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Kevin Owens became a babyface for the first time in his WWE main-roster career when he returned from double knee surgery in February 2019.
Unfortunately for the former Universal champion, WWE’s decision-makers changed their plans for him heading into WrestleMania 35, where he was originally supposed to face Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship, and he ended up not even appearing on the show.
In the weeks that followed WrestleMania, Owens referred to himself as “Big O” and became an honorary member of The New Day, replacing the injured Big E, until he turned heel on Kofi Kingston and unsuccessfully challenged for the WWE Championship at Money In The Bank.
Two months on from Owens’ latest betrayal, he was placed in an unusual tag team with Dolph Ziggler on the July 2 episode of SmackDown Live. The two men struggled to co-exist as partners, leading to their loss in the main event against Heavy Machinery, and KO earned a babyface reaction from the fans at the end of the show after hitting Ziggler with an impressive Stunner.
With the three-time United States champion seemingly on course to be a good guy again, let’s take a look at five heels who he is destined to take on during his run as a babyface.
#5 Dolph Ziggler
On paper, Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler might not sound like the most exciting of matches in 2019, especially as the two men have already met 13 times in televised one-on-one encounters (10 wins for Owens, three wins for Ziggler).
However, in the context of the current storyline, Ziggler seems like the perfect first opponent for Owens to face as he looks to kick-start his latest run as a good guy on SmackDown Live.
The most recent episode of SmackDown brilliantly set up a future match between the two, with Owens hilariously insulting Ziggler at the start of the show before executing a perfect Stunner on “The Showoff” with seconds of the broadcast to go.
Is Owens vs. Ziggler worthy of taking place at the next pay-per-view, WWE Extreme Rules, on July 14? Probably not, but there would be few complaints if the two were given time on SmackDown to tell a long-term story.
#4 Sami Zayn
The on/off WWE rivalry between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn began in December 2014 at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution when the debuting Owens congratulated Zayn on his NXT Championship victory before viciously attacking him at ringside.
Since then, the two men have been involved in matches against each other in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, but they have been on the same page as occasional tag team partners so far in 2019.
Given that the outspoken Zayn has recently been positioned as one of the main heels on Raw and SmackDown Live, it seems highly unlikely that he will join Owens in switching back to being a babyface at any point in the near future.
That means that, despite their recent victory over Big E & Xavier Woods at WWE Stomping Grounds, Owens & Zayn’s days as a tag team appear to be numbered.
Cue the inevitable break-up match between the long-term frenemies soon.
#3 Elias
While everybody is talking about Kevin Owens’ face turn and brutal verbal exchange with Dolph Ziggler, it is worth remembering that SmackDown Live began with KO questioning whether Drew McIntyre and Shane McMahon are scared of The Undertaker ahead of their match against the WWE icon and Roman Reigns at Extreme Rules.
McIntyre and McMahon have solidified themselves as two of the top heels on Raw and SmackDown Live recently, while Elias – the third member of the villainous group – has been doing Shane O’Mac’s dirty work by facing the likes of Reigns and The Miz when needed.
If “The Best In The World” decides to hold a grudge following Owens’ derogatory comments on this week’s SmackDown Live, then perhaps he could order Elias to face the former Universal champion on an upcoming episode of the blue brand’s show.
Like Owens vs. Ziggler, Owens vs. Elias would not be worthy of being featured on a PPV but a match between the two could further a possible storyline with McMahon and McIntyre.
#2 Samoa Joe
In the build-up to WrestleMania 33, where Triple H faced Seth Rollins in an unsanctioned match, “The Game” brought Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe together on multiple occasions in the backstage area on Raw and it looked as though the two men were going to form a dominant alliance with the patriarch of NXT.
However, the brief segments only resulted in the former NXT champions teaming together on two occasions on Raw, and they were quickly separated when Owens moved across to SmackDown Live.
Although both men have been signed to WWE for over four years, their only televised match against each other came in May 2015 when they battled it out in a 10-minute encounter in NXT which ended in a no contest.
Moving forward, with the ‘Wild Card Rule’ essentially enabling Raw and SmackDown Live Superstars to show up wherever they like, there would be few better opponents for babyface Owens than heel Joe.
#1 Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar has competed in 28 televised matches since Kevin Owens signed with WWE, but the two men have never met one-on-one in front of the WWE cameras.
Their only meeting came at an untelevised ‘Road to WrestleMania’ live event in March 2017 at Madison Square Garden, where Lesnar quickly dismantled his opponent and picked up the victory in 133 seconds.
Should WWE choose to book a Lesnar vs. Owens rivalry, there is a ready-made storyline in place to get fans interested in the match.
How, exactly? Well, not only was Owens a paying customer at WrestleMania 30 to watch Lesnar break The Undertaker’s undefeated streak, but he revealed in a 2015 interview with CBS Radio's ‘The Chad Dukes Wrestling Show’ that he was such a huge fan of "The Beast" that he named his dog "Brock".
"I was there when he made his debut in Montreal, the night after WrestleMania 18, and from the get go I was like, 'This guy's awesome.' I even named my dog Brock as a tribute, whatever you wanna call it, so I'm a big fan of his."
