Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens will square off for the WWE Undisputed Championship as part of the match card for Bash in Berlin on Saturday, August 31. The two have been intertwined in the Bloodline storyline ever since Rhodes took the title off of Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 40 in April. Owens has been on a losing trend for 2024 and initially turned down the offer of a shot at the title by Rhodes because of it. Eventually convinced, he's seemed to be a bit ticked off that other wrestlers are echoing his sentiment that he's unworthy.
Owens hasn't held a championship belt in over a year and hasn't held a singles title since losing the US Championship to AJ Styles back in July 2017. Is now his time?
Rhodes has been on an unbelievable heat streak in solo competition. currently riding a 37-match win streak dating back to February. He's successfully defended the belt over and over since Finishing the Story but all good things must come to an end. Will the hourglass empty?
Matchup History: Rhodes 3-1 across single, tag matchups
October 9, 2023 Monday Night Raw: Rhodes, Jey Uso defend Smackdown/Raw tag belts vs Owens, Sami Zayn
April 18, 2022 Raw: Rhodes def Owens (count out)
April 4, 2022 Raw(Dark): Rhodes def Owens
Feb. 15, 2016 Raw: Owens def Dean Ambrose (C), Dolph Ziggler, Stardust (Rhodes), Tyler Breeze for Intercontinental belt
Match Prediction
Predicted match length: 20 minutes
In the August 16 episode of Friday Night Smackdown, Owens kept hinting at "the old me!", and then there was the brief belt pickup by Owens and subsequent staredown before exiting the ring after Rhodes came in to return the rescue favor.
In addition, Smackdown moves to USA Network on September 13, less than two weeks following this PLE. What better way to christen the new home than having Rhodes get a rematch to re-earn his belt in that very first show. The hints are there. We're predicting that something causes Owens to snap, he gets away with a cheat (maybe thanks to Randy Orton?) and takes the win from the American Nightmare on foreign soil.
