3 Reasons Why Kevin Owens Failed to Win the Undisputed WWE Championship Again

The September 18 episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown kicked off with General Manager Nick Aldis introducing the new Undisputed WWE Champion Sami Zayn, setting aside their backstage bad blood.

The crowd booed The Honorary Uce to the roof. As The Last Real Good Guy was cutting a promo, Johnny Gargano appeared and asked The Honorary Uce for his title; they had a deal last week. The Master Strategist straight up denied any deal.

Aldis jumped in between and said he makes the matches, not anyone else, and that anyone who deserves a rematch is CM Punk. Kevin Owens came moments later and called his shot at Sami’s title. But the GM refused to allow him a title match, given that he had interfered in a title match last week, and he couldn’t reward bad behavior.

KO made a point, saying, Speaking of bad behavior, Sami Zayn has been the most notorious one, as he ruined every title match and contender match until he got a rematch against Punk. The Honorary Uce didn’t like this, and he grabbed Aldis by the collar to stop him from booking him in a title match, which didn’t sit well with Nick, prompting him to book an Undisputed WWE Title match between Sami and Kevin in the main event.

Owens and Zayn faced off in a thrilling main event. As anticipated, the end of the match was chaotic thanks to Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae, who interfered to assist Sami. He had promised them a title match backstage, which led to their involvement.

KO managed to overcome the couple, but he wasn’t ready for what was next. CM Punk appeared out of nowhere, picked up the Undisputed Title, and smacked Owens in the head while the referee was distracted. Zayn saw Punk, and he took the Best in the World out with a kick.

Taking advantage of this, Zayn put Owens out with a Helluva Kick and pinned KO to retain his Undisputed WWE Championship.

This is the second time KO has failed to capture the title since his return to WWE.

That said, in this listicle, we take a look at three reasons why Kevin Owens failed to win the Undisputed Championship again:

#3. WWE won’t make the same mistake with Zayn

Sami Zayn first won the Undisputed WWE Championship beating Cody Rhodes and Gunther in a triple-threat match at Night of Champions 2026.

However, his title reign lasted for nine days, as CM Punk beat him on RAW in his first title defense. Zayn recaptured the title last week on SmackDown in Mexico, beating the Best in the World.

Kevin Owens was marked as the Honorary Uce’s first title defense. If KO had defeated Sami, it would have repeated the same mistake that WWE made in the past, leading to fans’ backlash.

Therefore, to avoid repeating the same mistake of ending Sami’s title reign early, the company may not have put the Undisputed WWE Championship on Owens.

#2. Kevin Owens winning the Undisputed Championship makes no sense

As of this writing, the Prizefighter has no believable storyline, as he only returned to the Stamford-based promotion at SummerSlam 2026 after months off television.

That said, Owens winning the Undisputed Championship at this point in her career makes no sense, and there are already multiple stars ahead of her in line who deserve the title.

#1. WWE had already crowned multiple champions

In 2026, the Undisputed Championship had changed hands five times. Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn, and CM Punk have held the title this year.

Crowning yet another Champion in such a short span would ultimately hurt the title’s credibility. Therefore, the Stamford-based promotion didn’t put the title on Kevin Owens and instead let Sami Zayn successfully defend it.

Now, Sami could hold the title for a few months and rebuild the strap’s credibility as a main championship. Until then, KO could build momentum, and who knows, he might become the champion by the end of this year or early 2027.

That said, it will be interesting to see what plans Triple H and the creative team have for Kevin Owens as he lost his chance to capture the Undisputed Title once again.