From beating John Cena in his debut match on the main roster to revisiting his feud with Sami Zayn, the stock of Kevin Owens was on the up-and-up ever since he arrived. For a wrestler of his physique, some of the moves Owens can pull off inside the squared circle are simply jaw-dropping.
His amazing in-ring ability, coupled with the great chemistry he shared with opponents like Cena, Ambrose and Zayn, instantly catapulted those matches into classics. As recognition of the great work he'd been doing, the WWE did something that wouldn't have happened even as recently as five years back.
Owens is as far from Vince's idea of a top Superstar as one can get. However, in one of the great RAW endings in 2016, Owens won the top prize on the flagship show after a Fatal Four way elimination match.
But things haven't quite gone as fans would have hoped. It's been anything but smooth sailing for the longest reigning WWE Universal Champion. Despite having the belt for around six months, Owens isn't the most important part of the show and is often left looking weak due to some terrible booking.
It won't be an exaggeration to say that his reign is one of the more underwhelming ones in recent times. Rumour has it that things might get worse for Owens who is facing the prospect of jobbing to Goldberg at Fastlane. If that happens, here are some of the factors which KO fans might look back on:
#1 Loose ends:
Let's roll back to when Owens actually struck gold. There he was, sitting on the mat, stunned, as Triple H turned on his protege Seth Rollins. It was an awesome moment. But why did The Game do what he did? Why Owens? Was Stephanie in on it? Question marks, question marks and question marks. Unfortunately, the answers never came.
The disappearance of Triple H from main roster television after he literally handed over the title to Owens didn't do anybody any favours. A storyline interweaving the three characters could have made for some intriguing programming. Unfortunately, it never happened.
Fans were left wanting answers which never came. Gradually, the interest wore off and everyone moved on.
#2 JeriKO:
Ironically, one of the most entertaining parts of RAW for the better part of 2016 also had a major pitfall. Chris Jericho was in the midst of a golden run wherein he had the crowd at the tip of his fingers. That's exactly what a professional wrestler strives to achieve.
Unfortunately, it came at the cost of overshadowing Owens. Even as the friendship of Jericho and Owens prospered and provided some memorable gags for the audience, the latter felt like more of a sidekick rather than the other way round. It came to a point that the List of Jericho almost assumed more importance than the Universal Championship belt.
The duo has teased a split for a couple of months now.
This is the kind of slow build, which is worthy of a WWE Universal Championship match at Wrestlemania. While the possibility of Owens carrying the belt into the show of shows appears to be bleak right now, the match between the two is almost set in stone.
As the Wrestlemania season will gather steam, tensions are certain to boil over. Things can only go upwards from here.
#3 Crowd dynamic:
Kevin Owens is one of the most beloved wrestlers on the roster.
All those years in the indies, his quick-wittedness, the trash talk in the ring and his hilariously sarcastic responses on Twitter have helped fans take to him, even though he is a portrayed as a heel. It's mostly a reflection of the times we live in.
People jump at the opportunity to clap at good heel work rather than showering boos. That said, Owens himself is guilty of being excessively funny at times. Makes it that much more difficult for people to hate him.
#4 Lack of proper babyfaces:
The two wrestlers Owens has feuded with since winning the Championship are Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. Neither of them gets the kind of reaction WWE wants them to.
Rollins hasn't really regained the momentum, which he had upon his return from injury when he gave Reigns a Pedigree at Extreme Rules. The pop he received next night on RAW was thunderous but WWE dropped the ball by not turning him babyface right then.
By the time they got around to the turn, Rollins had lost his fizz. If the absence of Triple H hurt anyone the most, it was Rollins.
Reigns, on the other hand, would never get cheered against someone like Owens. The way WWE have shoved him down our throats, it's done him more harm than good. Fans just can't get behind the fact that WWE wants to push Reigns to the moon just because he fits the look that the company seeks in a top babyface, despite having a stale character.
Compare that with Owens who has worked his way through the ranks and has struggled to be in the spot that he is in. It's obvious why the loyalties are where they are.
#5 Awful booking:
Many in the internet wrestling community were overjoyed at the crowning of Owens over more fancied competitors. It was seen as the victory of the smarks. Many raised the idea of Owens going on a tear. Others believed that he might be booked as the anti-hero in what would be a revival of the Stone Cold blueprint.
However, his booking as Champion has been absolutely terrible, to put it mildly.
Match after match, Owens was left on the floor on Monday nights, only to retain the title on Pay Per Views courtesy best friend Jericho's assists. Not one of his title defences ended up in clean victories. It's tough for a champion to be legitimised this way. Rather than being a legit badass, Owens is usually reduced to a snivelling coward.
At this point, the belt would be better off around someone else's waist. Someone who can bring prestige back to it.
Someone who has all the momentum in the world. Someone like Goldberg. As for Owens, WWE can only hope that his impending feud with Jericho and the rub he gets off it would get him back on track. Hopefully, the damage is not irreversible.
