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What's the story?
Dave Meltzer finally gave the fans some clarity on the volatile situation backstage between Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and WWE officials & superstars on the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
It all comes down to Sami Zayn's loss to Kofi Kingston from a couple of weeks back. It's said that the plan was to have KO and Zayn run away after the match.
Vince McMahon and co. wanted the duo to escape as soon as Big E and Woods came out to make the save, instead they chose to stick around and take the punishment. Meltzer revealed another backstage story going around regarding their ouster from the UK tour in addition to his budding beef with Randy Orton on Twitter.
In case you didn't know...
Sami Zayn took on Kofi Kingston in a losing effort on the November 7th episode of SmackDown Live. It's said that the WWE wanted Zayn and Owens to resist engaging with Big E and Woods after they came out to make the save.
This would have set up the tag team match for next week. The Canadian best friends reportedly went against the dictate and stayed back. They were screamed at by the WWE officials backstage and were sent back home from the UK tour.
The heart of the matter
According to Meltzer, conflicting reports also state that Owens and Zayn did exactly what they were asked to do and that the whole situation spiralled out of control due to a big misunderstanding.
However, upon further investigation, many backstage sources shot down the rumours of there being a misunderstanding. It seems that the duo did indeed go off script and took business in their own hands.
It's been a rough few weeks for KO as his Twitter feud with Randy Orton went to another level altogether, blurring the lines between reality and fiction. It seems that the talents on SmackDown were really unhappy with both Owens and Zayn for last week's events.
While the roster struggled to cope with the tour schedule, Owens was seen updating his social media handles family-driven activities. He showed up at a wedding In Orlando while other wrestlers were in Europe.
There's a really interesting story behind the former Universal Champion ending up at the wedding too. It seems Owens came across a fan's tweet that stated he was getting married on November 11th in Epcot, Orlando. Owens happened to be in town that day with his family and decided to make a surprise appearance.
The fan was naturally taken aback by the gesture and invited Owens to the reception for dessert and tweeted about the same. The tweet caught Randy Orton's eye, who wasted no time in engaging with Owens, who is regarded as the King of Comebacks backstage in WWE, according to Wrestling Observer.
The talents have been told to get into a banter with Owens at their own risk and Orton didn't pay any heed. Why would he? He is the Apex Predator! A really personal war ensued between the two:
What's next?
While Randy Orton is all set to be a part of the traditional Elimination Survivor Series match, Owens and Zayn are without a match and are most-likely expected to interfere in the high stakes main event.
It will be interesting to see how Owens and Zayn bounce back from their recent predicament and ensure they don't fall down the card due to behavioural issues.
Author's take
It's really hard to comment on what actually caused the entire KO/Zayn-tour saga and frankly, I don't care as long as it is put to rest and the focus is solely on the future.
KO and Zayn have been punished by the looks of it, and I personally hope they move ahead from this and look to continue the momentum they garnered at Hell in a Cell. It's obvious WWE values both the veterans -- Owens in particular -- and it would a shame to see them throw it all away from here.
