Heading into Sunday’s WWE Fastlane pay-per-view, basically every prediction you could find on the internet went with the assumption that Kevin Owens would be losing the Universal Championship to challenger Bill Goldberg. After all, Goldberg is already set to face Brock Lesnar in a rubber match at WrestleMania 33, and what better way to drum up additional interest in that match?
Those who still held out hope that Owens would somehow be able to hold onto his title — and perhaps even more amazingly, somehow not lose in 90 seconds or less — concocted a scenario that might see Chris Jericho, or maybe even Samoa Joe or Triple H get involved. Or maybe even Lesnar himself.
Earlier in the evening during Fastlane, general manager Mick Foley warned Samoa Joe that he had better not stick his nose into the main event, so that seemed to take him out of the equation right away. And as the show ticked ever closer to the main event with only minutes remaining for the title match before the assumed 11 p.m. ET end time of the PPV, the mood on Twitter and other social media seemed to turn to despair, and the likelihood that internet darling Owens would cling to his title quickly faded.
Owens stalled quite a bit before the match began, not at all eager to have his title reign end in the blink of an eye. When he finally got in the ring, he was raring to go, but just before the bell rang, Chris Jericho’s music hit, and Owens’ former teammate and best friend came out onto the ramp. With Owens successfully distracted, Goldberg hit a spear. A jackhammer later, and it was all over.
And when all was said and done, the entire match fits into one GIF. So here you go.
Owens’ stint as the longest-reigning Universal Champion in history ends at 188 days, and now Goldberg will defend the title against Lesnar at WrestleMania on April 2.
