Last week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown featured a huge main event as Sami Zayn defended the Undisputed WWE Championship against Kevin Owens. Ultimately Sami retained the title, but the finish for the match got a lot of people talking.
While the referee was distracted, CM Punk hit Kevin Owens with the Undisputed WWE Championship. Sami Zayn then pinned Owens, and it looked like the referee counted to three, but Owens still kicked out, and the bell didn’t ring. Sami then picked Kevin up and hit him with the Helluva Kick before finally pinning him to win the match.
WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select spoke to sources about the awkward finish during the Undisputed WWE Championship on SmackDown last week, and they noted that the finish was “absolutely blundered.”
Kevin Owens kicking out was not part of the finish. It’s being said that a number of people backstage were upset with how things transpired, and the feeling was that the original idea for the match did not go as planned. Originally the plan was for CM Punk to hit KO with the belt, Sami Zayn pins Owens and the match would end.
Some people felt that the improvised finish with the bell not being rung, and Sami Zayn hitting his finisher on KO took away from CM Punk’s involvement. Punk’s involvement in the match was seen as a vital part of the story that WWE was originally trying to tell.