Kevin Owens' WWE Universal Championship reign has not been great. It sounds harsh to say, but in reality, it's just the painful truth. The former NXT Champion started off like a house on fire when coming up to the main roster, but over the last few months, his stock has dropped dramatically due to a number of different factors.
Now, of course, the man himself is still a remarkable performer, but it just feels like there's something missing. His performances in the ring have been stellar and his partnership with Chris Jericho has been fantastic, but this current run just doesn't feel like a world title reign.
Whether that's Kevin's fault or the WWE's is really irrelevant because we're here to talk about what can be done to change that.
This isn't to say there haven't been great moments here and there either. Over the last few weeks, Owens has looked progressively more dominant over Roman Reigns in the build up to their Royal Rumble clash, but at times it's felt like he's been cut at the knees with some of the material on display.
We don't want a whining, moaning Kevin Owens. We want the man who systematically destroyed his former best friend Sami Zayn, as well as John Cena.
So, where do we even begin? To start off, we'll just get this out of the way and talk about the action we're referring to in the title. Following a potentially controversial victory over Roman Reigns this Sunday, Kevin Owens needs to celebrate briefly with Y2J before proceeding to attack his best friend in a way we've never seen before.
We're talking chair shots, powerbombs onto the ring apron and through the table - the whole nine yards. Owens needs to leave Jericho in an absolutely horrific state in order to fully get across the point that we've all known to be the case: he's an absolute monster. No jokes, no laughing, no nothing.
Kevin Owens cares about himself and nobody else, which is the way it always should be. That one act will flick a switch, which is exactly what he needs.
From that point on you can slowly start to build towards the match with Jericho at WrestleMania 33. It makes sense for several reasons, mainly because this storyline has been brewing ever since SummerSlam.
Chris is pretty much being turned face by the crowd already anyway, so why not steer into the skid and let him show the world how great he is once again?
Week after week leading into the granddaddy of them all, Owens can continue to destroy Jericho. He needs to control every single aspect of this feud, making Y2J feel like the underdog despite having so much experience under his belt.
Owens could turn into a heartless maniac, with his one goal being to keep hold of the Universal Championship because he wants to prove that nobody is better than him.
It's risky, but we'd only have Jericho come out on top during one or two encounters between them at the very most. Owens will be seen as extremely smart for keeping Jericho so close to him all this time, helping him hold onto the belt before realising that he doesn't need him anymore.
During backstage segments you could have Owens pull out promos similar to those he did down in NXT, with a calm and methodical tone making him seem like the most intimidating character WWE has seen in years.
When it comes to the actual match between the two, WWE could take a big risk and make it one of the most destructive beatings in a world title match we've ever seen. Owens would come across as absolutely unstoppable and at WrestleMania, he handily defeats Chris Jericho in convincing fashion to really rubber stamp the point he's trying to prove.
Chris Jericho was put in this modern era of wrestling to make the fans laugh and help get younger guys over. With that in mind, there is no better way for him to conclude his current run in the company than to lose to one of the most promising young stars of recent times.
The story is right there for WWE and all they need to do is ride the momentum that it's bound to have all the way through to WrestleMania. This dark path could really make Owens seem like a killer, and he could even go on to hold the belt until WrestleMania 34.
If you have Owens built up in the same way Lesnar was but on a week to week basis, then whoever defeats him for the title will receive one of the biggest rubs in a long time. Maybe, just maybe, this could all end up building towards the final Owens-Zayn confrontation. Who knows?
Send us news tips at [email protected]
