Kevin Owens' United States title reign came to a quick conclusion after Chris Jericho forced him to tap out at Payback on Sunday. It was one of the more shocking outcomes of the night, with most expecting Owens to retain as Jericho prepares to leave the screen while he tours with his band, Fozzy. That was not the case, and Y2J emerged with a huge victory and some payback of his own. What wasn't clear after the match was the fate of both Owens and Jericho. Owens was moved to SmackDown Live during the shakeup, bringing with him the US title. It seemed like only the winner of the Jericho-Owens match would go to the brand, and the WWE provided some clarity. Owens will remain on SmackDown Live, as will Jericho, meaning the blue brand wound up with the former best friends who are now mortal enemies as a result of the shakeup. Road Dogg Jessie James tweeted a fan what the scoop was the help remedy the confusion that followed:

That's a pretty sweet deal for Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon, pulling two stop stars for the price of one, so to speak. What's left is figuring out how the future of the US title will be affected by Jericho's oncoming tour. 

Owens, meanwhile, has taken to Twitter to give his thoughts on being "cheated" out of the belt by Jericho:

Jericho's tour with Fozzy begins May 5 and he's booked to be performing with them during just about every SmackDown Live through Backlash and beyond. While there's finally some explanation as to both mens' fates, the strap is now the only question remaining. 

Owens, obviously, isn't going to take the loss easily. The "cheating" he's referring to is how Jericho snapped when KO used his finger to force a rope break after Y2J locked in the liontamer. 

Jericho used the steel steps to assault Owens' hand, eventually wedging it between the ring post and kicking it. He'd go on to slap another liontamer on Kevin moments later to reclaim the US title. 

SmackDown Live may have landed both men and the list, but the forthcoming edition of the blue show should shed more light on where the WWE is taking things going forward. Perhaps Jericho will simply drop the title because he's got far more awesome things to do. 

Either way, even with Jericho out of the picture SmackDown gets to hang onto Owens, who should be a formidable heel addition to the show even without a title to his name.