What if Kevin Owens beats Braun Strowman?

SummerSlam will feature a match between Braun Strowman with the Money in the Bank contract on the line. The prevailing wisdom going into the show is that the Owens feud has simply been a way of keeping Strowman occupied on his way to cashing in his briefcase, and perhaps turning heel in the process as he finally captures his first world title.

There is another possibility, though. Owens is an established WWE star at this point, and the only full-time talent to have held the Universal Championship for more than a day. Thus, is it so unreasonable to think of Owens as not a placeholder, but rather the guy as WWE transitions from summer to fall, and presumably out of the era of Brock Lesnar reigning as Raw’s champ?

Nothing’s for certain, but if Owens were to beat Strowman at SummerSlam, it would open a number of interesting opportunities for WWE’s next steps.. This article looks at five key possibilities.

5. Kevin Owens regains the Universal Championship

Kevin Owens could cash-in for his second Universal Championship reign.

The most obvious outcome of Kevin Owens escaping his match with Strowman with the Money in the Bank contract would be that he winds up Universal Champion, too—possibly as soon as SummerSlam night.

There’s a history of guys cashing in at SummerSlam, including Alberto Del Rio stealing the WWE Championship from CM Punk in 2011, and Randy Orton taking the newly won title off of Daniel Bryan in 2013. Owens very much fits the profile of the opportunistic heel who would have no misgivings about cashing in on Lesnar, or especially Reigns in an exhausted state, after surviving a main event war. Perhaps most interestingly of all, this wouldn’t even be the first time Lesnar vs. Reigns involved a cash-in, given their first encounter back at WrestleMania 31 never reached a proper conclusion before Seth Rollins interjected himself into the proceedings.

While WWE hasn’t exactly booked Owens like a world champion lately, he’s got both the longevity and the legitimate skill in the ring, and all the more so on the mic, to justify this kind of push.

4. Roman Reigns chases Kevin Owens again

Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens might renew their Universal Championship rivalry.

The latest reports suggest that WWE is planning on a Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens match at the Hell in a Cell PPV, and perhaps even in the Cell itself. It’s not out of the question that Owens would be challenging Reigns for his Universal Championship, or that this could be a match without a title at stake as Braun Strowman defends the belt against someone else, or as Brock Lesnar continues his reign and is nowhere to be seen for this B-PPV.

It’s also possible that it will be Reigns chasing Owens.

Reigns beating Lesnar, only to drop the Universal Championship to Owens via cash-in at SummerSlam or over the weeks to follow would be one of the cleanest stories WWE could tell in terms of finally making good on Reigns conquering the Conqueror, and no one turns. From there, it would be only natural for Reigns to seek both revenge and to get his title back, renewing the rivalry in which he chased Owens from late 2016 to early 2017.

3. Braun Strowman has a new motivation to turn heel

Even without the briefcase, Braun Strowman may turn heel soon.

There were doubters when Braun Strowman won the Money in the Bank contract, in particular because he is such a big, over face that he doesn’t make a lot of sense as the kind of guy who’d ever need the briefcase to take the title. Word is that Strowman is booked to wrestle Reigns on the house show circuit shortly after SummerSlam, though, which has led fans to speculate that one of them—and probably Reigns—will turn heel to set up a feud.

Strowman turning heel in the process of cashing in would make complete sense. As an alternative, however, he could go rogue after Owens steals the briefcase from him, and makes good on the Monster Among Men’s cash-in ambitions.

Strowman turning heel, with this less cowardly and more vengeance minded motivation, could create an intriguing upper end of the card, with Owens as champ, Strowman as a general menace, and Reigns and Bobby Lashley left fighting for the forces of good.

2. Sami Zayn returns in a non-wrestling role

Sami Zayn may return to TV before he's ready to return to the ring.

When Sami Zayn turned heel and kicked off a partnership with Kevin Owens last fall, it felt like a revelation for both men. Having Zayn to play off of gave Owens a sharper focus, and made him feel more like a menace for having a partner in crime. Meanwhile, Zayn was a surprisingly effective heel, capitalizing on repurposing many of his old mannerisms to construct a wonderful undersized, overly cocky bad guy.

Zayn has been out due to injury, which in many ways felt like a good thing—not because fans didn’t want to see Zayn, but because seeing him in bad comedy promos and jobbed out over and over to Bobby Lashley was getting uncomfortable. With Owens as Mr. Money in the Bank, and then Universal Champion, he could use a friend again, and Zayn returning in a managerial role until he’s healed up enough to get back in the ring could be a lot of fun.

1. The Universal Championship gets defended on Raw

Kevin Owens could be the fighting champion fans deserve.

During the era of Brock Lesnar reigning as Universal Champion, it was never a foregone conclusion that the title would be defended on a PPV. Rumors originally suggested Lesnar wouldn’t even wrestle at SummerSlam—arguably the second biggest show of the year. The idea of Lesnar defending on Raw? It seemed completely out of the question.

While WWE has moved toward only having world titles defended on TV sparingly in recent years, a having someone like Kevin Owens reign as champ would very much open the door for him to defend on special episodes and as storylines demanded it, creating more and fresher title match scenarios. While Owens doesn’t necessarily have Lesnar’s aura or credibility, the fact that he shows up ready and eager to work week in and week out could make for a fun title reign that plays out on a consistent basis on WWE television and PPVs.