Cody Rhodes defeats former champion in their first match in over a year after SmackDown goes off the air

Cody Rhodes had a tense ending to Friday Night SmackDown as major dissent between him and Kevin Owens continued to be teased. After the show went off the air, he defeated a former United States Champion in their first match in over a year.

Two dark matches were advertised for post-SmackDown this week, and one of them involved the Undisputed WWE Champion, The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes.

After SmackDown went off the air, Cody Rhodes defeated Austin Theory in their first match since August 2023. It's been a little over 13 months, and Rhodes is 3-0 against the former champion - one by DQ and two by clean wins.

Cody's night on SmackDown looked to be ending from bad to worse as Kevin Owens was already visibly upset by him tagging with Roman Reigns at Bad Blood 2024.

It seemed to boil over with Owens ready to shove and attack his friend, but Randy Orton, the veteran, served as the voice of reason between the two. They would eventually embrace as the show came to a close.

It's clear that Kevin Owens isn't happy, while Randy Orton has been relatively neutral about it. Is the heel turn inevitable? Only time will tell.