Cody Rhodes defeated Kevin Owens in a ladder match at the Royal Rumble on Saturday night to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship.

Although they were once close friends, the relationship between the two men crumbled after Bad Blood in October when KO viciously attacked Rhodes in the parking lot.

In the weeks that followed, Owens explained his actions by noting that he took umbrage with the fact that The American Nightmare agreed to team with Roman Reigns at Bad Blood after everything Reigns had done to both of them and many others.

As things escalated between Owens and Rhodes, Randy Orton got involved, and he became a target of KO, who was upset that The Viper had chosen to support Cody rather than him.

During an episode of SmackDown in November, Owens put Orton on the shelf by hitting him with a piledriver, which caught Rhodes' attention and led to a WWE title match between them at Saturday Night's Main Event in December.

Although The American Nightmare was victorious, The Prizefighter attacked him after the match and took him out with a piledriver. He also stole the iconic winged eagle WWE Championship belt that Rhodes used on the show.

In the weeks that followed, Owens carried around the winged eagle title and masqueraded as the WWE champion, which clearly got under Rhodes' skin.

SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis stepped in during the Dec. 27 episode of the blue brand and demanded Owens hand over the winged eagle title, but the segment devolved into chaos.

KO pushed Aldis into Rhodes, who wasn't medically cleared at the time, and Owens proceeded to put the boots to his hated rival.

Both Rhodes and Owens were hugely motivated to prevail at the Royal Rumble, but it was The American Nightmare who came away with both belts and took a big step toward entering WrestleMania 41 as WWE champion.

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