After witnessing an all-action affair in the main event of Clash of Champions, the ensuing finish was messy.
Seth Rollins’ challenge to Kevin Owens’ Universal title was everything we’d hoped for and more.
The pair proved their status as two of the best in the business with an enthralling encounter that had fans on the edge of their seats throughout.
Don’t believe us? Just watch Rollins’ reversal of a Pop-up Powerbomb into a Pedigree. It was something else.
Unfortunately, just as a climax that could have elevated this match into ‘classic’ status approached, up popped Chris Jericho to save his “best friend”.
And so it was another Owens win for the title, another with the aid of outside interference and without a clean finish.
It is a story we are all too familiar with, Owens walking down the same path Rollins did as the Authority’s pet project before they turned on him at SummerSlam.
And while it was incredibly frustrating in the moment, it does makes perfect sense in building the feud – as long as Owens’ push in the meantime results in him not losing any momentum.
The Jericho-Owens dynamic has also gone down well with the WWE Universe and the latter’s inevitable fall off will at least provide him with the chance to take on his current cheerleader when Y2J eventually turns heel.
That should be some way off so just put that to the back of your mind for the time being.
Now, Rollins and Owens are perfectly setup for a showdown at Hell in a Cell should Rollins be fit.
He suffered an injury in that Clash of Champions match, which led to him sitting out RAW this week. Hopefully it doesn’t put another of the company’s top men out of action for a substantial amount of time.
If he does stay fit and we do get the HIAC fight then WWE Creative’s play this past weekend will have worked out perfectly.
The story arc will centre on Owens’ lack of a clean win over Rollins and force him to take on his opponent in the Demonic Structure and provide his biggest test yet.
It allows time for the Owens-Jericho to eventually unfold, while keeps building momentum toward Rollins taking on Triple H and for Roman Reigns to re-emerge in the title picture as he continues to rebuild his relationship with WWE and its fans with his newly acquired US Title. And that’s before we start putting Finn Balor back into our thoughts.
The finish at Clash of Champions looked a confused ending, displaced among such a treat of a finale. But, as long as Rollins’ health remains, patience will pay off in the long run.