Braun Strowman Squashes Kevin Owens to Retain the Money in the Bank Contract

Braun Strowman made short work of Kevin Owens, defeating him with a Running PowerSlam to keep his Money in the Bank contract at SummerSlam in Brooklyn, New York.

Strowman, to the surprise of no one, took the advantage early on by beating on Owens in an around the ring. Owens nailed a superkick on the entrance ramp, which Strowman no-sold and countered with a chokeslam.

Strowman rolled him back into the ring and nailed a Running PowerSlam for a pin.

The stipulation for the match stated Strowman would lose his contract if he was defeated in any way, including countout or disqualification. That rule never came into play.

The feud between the two stretches back to before the Money in the Bank pay-per-view in June when Owens tried to get all of the competitors in the ladder match to team up on the big man. Strowman overcame the plan and won the contract, but not before slamming Owens off an incredibly high ladder through an announcer’s table.

Owens attempted to befriend Strowman on the following Raw, which lead to Strowman terrorizing Owens week after week with stunts like flipping his rental car and driving him off the entrance ramp while Owens was trapped in a portable toilet.

Eventually the two were booked for a Steel Cage match at Extreme Rules, which Owens technically won after getting chokeslammed off the top of the cage through a commentary table.

The former Universal Champion then pleaded with Stephanie McMahon for a match with the briefcase on the line, which she accepted.

Now that Strowman has successfully kept his contract intact, it’s possible he’ll use it to cash in during the main event between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship. The two famously had Seth Rollins cash in on their WWE Championship match back at WrestleMania 31, leading to “The Architect” winning the title.

Other early match results from SummerSlam include the Bludgeon Brothers retaining the SmackDown Tag Team Championships via disqualification. Seth Rollins winning the Intercontintal Championship with help from Dean Ambrose and Charlotte Flair winning the SmackDown Women’s Championship in a triple threat match involving Carmella and Becky Lynch.The two-hour pre-show before the event featured both the Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander and the Raw Tag Team Champions The B-Team successfully retain their titles.