CM Punk defeated Kevin Owens with an assist from Sami Zayn to retain the WWE Championship in the main event of “WWE SmackDown.”
Owens started the match getting the better of an immediate striking exchange, throwing Punk around and then outside of the ring. He continued that dominance back inside of the ring and sought for the Stunner, but Punk telegraphed it and dropped him with a neckbreaker to finally take control.
The challenger once again got the better of the champion and had him in position for a frog splash, but the latter rolled out of the ring to escape.
Owens followed Punk, superkicking him onto the announcer’s desk and leaping from the barricade to put him through it. He dispensed Punk into the ring and connected with a Swanton bomb and went for the cover, getting only a near-fall.
Owens sought for a Stunner again but that resulted in a referee bump, ensuring there was no official count when he did finally connect with it and cover Punk. Punk managed to hit GTS but there was no official count made.
He tried to rouse the referee but then Sami Zayn emerged and drove him into the ring post, throwing him into the ring for Owens to connect with a stunner. Zayn threw the referee into the ring to make the count, though Punk still managed to kick out.
Zayn then told Owens to use the title belt to hit Punk, which Owens refused to do. That prompted Zayn to hit Owens with the belt and allow Punk to retain the title. After the match, Zayn continued to attack Punk with the belt himself, before laying out Owens again to stand tall at the end of the show.
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