This week’s Raw was well-received by wrestling fans worldwide (except Vince Russo), with the crowning of the second ever WWE Universal Champion. WWE decided to not take the traditional or safe route, and instead put the belt on Kevin Owens’ waist. And with the victory of the internet favourite, WWE fans praised the company after years, for making such a bold move. Especially considering Kevin Owens looks like the last person who fits the traditional WWE Champion look.
However, there were 3 other contenders for the title, and today, we explore what would have happened, had Kevin Owens not won the Universal Championship. And instead, one of the other 3 men from the Fatal 4-Way had beaten him.
#1 What would have happened, had Seth Rollins become champion?
Most people predicted that Seth Rollins would emerge victorious, heading into the match. But in our opinion, it would have been a big mistake. The fact of the matter is that Raw lacks a top babyface (unlike Smackdown which has Dean Ambrose). Sure, there’s Reigns in theory, but he gets booed out of the building more often than he gets cheered.
Seth would have continued as a heel, as Stephanie McMahon’s pet, and wouldn’t have given fans a chance to cheer for him. Yes, while he had to relinquish his championship due to his injury, cutting his run short, and while he hasn’t managed to have a title run since then (because of Ambrose’s cash in); it makes sense for him to turn babyface now and take on the dreaded Triple H.
In fact, before he turned heel after his big return, the crowd were popping big for Rollins. A championship win as a babyface for Rollins, in the future, would serve him far better than another heel run. Rollins is perhaps the best wrestler on the current roster, and will continue to put on great matches as a top babyface for the company. So, moving on...
#2 What would have happened, if Roman Reigns had become champion?
Most of the smarter fans, or smarks were dreading the possibility of Roman Reigns having another title reign, no pun intended. Roman Reigns is a handsome, good looking superstar, and is supposedly, Vince McMahon’s favourite to carry the company to new heights. But, as was proved in the 2015 Royal Rumble, and the 2016 Royal Rumble, at Wrestlemania 32 and almost every other show after that, the WWE universe is not ready to accept Roman Reigns as their champion.
He is the antithesis to what works for Kevin Owens, and it would have been a mistake to put the belt on him at the moment. Of late, following his suspension, Roman has been pushed to the mid card, and we suppose he will stay there for a while and feud with Rusev. We suspect that he’ll be built up as a badass to feud with Brock Lesnar.
We’re sure that the WWE management knows that Reigns is not working as their top guy, and they would have not put the belt on him anyway. But, we suspect had he won, the fans would have turned on him from the word go, ratings would have fallen even further than they’re now, and it would have been a short-lived reign.
#3 What would have happened, if Big Cass had become champion?
Big Cass was the dark horse going into the match. We knew it was too soon to split up Enzo and Cass, but considering Finn Balor’s push; we knew that WWE was keen on taking chances. Unlike Rollins and Reigns, Big Cass was getting a huge babyface reaction from the Texas crowd in the opening segment.
But we think that if the belt were put on Cass, his run would have been S A W F T. Simply because, he’s made his main roster debut this year, and is not ready for the big leagues yet. But if he would have won, Enzo and Cass would have been no more.
SImply because while Enzo is a wizard on the microphone, he’s not the most technically gifted wrestler in the ring. As was demonstrated during his match with the Vaudevillains, he’s prone to getting hurt as well. Enzo would probably have been relegated to the role of Big Cass’ manager, and it would have been the end of his wrestling career. Considering how good Big Cass was in the match, we wonder if the death knell is already sounding.
#4 What if the match had been a no contest?
This felt like a possibility simply because we’re not used to seeing such big events transpire on Raw. We were wondering if a screwy finish would move this Fatal 4-Way to the next Pay-Per-View. Thankfully, our fears were of no consequence.
But it might have been interesting, had it happened, to see the fallout of a no contest. Especially considering that Enzo and Chris Jericho would have invariably gotten involved in the equation, and we love the dynamic between them. Maybe, if this match had more of a build, it would have been more special. Though ultimately, we’re happy with the result.
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