Kevin Owens Beats Shane McMahon in Ladder Match on WWE SmackDown

Kevin Owens beat Shane McMahon in a ladder match on Friday's debut episode of SmackDown on Fox, meaning McMahon is now fired from WWE.

The bout was set last week when Owens agreed to drop his lawsuit against WWE in exchange for a loser-leaves-WWE ladder match, marking a continuation of his effort to remove Shane-O-Mac from WWE programming.

Owens and McMahon had been at odds for the past several months. It started when KO took over an episode of SmackDown and cut a promo that said McMahon was putting himself in top spots and holding down other talent that deserved it more.

That led to a match between Owens and McMahon at SummerSlam. KO would have been fired had he lost, but after Elias knocked out the referee, Owens hit McMahon with a low blow, which helped him come away victorious.

McMahon fined Owens $100,000 as a result of attacking Elias while he was technically serving as a WWE official. After that, Owens tried to get back on McMahon's good side in an effort to get the fine rescinded.

Shane made Owens the special guest referee for a King of the Ring semifinal match pitting McMahon against Chad Gable with the suggestion that the fine would go away if Shane won. KO tried to help McMahon on several occasions, but Shane tapped to an ankle lock, and Gable moved on.

A furious McMahon attacked Owens after the match and fired him, but KO refused to go quietly.

Owens served McMahon with a wrongful termination lawsuit with the explanation that Shane attacked him while he was a WWE official and thus contradicted himself after having fined Owens for doing the same thing to Elias.

McMahon was desperate to get Owens to drop the lawsuit, offering him an opportunity to return to SmackDown and to drop the $100,000 fine.

Owens had no interest in working with Shane any longer, though, which is why he proposed the ladder match as a blow-off to their long-running rivalry.

KO's victory suggests he will be part of this month's draft and land on either Raw or SmackDown, while Shane-O-Mac will take on more of a backstage role until he is needed again on-screen down the line.

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