Cody Rhodes successfully defeated Roman Reigns to become the new Undisputed WWE Champion at WrestleMania 40, and since then The American Nightmare has been trying to establish himself as a fighting champion. A few weeks ago Cody selected Kevin Owens to be his next challenger. A match for the Undisputed WWE Championship was then made official for the Bash In Berlin premium live event.

Bash In Berlin kicked off in a big way as Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens was the opening match. Owens made his entrance first followed by Cody Rhodes and both competitors got a big reaction from the fans in attendance. The crowd was electric after the ball rang. Cody and Kevin shook hands before finally locking up.

The match started off with Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes countering each other’s moves for a few minutes. Cody managed to hit Owens with a Disaster Kick while Owens was on the apron which sent him to the outside. Rhodes followed up with a dive then threw Owens into the ring and slowed the pace down when he applied a new submission hold. Owens got out and eventually Rhodes followed up by applying the figure four leg lock. Owens managed to reach the ropes to break the hold.

Cody managed to hit another Disaster Kick for a two count. Owens tried to make a comeback, but Cody hit the Cody Cutter for another two count. Rhodes went for another Disaster Kicked which was blocked by Owens who tried to hit the Stunner. The American Nightmare blocked the Stunner then hit Owens with Cross Rhodes. Owens kicked out at two. They fought on the turnbuckle and Owens made a comeback when he hit Cody with a Fisherman Brainbuster.

Kevin Owens and Cody exchanged superkicks. Cody when to the top rope, but his knee gave out as he jumped up. Cody was struggling to stand in the corner and Owens ran towards the corner as he prepared to attack his knee. However, Owens hesitated. They exchanges strikes outside the ring and Cody told Owens he was ok. Owens hit Cody’s knee then went for a powerbomb on the apron, but he stopped himself and threw Cody back in the ring instead.

Inside the ring Owens hit the Stunner for a two count. He picked Cody up and told him, “you asked for this.” Owens tried to whip Cody off the ropes, but Cody reversed it into Cross Rhodes. He hit the move twice only for Owens to hit Cody with a Stunner when Cody went for Cross Rhodes a third time.

Cody kicked out of the Stunner, so Owens went to the top rope. Owens tried to hit the Swanton, but Cody got his knees up. Cody hit the Cross Rhodes one more time to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship.

After the match Cody checked on Kevin Owens and they hugged. KO held up Cody’s arm then Cody tried to hold up Kevin’s arm, but KO refused.