitation on the show was a ruse and challenged Austin to an impromptu No Holds Barred match, which was made official as the main event of night one. Owens would lose to Austin after missing a chair shot and being hit with a *Stone Cold Stunner*, in what served as Austin's retirement match. Following his loss, Owens was escorted out of the stadium by Dallas police officers. On the following episode of *Raw*, Owens admitted that he made a mistake by challenging Austin to a match before being interrupted the debuting Ezekiel, who claimed to be the younger brother of Elias. Owens refused to believe he was really his brother, but rather Elias himself; this led to Owens and Chad Gable putting Ezekiel through a lie detector test the following *Raw*, however Ezekiel passed the test confirming he was not Elias. That same *Raw*, Owens was chosen by Seth Rollins as Cody Rhodes’ mystery opponent, but lost the match via count-out after Rollins insulted Owens, which led him to walk out of the match. On the April 25 *Raw*, Owens would take part in the main event, an eight-man tag team match where he teamed with Seth Rollins and The Usos in a losing effort against RK-Bro, Cody Rhodes, and Ezekiel. At Hell in a Cell, Owens defeated Ezekiel.

On the August 8 episode of *Raw*, Owens obliterated Ezekiel with an *Apron Powerbomb*, a move he hadn't used in several years. The move saw Ezekiel stretchered from the arena. On the August 22 episode of *Raw*, Owens entered the ring with his old titantron and duct tape '*KO*' tank top before defeating Chad Gable in a singles match. On the September 19 *Raw*, Owens would receive help from Johnny Gargano during his match with Austin Theory, leading to a backstage argument with Alpha Academy where Owens and Gargano would accept a challenge by Gable for a tag team match the following week. On the following *Raw*, Owens and Gargano would defeat Alpha Academy. At Survivor Series WarGames on November 26, Owens, along with The Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Ridge Holland and Butch) and Drew McIntyre, lost to The Bloodline in a WarGames match. At the Royal Rumble on January 28, 2023, Owens lost again to Reigns in an Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match after interference from The Bloodline. After the Elimination Chamber main event, Owens appeared to save Zayn from a beatdown from Reigns and Jimmy Uso. On the following episode of *Raw*, Zayn offered an olive branch to Owens and proposed that they team up to bring down The Bloodline together, but Owens rejected it. On the March 17 episode of *SmackDown*, Cody Rhodes invited Owens and Zayn to hash it out so that they could reunite to fight against The Bloodline, but Owens again declined to team up with Zayn. Later that night, Zayn confronted Jey Uso in the ring and was beaten up by The Usos; Owens then ran out to save Zayn and embraced him.

Owens and Zayn would go on to defeat the Usos to become WWE Undisputed Tag Team Champions in the main event of WrestleMania 39 night one, thus becoming the twenty-third WWE Grand Slam Champion. This also marked the second straight year Owens main evented at WrestleMania, and his first title win in six years. As part of the 2023 WWE Draft, Owens, along with Zayn, was drafted to the *Raw* brand. At Night of Champions, Owens and Zayn retained their Undisputed Tag Team Championships against The Bloodline (Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa). Owens and Zayn lost the titles to The Judgment Day's Finn Bálor and Damian Priest in a Steel City street fight at Payback on September 2 after interference from stablemates Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley as well as JD McDonagh, ending their reign at 154 days. They were unsuccessful in a rematch for the titles on the September 25 episode of *Raw*. On the October 13 episode of *SmackDown*, new *SmackDown* General Manager Nick Aldis revealed that Owens had been traded to *SmackDown* for Jey Uso, in turn splitting Owens and Zayn.

After a brief absence, Owens returned on the November 10 episode of *SmackDown*, filling in for Corey Graves on commentary. Owens was instructed by Nick Aldis to not fight anyone during the program or risk suspension. After being provoked by Grayson Waller and Austin Theory, Owens retaliated, was suspended for a week, and returned on the November 24 episode of *SmackDown*. On the December 15 episode of *SmackDown*, Owens defeated Theory to advance in the United States Championship number one contender tournament. The following week, Owens defeated *NXT*'s Carmelo Hayes to advance to the finals of the tournament at *SmackDown* New Year's Revolution where he defeated Santos Escobar to win the tournament and earn a title match against Logan Paul at Royal Rumble.