Here’s who wins the match between Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal belt in Saturday night’s main event

The big heel turn of 2024 is nearing its climax. For the second time in four months, Cody Rhodes will defend his WWE Universal Title against Kevin Owens in prime time. The two fought as friends across the pond at the Bash in Berlin PLE, when Rhodes gave Owens a title shot to boost Owens’ confidence. Rhodes was struggling with a knee injury and the friendship prevented Owens from addressing the weakness, resulting in Rhodes retaining the title.

However, the two split up over the next few months when Rhodes decided to ally with his rival and Owens’ nemesis Roman Reigns during the Bad Blood PLE. Owens attacked Rhodes after the incident, eventually attacking her third friend Randy Orton and sending him to the hospital after a piledriver. This enraged Rhodes and the two clashed for several weeks, leading to this match when NBC returned to the pro wrestling game.

Related: Current list of all WWE Raw, SmackDown and NXT champions and who they beat as of December 1st

Matchup History: Rhodes 5-1 record advantage in single tag matchups

• Bash in Berlin 2024: August 31, 2024: Rhodes (c) def. Owens defends the WWE Universal belt
• Raw: October 9, 2023: Rhodes & Jey Uso (c) defeated Owens & Sami Zayn to retain the MNR/FNS tag championships
• Raw: April 25, 2022: Rhodes defeated. Owens
• Raw: April 4, 2022 (Dark): Rhodes def. Owens
• Raw: February 15, 2016: Owens defeated. Stardust

Match prediction

Estimated game length: 20 minutes

Saturday’s game card is getting more and more intense, and considering the NBC broadcast will be full of commercial breaks, it’s hard to imagine any of the games going on for too long. Owens attacked Rhodes on Friday Night SmackDown last week, attacking him in the ankle, the same leg where he injured his knee. This game will once again be about endangering Rhodes’ mobility.

By the time this game takes place, Rhodes’ run will have reached 250 days and it could be time for a title change. A crazy confirmed heel Owens as champion would be an interesting twist for SmackDown to end the year. But it doesn’t happen. A ticked off Owens is still the best version of this rivalry and we expect Rhodes to retain the title.

The two will continue to be involved in a storyline as Owens will make up a little something and the two will continue to feud, eventually leading to a heel turn for Orton and a triple threat match.