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Triple H warns Randy Orton to “PROTECT himself” after giving him a match against former WWE Universal Champion at Crown Jewel

Kevin Owens turning heel has been a long time coming. He started displaying heelish tendencies ahead of Bash in Berlin. Now that he has finally turned on his close friends, Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton, The Viper cannot wait to exact revenge and get his hands on the 40-year-old.

The latest episode of SmackDown opened with Orton cutting a promo in front of the live crowd. He recalled how Owens had turned on him a few weeks ago and said that he now wanted a match against him at Crown Jewel. However, he said that Triple H had already denied his request and accused The Game of protecting the Canadian. The Cerebral Assassin made his way to the ring and snapped after hearing this accusation against him.

Hunter claimed that he was not protecting Kevin Owens but rather, protecting Orton. The WWE CCO continued saying that KO was called The Prizefighter because he was purely about business. For the first time in his career, he had finally cared about someone. Now that he felt betrayed by them, he had become highly dangerous. The 55-year-old said that he did not want his mentee to end up on the shelf, not even an year after returning from a major injury.

The Legend Killer claimed that he was not being impulsive like when he was younger. He knew what was at stake, including his health and his career. Triple H hoped that he knew what he was asking for and gave him the match against Owens at Crown Jewel.

The King of Kings warned Orton to protect himself no matter when and where he was. After all, Owens had become infamous for his attacks out of nowhere. He had gotten the upper hand on Rhodes after Bad Blood thanks to the element of surprise, and the same thing happened to the 44-year-old a few weeks ago on SmackDown.

Randy Orton will team up with Cody Rhodes to face Imperium next week on SmackDown

Cody Rhodes had a face-to-face interaction with his Crown Jewel opponent, Gunther, on the latest episode of SmackDown. After a heated confrontation, The American Nightmare began attacking his foe. Ludwig Kaiser then came out to help his Imperium stablemate.

Cody Rhodes Randy Orton Gunther Ludwig Kaiser
Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton against Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser (via WWE)

Just a few moments later, Randy Orton rushed to the ring to help his friend even the odds against the Raw superstar. After they sent Imperium packing, the former WWE Champion handed back the WWE Undisputed Title to his friend. However, he took his sweet time looking at the belt before handing it back to the current champion.

The 2x Royal Rumble winner once again teased turning heel on Rhodes and coming after the WWE Undisputed Championship. Regardless, Orton will team up with the champion against Gunther and Kaiser next week on SmackDown, which would be the go-home show right before Crown Jewel.