[Watch] Kevin Owens arrives in WWE legend's shirt ahead of major match on SmackDown

Kevin Owens paid tribute to a WWE legend by arriving at tonight's SmackDown wearing the iconic star's shirt.

The 39-year-old is scheduled for a massive match tonight on the New Year's Revolution edition of WWE SmackDown. The Prizefighter is set to take on Santos Escobar in the finals of the United States Championship tournament tonight. The winner of the match will go on to challenge Logan Paul for the title at Royal Rumble 2024 on January 27.

There is also a massive Triple Threat match scheduled for tonight's show. AJ Styles, Randy Orton, and LA Knight will be competing to determine Roman Reigns' challenger for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at the premium live event later this month. The Tribal Chief is also scheduled to appear during tonight's show.

Ahead of SmackDown, WWE shared a new video of Kevin Owens arriving at the Rodgers Arena in Vancouver. In the video, Owens can be seen confidently walking backstage without saying a word while wearing a Terry Funk t-shirt. Terry Funk passed away at the age of 79 in August 2023.

Wrestling veteran concerned about former champion following his loss to Kevin Owens on WWE SmackDown

Legendary wrestling journalist Bill Apter recently expressed concern for former NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes following his loss to Kevin Owens in the United States Championship tournament.

KO defeated the former NXT Champion last month on SmackDown in the semifinals of the tournament. Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk show, Bill Apter wondered if the loss negatively impacted Carmelo Hayes' standing on the main roster. Carmelo also suffered a loss to The Judgment Day's Finn Balor on the June 26 episode of RAW.

"Does it weaken Carmelo's standing on the main roster by having a loss like that? This is another loss...But I'm just hoping that they're not taking his real estate down a little bit," Bill Apter said. [32:43 - 33:36]

Logan Paul captured the United States Championship from Rey Mysterio at Crown Jewel 2023 after Santos Escobar interfered in the match. It will be interesting to see which superstar wins the tournament tonight and guarantees themselves a title shot against Logan Paul at the premium live event later this month.

Would you like to see Kevin Owens battle Logan Paul for the United States Championship? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.