Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn: Winner and Reaction from WWE Payback 2016

In a heated grudge match between two former friends, Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn at WWE Payback on Sunday.

Owens celebrated after the match, via WWE:

Announcer Byron Saxton would then enter the ring, and Owens decided he would take his place announcing the match between The Miz and Cesaro, via WWE Universe: 

WWE Stats & Info provided some interesting information regarding Owens' 2016 pay-per-view record: 

Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter had high praise for a match that should have carried more significance: 

The next match was for the Intercontinental Championship between The Miz and Cesaro. After a few minutes of commentary, Owens was attacked by Zayn, per WWE:

Eventually the two brawling former NXT stars distracted the referee, who missed The Miz tapping out, which paved the way for him to register the win over Cesaro. When the dust settled, it was Owens who was standing tall with The Miz's IC title belt. 

There is a long and storied history between Owens and Zayn, but their issues on the main roster began when Zayn eliminated KO from the Royal Rumble as a surprise entrant, which started a feud that included a multiman ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania.

In that bout, Zayn prevented Owens from retaining the title by hitting him with an exploder suplex onto a ladder, which added more bad blood to what was already a personal rivalry.

Owens followed that up by attacking Zayn on the following Raw and taking away his opportunity to vie for the world title, which made Zayn focus solely on revenge, per WWE Universe:

Despite his actions, The Prizefighter claimed that everything he did was based on business rather than personal animosity:

"

"If this is personal, it's because HE'S making it personal, not me." - @FightOwensFight on @iLikeSamiZayn #RAW pic.twitter.com/Kp9h0YiGpO

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) April 26, 2016"

Owens and Zayn have battled for years, dating back to their time in Ring of Honor as Kevin Steen and El Generico, respectively.

That carried over to NXT, as KO attacked Zayn after he won the NXT Championship for the first time. Owens then won the title from him and sent him packing from the brand by inflicting a storyline injury.

Owens suggested on Twitter that he wanted to do something similar to Zayn on the main roster as well:

"

In 6 days at @WWE #Payback, I'm done being the victim. Time to send the underdog back underground...#OwensVsZayn #GoodFriendsBetterEnemies

— Kevin Owens (@FightOwensFight) April 26, 2016"

While WWE didn't do much to take advantage of the history between Owens and Zayn, it put together a video package on the go-home edition of Raw prior to Payback that likely helped educate fans who were unaware of how long they have known each other.

That added needed heat to the feud ahead of a match that was guaranteed to be good thanks to the incredible in-ring chemistry between Zayn and Owens.

They didn't disappoint in that regard, and both Superstars showed why many consider them to be main event-level talents and potential future world champions in WWE.

Although Owens scored the victory, it seems likely that there are more pay-per-view matches between them on the horizon, especially with Extreme Rules just three weeks away.

Zayn hasn't enjoyed a ton of success in terms of wins and losses on the main roster thus far, but that has contributed to an underdog persona that has convinced fans to get behind him.

Both Owens and Zayn likely helped their stocks at Payback, and they should turn more heads in the future, assuming their angle continues.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.