Major reason why Winged Eagle WWE Championship was brought back - Report
After expressing a desire on the road to WrestleMania 39 last year, and countless other times, Cody Rhodes finally got WWE to bring back the Winged Eagle WWE Championship. The American Nightmare wore the classic title at Saturday Night's Main Event.
The show was headlined by Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens and Rhodes brought the vintage belt for the match, which had been gifted to him by Triple H for one night only. The champion went on to retain in a 12-minute contest.
As reported by Fightful and Wrestling Observer's Andrew Zarian on X/Twitter, the company's decision to bring back the Winged Eagle WWE Championship belt had something to do with the huge merchandise sales:
"Will add a bit more. Months ago I had a conversation regarding this with someone at WWE. I was told that merch sales (replica title belt sales) would be play a big part in making this a regular thing," Zarian wrote on his social media handle.
Post-match, Kevin Owens reacted rather in a dastardly fashion. A sore loser, he hit Cody Rhodes with a Package Piledriver, the same way he did to Randy Orton a few weeks ago, which led to The American Nightmare being stretchered out of the arena. It appears their program is set to continue.
Will Triple H and Kevin Owens wrestle after WWE Saturday Night's Main Event?
Triple H announced his retirement from in-ring competition at WrestleMania 38 in 2022, nearly three years after his final match which was a tag team contest at a WWE Live Event. He joined Shinsuke Nakamura to defeat Bobby Roode and Samoa Joe in June 2019. The 14-time World Champion noted that he would never step inside the squared circle for a match ever again after his cardiac arrest.
After Kevin Owens attacked Cody Rhodes, Triple H confronted The Prizefighter. The Game shoved Owens which led to fans wondering if it was a sign of things to come. According to Sportskeeda Wrestling's Dr. Chris Featherstone, that is not the case. It was simply done to make the former Universal Champion strong as a heel character:
"I was informed that Triple H's physical involvement following Kevin Owens's post-match attack on Cody Rhodes at #SNME is only to elevate Owens as a heel, and the Cody/Owens feud is slated to continue. A Triple H in-ring return is not in the plans at this time," reported Dr. Chris Featherstone.
As seen in the Instagram reel above, Triple H and Kevin Owens nearly got into a fight before being pulled apart by officials.