CM Punk Beats Kevin Owens to Retain WWE Title in KO's 2nd Match Back from Injury

IF PUNK RETAINS TITLE

CM Punk defeated Kevin Owens on Friday night's episode of SmackDown in Toronto to retain the WWE Championship. ---OR--- CM Punk retained the WWE Championship in a DQ/COUNT-OUT loss to Kevin Owens on Friday night's episode of SmackDown in Toronto.

The foundation for Punk vs. Owens was laid at SummerSlam when Punk beat Cody Rhodes in the main event of Night 1 to retain the title, and Owens later won the No. 1 contendership on Night 2.

While the No. 1 contender match was originally scheduled to be Sami Zayn vs. Finn Balor, SmackDown general manager announced that he had added two competitors to the mix in Gunther and Owens.

KO's addition was especially shocking since he had missed the previous 17 months with a significant neck injury that required surgery.

The one-time universal champion didn't look like he missed a beat, though, as he was victorious in what was his first match in nearly a year and a half.

In the weeks that followed SummerSlam, Punk and Owens got reacquainted with each other, and they delved into why they haven't gotten along for the better part of the past two decades.

Owens took issue with Punk berating him in the locker room when they were both on the independent scene, and Punk accused Owens of disrespecting him many years ago.

Their well-documented history resulted in some heated promo segments leading up to their match, and Owens made the decision to have his title opportunity in his home country of Canada.

Because of that, KO was the sentimental favorite among the WWE Universe on Friday, even though both he and Punk are technically babyfaces.

Despite Owens having the crowd on his side, Punk retained the WWE title and denied Owens the second world title win of his WWE career.

IF OWENS WINS TITLE

Kevin Owens defeated CM Punk on Friday night's episode of SmackDown in Toronto to win the WWE Championship.

The foundation for Punk vs. Owens was laid at SummerSlam when Punk beat Cody Rhodes in the main event of Night 1 to retain the title, and Owens later won the No. 1 contendership on Night 2.

While the No. 1 contender match was originally scheduled to be Sami Zayn vs. Finn Balor, SmackDown general manager announced that he had added two competitors to the mix in Gunther and Owens.

KO's addition was especially shocking since he had missed the previous 17 months with a significant neck injury that required surgery.

The one-time universal champion didn't look like he missed a beat, though, as he was victorious in what was his first match in nearly a year and a half.

In the weeks that followed SummerSlam, Punk and Owens got reacquainted with each other, and they delved into why they haven't gotten along for the better part of the past two decades.

Owens took issue with Punk berating him in the locker room when they were both on the independent scene, and Punk accused Owens of disrespecting him many years ago.

Their well-documented history resulted in some heated promo segments leading up to their match, and Owens made the decision to have his title opportunity in his home country of Canada.

Because of that, KO was the sentimental favorite among the WWE Universe on Friday, even though both he and Punk are technically babyfaces.

With the crowd on his side, Owens scored the biggest victory of his career, becoming WWE champion for the first time and a world champion for the second time during his WWE tenure.