WWE SmackDown Live: 5 reasons why making Kevin Owens turn heel was a great decision

Before I start with the reasoning behind my belief, I want to get something off my chest: I absolutely loved Big O, so much that I wanted it to continue for a while before the inevitable happened.

But it didn’t – and while it did hurt me a little bit, it might have been a great decision by the Creative. With Kevin Owens, it is always only just a matter of time before the former WWE Universal Champion turns against his ‘buddies’.

He did it against Sami Zayn, he did it against Chris Jericho and now he has done it again against New Day. Big E had been warning the faction using his Twitter and he turned out to be right in the end.

And it was a great decision – here are 5 reasons why…

#5 Few expected it so soon

For some, it might have been too soon. After all, there are going to be three more SmackDown Live episodes before Money in the Bank (more on that next).

However the best things in life are the ones that come when you don’t expect them. Imagine you wake up in the morning to your doorbell ringing and when you open it, you receive a pizza from a delivery man even though you didn’t order it.

Wouldn’t it be the best morning ever?

Unpredictability is perhaps the most important factor a sports entertainment product like the WWE. As a result, using it to their benefit when the iron is hot is the wisest thing to do.

Sure, some fans were taken aback with the suddenness but that is exactly what the company had intended because everyone knew that KO turning heel was inevitable, so might as well turn the predictable inexorability into something unpredictable.

#4 3 more SD episodes to build a feud

The Kevin Owens-New Day angle might just be the best thought-out and executed post-WrestleMania feud. Not only does this feud already have a great backstory, there is also room for a lot more before a match happens at Money in the Bank.

Since he only just attacked Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods in the last episode of SmackDown Live, next week’s episode will be about why he did it. Meanwhile, Kingston would be looking for revenge as his stable brother Woods came out the worst from Owens’ heel turn.

The platform is set for the WWE Creative to make something great out of this feud and there is a good three episodes for them to give more meat to this story, which they most definitely will.

And that would only add more meaning and setup a…

#3 Title match for KO at Money in the Bank

We all know where this is heading, don’t we? After Kevin Owens returned to WWE from long injury lay-off, he was used as a filler in the Daniel Bryan-Kofi Kingston feud that started gaining momentum prior to the Elimination Chamber.

Since Fastlane would not have been the best event for Kofi Kingston to get his moment, WWE used Owens as a means to enhance the KofiMania storyline by giving him a shot at the title against Daniel Bryan in the PPV preceding WrestleMania.

Owens obviously lost and was immediately put out of the picture for KofiMania to gain further momentum. In the end, Kingston won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania – and that was somewhat at the expense of Owens.

But now, the former Universal Champion is back in the main event picture to get a proper shot at the title instead of being used just as a filler.

#2 Smackdown needed heels

Now we come to the brand as a whole. Prior to the WWE Superstar Shake-up, SmackDown Live had some of the best heels in the business. However, with the departure of Samoa Joe to the RAW roster and with Daniel Bryan’s current recuperation from injury, the blue brand is lacking some quality heels.

Sure, Randy Orton and Shane McMahon are great villains themselves but the former hasn’t been on TV much (he has been taking part in dark off-air matches) and the latter is not really a full-time wrestler.

As a result, the blue brand needed another dominant negative force on TV to be the yang to Kofi Kingston’s yin. Indeed, SmackDown had been way too ‘cheerful’ post-WrestleMania and it needed some darkness to keep the momentum going.

And who better than Kevin Owens for that role? After all…

#1 KO is a natural heel

This is Kevin Owens we are talking about - he's one of the best heels in the business. For many – actually, for everyone, this is a man that was born to play the negative role.

I mean, just look at his savage mannerisms – he is just perfect for the villainous role (side note: he is also perfect for the ‘hero’ role as well, as Big O showed) as he can go to any depths to get what he wants.

Also, since the title synonymous to RAW – the WWE Universal Title – is going to be on the line between two faces in the form of Seth Rollins and AJ Styles, SmackDown couldn’t do the same, which is why this feud between KO and Kofi is already more interesting than the storyline of Seth Rollins and AJ Styles as we don’t know what a heel Owens could do next.

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I, for one, am more excited for SmackDown Live next week than RAW. What about you?