Cody Rhodes Vs. Kevin Owens WWE Feud Inspired By 2012 ROH Angle

Kevin Owens' ongoing feud with Cody Rhodes is heavily inspired by a former Owens programme, one that he had during his time in Ring of Honor as Kevin Steen.

Owens has been feuding with Cody Rhodes since turning on his former friend in an angle following Bad Blood. KO has since taken out Randy Orton with a piledriver and Rhodes challenged Owens to a match at Saturday Night's Main Event on last week's episode of SmackDown.

The SmackDown segment featured Kevin Owens in a tuxedo t-shirt stood on the announce table while he berated Cody Rhodes for teaming with Roman Reigns. Cody, meanwhile, in the ring said the only person holding Owens back in WWE was Kevin Owens. The segment ended with both men promising they would do whatever it takes when their match happens.

The camera angles, tone of the segment and even Owens' attire heavily paralleled a promo exchange Kevin Steen had with Davey Richards in Ring of Honor in 2012, as pointed out by Mith Gifs Wrestling.

Kevin Steen's quest for the ROH World Title began after he was reinstated in Ring of Honor following his win over Steve Corino at Final Battle 2011. Steen, as "Wrestling's Worst Nightmare" immediately went after ROH World Champion Davey Richards but the feud centred around Jim Cornette's reluctance to make the match official.

The match did eventually take place at ROH Border Wars on May 12, 2012 and saw Kevin Steen win the ROH World Championship. Steen would hold the belt for 328 days until he dropped the title to Jay Briscoe at 2013's Supercard of Honor.

If WWE stick to the blueprint of Kevin Steen vs. Davey Richards, this would mean Kevin Owens will be defeating Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at Saturday Night's Main Event.

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