Dave Meltzer Discusses Kevin Owens' Heel Turn After WWE Bad Blood

WWE Bad Blood this weekend was the rare PPV event where there was just as much happening offscreen as there was happening onscreen. Not long after The Rock made his WWE return to close the show, an angle not seen on TV occurred, when Kevin Owens turned heel and attacked Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes in the parking lot. The "incident" was captured on video by several fans in the area, and was addressed by WWE chief content officer Triple H, who said the situation was being handled internally.

The angle was also discussed on the latest "Wrestling Observer Radio," with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer going through all the details on what went down with Rhodes and Owens. Though he provided no explanation for why the angle was done offscreen, Meltzer suggested it was inspired by a parking lot brawl Rhodes' father, Dusty Rhodes, and rival Ole Anderson had back in 1979. He also believes the angle was done the way it was in order to prevent Owens from being cheered and Rhodes from being booed, creating a situation where fans would turn on Rhodes ahead of his upcoming program with The Rock.

Tension has been building between Owens and Rhodes for several months now, starting when Rhodes offered Owens a championship match at Bash in Berlin, which Owens initially expressed reservations over before accepting. Though the two appeared to reaffirm their friendship after Rhodes retained the title, Owens started becoming distant from Rhodes over the last few weeks as the latter formed a shaky alliance with Roman Reigns, who Rhodes teamed with to defeat Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu at Bad Blood.