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Kevin Owens put his WWE job on the line in his match against Shane McMahon at SummerSlam and managed to overcome the odds that were stacked against him.
Before the match began, Shane revealed Elias to be the special guest enforcer. The Drifter came out donning the black and white stripes of the referees and was a constant thorn in Owens' side.
The introduction of Elias came as a surprise to many fans as he already had a segment on the pre-show, in which Edge returned and took him out with a spear.
The special guest enforcer's role could have been the opportunity to include the unused Drew McIntyre, who has been Shane's trusted aide for the past few months.
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Dave Meltzer stated on the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE didn't use the Scottish Psychopath as they may have intended to keep him protected.
"They definitely wanted to protect Drew McIntyre. He was nowhere to be seen."
It was a smart decision as McIntyre would have looked really weak had he been in Elias' position or even as the third member on McMahon's side.
It was reported in the build-up to the show that WWE was considering adding McIntyre vs. Cedric Alexander to the SummerSlam card.
However, WWE announced three matches for the pre-show and passed on the opportunity to feature the former NXT Champion. The Intercontinental and men's tag team titles were also not defended on the show that had an approximate runtime of five and a half hours.
Kevin Owens got a loud reaction as he won the match in front of his fellow countrymates. The former Universal Champion is set to be pushed as a top babyface on SmackDown Live.
As for Raw, the fact that WWE protected McIntyre and didn't have him in McMahon's corner proves that they possibly have something big in store for him as well.
Seth Rollins is the new Universal Champion on Raw and he is in need of credible challengers to legitimize his second reign with the big red belt. McIntyre is certainly a frontrunner to get a title push.
