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Cody Rhodes Outlasts Kevin Owens In A Match-Of-The-Year Masterpiece

Watch the replay if only just for this instant classic.

Dariel Figueroa

WWE

Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens just delivered on what is an absolute must-see match-of-the-year contender.

Rhodes and Owens started off Bash in Berlin in front of an amped-up audience that followed every beat of this match.

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Going into the bout, questions lingered about Owens' loyalty to Rhodes and how that would play out during the match. We got that answer in the last third of this 30-plus minute masterpiece when Rhodes tweaked his knee on the top rope during an attempt at the Cody Cutter.

Owens considered attacking the injured knee but instead told the referee to check on the champ.

While the ref was checking out Rhodes' knee on the outside, Rhodes hit Owens and told him to not hold back. Owens then kicked the bad knee and set up Rhodes for the devastating apron powerbomb but decided not to further injure his friend. Instead, he rolled Rhodes back into the ring.

MORE: WWE SmackDown Results 8/23: Cody Rhodes Puts Faith In Kevin Owens Ahead Of Match At Bash In Berlin

When Owens follows him into the ring, Rhodes traps him in a slick inside cradle for a near fall. Owens gets right back up and hits the stunner but Rhodes kicks out!

Back on their feet, Rhodes hit one Cross Rhodes, a second, and then went for the trifecta but Owens reversed it into another stunner, but Rhodes kicked out again!

At this point, with both men exhausted and throwing everything at each other, the crowd began chanting "Holy s**t!". Rightly so. This match was firing on all cylinders from the start.

The finish came when Owens took to the top turnbuckle for a swanton bomb. Rhodes countered by putting his knees up. One Cross Rhodes later, and Cody retained the title.

The story of this match is Owens failing to pull the trigger on the apron powerbomb for fear of injuring Cody. After the match, Owens reluctantly hugged Rhodes with disappointment awash his face. Still, they traded raising each other's arms to the crowd.

This was a fantastic bout from start to finish and will most certainly be on everyone's match-of-the-year list in December. Everyone except Dave Meltzer, of course.

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Dariel Figueroa
DARIEL FIGUEROA

Dariel Figueroa joined On SI and The Takedown in 2024. He previously served as senior features writer at Uproxx, and has written for Heavy, Fansided, and Paste. Figueroa graduated with a double bachelor’s from Rowan University in journalism and multimedia production, respectively. You can follow him on X (fmr. Twitter) @figgyflow.

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