5 WWE Superstars who could be Kevin Owens' new tag team partner

Although Kevin Owens has won plenty of singles titles in his career, the RAW star has never held a WWE Tag Team Championship. He previously attempted to win tag titles with Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn and Samoa Joe, but all three title challenges were unsuccessful.

On this week’s RAW, Owens was selected by the red brand as the 11th overall pick on the second night of the 2021 WWE Draft. He said after the show on RAW Talk that his sights are set on becoming the WWE Champion and a RAW Tag Team Champion.

“Of course I wanna win the WWE Championship. There’s plenty of things I’d love to do on RAW. You know I’ve never been a Tag Team Champion in WWE either? I’d love to do that. The red tag team titles look cool,” Owens said.

Current RAW Tag Team Champions Randy Orton and Riddle will defend their titles against AJ Styles and Omos at WWE Crown Jewel on October 21. The two teams’ rivalry is almost certain to end after the pay-per-view, which means Kevin Owens could realistically enter the title scene in the near future.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at five WWE Superstars who Owens could potentially join forces with.

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#5 Elias could be Kevin Owens’ tag team partner

Elias and Kevin Owens previously teamed up in a losing effort against Bobby Lashley and John Cena at WWE Super Show-Down in October 2018.

Their short-lived alliance is best remembered for Elias mocking Seattle’s basketball team, the Seattle SuperSonics, and their move to Oklahoma City in 2008. As the tweet below shows, fans in attendance in Seattle reacted by booing the RAW segment for the next six minutes.

It is unclear exactly what lies ahead for Elias. WWE’s resident guitarist threw his guitar onto a fire on RAW in August and declared that his Elias character is “dead.” He was also one of the few WWE Superstars who became a free agent after the recent draft.

Before his hiatus, Elias formed an unsuccessful tag team partnership with Jaxson Ryker. The two men lost seven RAW matches in a row, including a RAW Tag Team Championship match against AJ Styles and Omos in May. Ryker went on to defeat Elias five times in June and July.

Moving forward, it appears that Elias is set to undergo a drastic character transformation. If part of that transformation includes associating himself with Kevin Owens again, perhaps his run of losses will finally end.

#4 Apollo Crews could be Kevin Owens’ tag team partner

Kevin Owens revealed in an out-of-character interview in 2020 that Apollo Crews is someone he considered as a possible tag team partner.

Speaking to talkSPORT’s Alex McCarthy, he said AJ Styles and Mustafa Ali were also among the superstars he wanted to team up with.

“I have actually lobbied to be in a team with other people. I tried to become a tag team with Ali. I tried to become one with AJ Styles because I thought the clash of personalities would be pretty interesting but, for one reason or another, it just didn’t come to fruition. Even Apollo Crews, at one point we were kind of doing some stuff together,” Kevin Owens said.

Apollo Crews and Kevin Owens joined forces to defeat Andrade and Angel Garza on the May 18, 2020 and June 1, 2020 episodes of RAW. However, Owens’ idea for the two men to become a permanent tag team did not materialize.

Earlier this year, Crews received a strong push in the build-up to his Intercontinental Championship victory over Big E at WrestleMania 37. Since then, even with Commander Azeez by his side, it is fair to say that Crews’ stock has dropped quite considerably.

Crews and/or Owens will need to undergo a character change if they are to become tag team partners in the near future.

Based on both superstars’ lack of direction right now, perhaps an alliance cannot be completely ruled out.

#3 Damian Priest could be Kevin Owens’ tag team partner

WWE reportedly had plans to pair up Damian Priest and Kevin Owens before Priest officially became a member of the main roster.

According to the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, Priest and Owens almost faced Roman Reigns and Jey Uso on WWE SmackDown in January 2021.

“So they had a story where it was supposed to be: Damian Priest was Kevin Owens’ best friend and he’s helping him against Roman Reigns and Jey Uso. And in fact they were actually gonna do a tag match on [SmackDown]. And Damian Priest is there and ready and all that,” Meltzer said. [H/T Cageside Seats]

Owens reportedly did not think fans would believe that his character was best friends with Priest. Reigns also raised concerns about the believability of the storyline, so the idea was nixed.

Damian Priest ended up joining forces with Bad Bunny on RAW in the build-up to WrestleMania 37. Since then, he has won the United States Championship and established himself as one of WWE’s top breakout stars of the year.

Despite Kevin Owens’ reservations about teaming up with Priest in January, long-term WWE fans know that superstars do not always get their own way. Just because the original plan was nixed does not necessarily mean WWE’s higher-ups have given up on the idea.

Right now, Priest is doing an excellent job as United States Champion. When that storyline ends, do not be surprised if WWE attempts to revive an idea that never even made it to air.

#2 Big E could be Kevin Owens’ tag team partner

Kevin Owens might be on the lookout for a new tag team partner, but Big E definitely is not. The New Day member recently won the WWE Championship and he is set to defend the title against Drew McIntyre at WWE Crown Jewel.

Unless a major upset takes place on October 21, Big E is almost certainly going to retain his title. Beyond that, the new WWE Champion is likely going to need a fresh challenger from the RAW roster in the coming months.

So how could a Big E and Kevin Owens tag team partnership possibly play out?

Well, WWE has set up plenty of feuds in the past by booking two future rivals as Tag Team Champions. In 2019, for example, The Miz and Shane McMahon (SmackDown) and Braun Strowman and Seth Rollins (RAW) won tag titles before becoming opponents.

It is not impossible for WWE to book a similar storyline with Big E and Kevin Owens. After all, the latter had more success in WWE as a bad guy, particularly during his time on RAW in 2016 and 2017. If he turns heel again, Owens would represent a credible challenger for Big E’s title.

Owens mentioned on RAW Talk that he wants to challenge for both the WWE Championship and RAW Tag Team Championship. Perhaps WWE could tick both of those boxes by booking a Big E vs. Owens storyline in late 2021.

#1 Finn Balor could be Kevin Owens’ tag team partner

While Kevin Owens’ friendship with Sami Zayn has been well documented, it is no secret that Owens is also close friends with Finn Balor.

The 37-year-old said in an interview with CBS Los Angeles in 2018 that Balor has been his best friend since they both joined WWE in 2014. He added that he would one day like to share the WrestleMania stage with the Irishman.

“He and I came to WWE the exact same time. We didn’t know each other before we got there. We became pretty close pretty quickly when we did get to the NXT Performance Center. He’s been my best friend ever since, so I’d love to share the ring with him on that stage in WrestleMania,” Owens said.

Kevin Owens and Finn Balor have crossed paths in six televised WWE tag team matches, but they were on opposing sides every time. Now that both men are babyfaces on RAW, WWE has the perfect opportunity to finally allow the real-life best friends to join forces.

Owens has been left without a meaningful storyline after moving from SmackDown to RAW. Similarly, Balor is also in need of a new story after his short rivalry with Roman Reigns on the blue brand.