Cody Rhodes successfully defended the WWE Undisputed Championship against Kevin Owens on Saturday using admittedly questionable means.

Late in a grueling main event, Owens introduced a steel chair. After two referees were eliminated, Rhodes prevented the challenger from using the ball and then hit Cross Rhodes on it. He pushed the chair out of the ring to hide the evidence, made the pin, and Charles Robinson counted the fall before declaring The American Nightmare the winner.

The match was great as expected, but the ending was a bit strange.

Maybe it was meant to further the “Kevin is right” narrative, but it seemed like Rhodes was cheating to win the match. First-time viewers who didn’t know any better might even think that Rhodes was the villain in this story because he was actually the one who stole the victory.

The question will be how the finish will be followed up.

Owens will trumpet his version of things, which is that Rhodes is the con artist and schemer, not him. He will demand a rematch and will probably get it at the Royal Rumble. Whether he will ever actually win, however, is the question.

Rhodes defeated Owens to retain

Top moments and takeaways

• The winged eagle version of the WWE Championship is far too beautiful to put back in a vault somewhere. A flawless design by the late, great Reggie Parks.

• Ventura thrived on commentary. There are some who were born to be color commentators, and The Body is one of them. He surprisingly harmonized very well with McAfee and Cole.
• Ventura set the stage for the Rhodes match against Gable and the resulting ankle injury played a role in the contest. It came into play when The American Nightmare completed a tope sucida but was holding the same ankle as he emerged.
• Owens mocked Rhodes’ father, the late Dusty. For this he received a bionic elbow from the champion.
• Rhodes delivered an RKO to Owens on the announce table, who didn’t budge.