After Survivor Series Bryan became deeply involved in Shane McMahon's feud against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, favoring the latter two. On the November 21 episode of Smackdown Shane was about to fire the two for attacking him during their Survivor Series interbrand elimination match against Team Raw, which SmackDown ultimately lost. To settle the dispute whether Owens and Zayn should be fired, the two were scheduled to wrestle Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura at Clash of Champions with Owens's and Zayn's jobs on the line. During the match Shane and Bryan acted as guest referees and come to blows: after Shane intentionally stopped a count at two during a pinfall attempt by Zayn, while Bryan made a fast count to give Owens and Zayn the win. Over the following weeks, Bryan kept on favoring Owens and Zayn by giving them multiple opportunities at AJ Styles's WWE Championship, first in a handicap title match at the Royal Rumble and then by including Owens and Zayn among the five challengers at Fastlane. During the latter match, Shane broke up pinfall attempts by Owens and Zayn, resulting in a brutal attack by Owens and Zayn on the following SmackDown.