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On SmackDown, we saw The Fiend attack Kevin Owens. Alexa Bliss, the latest puppet of The Fiend, was a guest on the KO Show, and demanded that the former Universal Champion "Let Him In." Though Owens knew what was coming, as he stood up and prepared for a fight, it was too late.
The lights came down, and when that red glow appeared, The Fiend had already hooked Kevin Owens with the Mandible Claw. Though he tried as best he could, Owens could not escape the grasp of The Fiend.
Now, we all know what this usually means for WWE Superstars. Anytime someone comes across The Fiend, their character undergoes some kind of transformation. Some revert back to their old selves. Some gain a new aggressive attitude. Some, you could say, reveal who they truly are to the WWE Universe.
The question is, what will this encounter with The Fiend do to Kevin Owens? After all, Bray Wyatt is set to be the guest for the KO Show on Monday Night RAW, and Owens will battle The Fiend on SmackDown. Something has to change, right?
#5 Kevin Owens reunites with Sami Zayn after the WWE Draft
This week's SmackDown also begins the 2020 WWE Draft. With that being the case, could we see the KO & Sami Show reunite? Though Sami Zayn was gone for several months, he returned recently to reclaim his throne as the rightful Intercontinental Champion.
The Great Liberator may have lost his friends in The Artist Collective after abandoning them in the summer of 2020. However, he may have a chance to rekindle another friendship in Kevin Owens. After all, if Owens' feud with Aleister Black ends soon, there won't be too much for him to do on Monday Night RAW. Why not join up with his old pal Sami Zayn, once again?
If he does, we could see another callback to the duo from their NXT days, this time revolving around the Intercontinental Title.
#4 Prize Fighter Kevin Owens returns
That's right, the worst best friend anyone could ever hope for. Kevin Owens is a bad friend. That's been the basis for the majority of his feuds in professional wrestling. Sami Zayn, Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn again, Adam Cole and The Undisputed Era, Aleister Black... the list goes on, and half of that list has Sami Zayn's name on it.
If there are three truths in life, it's death, taxes, and Kevin Owens stabbing his friends in the back at some point. Owens has been on a sort of redemption tour as of late, claiming that he knows he's done some pretty despicable things in the past and is hoping to make up for them at this stage of his career.
He made that statement once again when he spoke to Alexa Bliss on the KO Show, which is pretty telling when The Fiend's whole character is about changing WWE Superstars into their true selves. So who is Kevin Owens, really?
He's a man that simply loves powerbombing Sami Zayn onto aprons and through ladders, that's who. It's in his DNA, and those two are destined to do this tango forever. If they're both on the same show following the WWE Draft, of course we're going to see them get together a few times. After all, they're best friends, and nothing could ever change that.
Nothing, except, of course, that shiny piece of gold sitting on Sami Zayn's shoulder. If one of the things we get out of the 2020 WWE Draft is a rekindled Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn feud, would anyone really be upset? Especially with the twist of Kevin Owens being the anti-hero tweener and Sami being the annoying pain in the lower back that he was apparently born to be.
#3 Kevin Owens brings back his aggressive side for Aleister Black feud
Aleister Black turned his back and one good eye on Kevin Owens after feeling he was abandoned by the former Universal Champion in their feud with Seth Rollins. When the Monday Night Messiah took one of Black's eyes, where was Owens?
Well, he wasn't there that night, and Owens felt horrible that such a tragic fate befell the Striking Man from Amsterdam. However, with Black now setting his sights on making Owens pay for something he didn't do, he's cost Owens quite a bit in recent months.
The "I need to make things right" side of Kevin Owens doesn't really have what it takes to handle an unhinged Aleister Black. What he needs is the Kevin Owens that sent Machine Gun Kelly through a table. The man that nearly ended his best friend's career for the NXT Championship. A man that is known not to be trifled with.
What he needs is to become Kevin Steen, the Anti-Christ of Professional Wrestling. Though we won't see that name again, what we could see after Owens' meeting with The Fiend is a dangerous side of Owens that we haven't actually seen since his days as Ring of Honor Champion.
#2 Kevin Owens moves to NXT
It worked for Finn Balor, so why not send Kevin Owens to the Black and Gold Brand?
After his horrendous meeting with The Fiend at SummerSlam 2019, Finn Balor was nowhere to be found on WWE programming for months. When he returned, he ditched the happy-go-lucky Finn Balor that the WWE Universe had come to know and love. The smiles were gone, and The Prince was reborn.
Depending on what we see on SmackDown this week, Kevin Owens may go down a very similar path. Owens has been very vocal about his love for NXT and what the brand means to him. We did see him show up for one night at NXT TakeOver: WarGames where joined Tommaso Ciampa, Dominik Dijakovic, and Keith Lee in demolishing The Undisputed Era.
With Kevin Owens back in NXT, we could see him put a shine and polish on up-and-coming talents while also setting himself up as a top talent on the brand. After all, who wouldn't want to see Owens powerbomb Cameron Grimes right out of a Cave In attempt, or get into a war with the likes of Tommaso Ciampa and Karrion Kross?
#1 The Kevin Owens Show dies
Ultimately, what this all leads to is the death of what Kevin Owens has become. When Finn Balor emerged after his loss to The Fiend, he abandoned that persona that was created in the WWE, reverting back to The Prince who ran through NJPW.
The Miz had turned to the good side, wanting to be a respectable role model for his children. After Bray Wyatt defeated him, The Miz went back to what got him to the dance, basically an arrogant, whiny brat with backup. Even Braun Strowman, who grew as a person after leaving The Wyatt Family, creating a special friendship and bond with Alexa Bliss, threw it all away to revert back to the Monster.
The Kevin Owens Show debuted when Kevin Owens was working with Chris Jericho and, though it was while Owens was holding the Universal Championship, also began a pretty low point in his WWE career. He lost the belt to Goldberg in a squash, the feud with Chris Jericho was great but didn't get the real blow off that it deserved, and ever sine then KO just hasn't felt right.
Over the years, Owens was involved with some solid feuds, but there's been quite a lot of failures. He failed to put an end to The Monday Night Messiah. Multiple times he failed to win the WWE Championship. He failed to win Braun Strowman's Money in the Bank briefcase at SummerSlam 2018, then quit and came back to the company just to lose over and over again when it counted.
It could be argued that the debut of The Kevin Owens Show was what started this long decline for the PrizeFighter. Maybe after The Fiend, we could see Owens destroy his own set, symbolizing that he's moved on, setting his sights back on what has always mattered to him.
One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
