What if WWE gives Kevin Owens the CM Punk push?

On the August 27 edition of Monday Night Raw, after a tough loss to Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens announced that he quit. This isn’t the first time that WWE has played with a worked shoot angle in which a wrestler seemingly walks out on the company. Heck, Dolph Ziggler worked a similar storyline on SmackDown at the turn of the year.

When an angle like this comes up, though, fans are tempted to think of the highest profile, and arguably best-executed story like it. That leads us back to CM Punk in the summer of 2011 when he won the WWE Championship from John Cena on the last night of his contract and seemed to walk out on WWE with the title.

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Owens isn’t a reigning champion, nor does he look likely to win it soon. Nonetheless, WWE could work out some similar storyline mechanics, particularly for a talented talker who is very much over with hardcore wrestling fans, much like Punk was seven years ago. This article speculates what might happen if WWE gives Owens the full Punk treatment.

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#5 Kevin Owens appears at All-In

All-In promises to be a huge show. What if Kevin Owens were added to the proceedings?

WWE does not historically acknowledge other wrestling promotions but famously allowed CM Punk to explicitly reference Ring of Honor and New Japan in his celebrated Pipe Bomb worked shoot promo. Mentioning these companies drove home the realism of what Punk was saying. It was also a precursor to NXT as we know it today, and WWE acknowledging other companies in order to better establish the credibility of new signees to the more casual wrestling fan.

It’s admittedly a reach for WWE to allow talent under contract to appear at All-In—the show promoted by Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks that may be the closest thing to direct competition on US soil that WWE has had since they bought out WCW. If WWE wanted to drive home the illusion that Owens is really gone, an appearance at this show would be one of the most convincing demonstrations WWE could muster.

Moreover, with WWE having reportedly made overtures to the key talent appearing at this show, allowing Owens appear could have a transactional element—offering up his services as a gesture of goodwill and support for someone on their way (back) to WWE.

#4 Sami Zayn gets involved

Sami Zayn would likely figure into Kevin Owens's big angle.

No WWE Superstar is more intertwined with Kevin Owens’s WWE career to date than Sami Zayn. They were arch-rivals in NXT and for much of their first year on the main roster. From there, they formed an unlikely partnership as obnoxious heels who antagonized Shane McMahon, then moved to Raw together before Zayn went down to injury.

If WWE is going to put Owens in anything like the featured spot CM Punk got in 2011, it would make complete sense for Zayn to return early from injury. Even if he can’t work a match, his history and his talking skills could easily make him a key cog in WWE’s kayfabe management trying to broker a deal with Owens, as someone to be bullied or have his job threatened to get at his friend, or as a partner in crime as KO makes mischief during his supposed contract negotiations.

#3 Kevin Owens becomes the first two-time Universal Champion

Kevin Owens could become the first man to hold the Universal Championship more than once.

If WWE leans full tilt into this unconventional push for Kevin Owens, it’s hard to imagine him not at least briefly winning another world title, and given his placement on Raw, and having burned kayfabe bridges on SmackDown, it only makes sense that he’d be in contention for the Universal Championship.

Roman Reigns is generally accepted as WWE’s chosen one, and with Braun Strowman breathing down his neck, it’s hard to imagine Owens getting his hands on the brand’s top title. Owens could become something like 2011-2012 Daniel Bryan, though, as the oddball third wheel in the title picture, stealing a title reign while bigger foes—then Mark Henry and The Big Show, now Reigns and Strowman—distract and decimate one another.

In this process, Owens could garner the unique distinction of becoming the first guy to hold the Universal Championship more than once. It’s a nice feather in his cap to add to him already being the longest reigning full-time champion the title has had.

#2 Kevin Owens shows up in New Japan

Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho could renew their partnership or rivalry in New Japan.

As mentioned earlier, if WWE really wanted to push the idea of Kevin Owens having left, they could legitimately have him go out to work with other promotions. All-In is one option, and Owens does have a history with Ring of Honor and a variety of indies. Another option would be for Owens to head over to New Japan.

WWE doesn’t have much of a cooperative relationship with New Japan, particularly after Vince McMahon “raided” AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, and the Good Brothers in one swoop just a few years back. However, Chris Jericho is already working there while still making occasional appearances for WWE, and may have taken the first step in bridging that gap some degree of collaboration.

It’s also noteworthy that Owens and Jericho are real-life friends and key kayfabe rivals. It would pop audiences of both promotions to, for example, show up in New Japan to challenge for Jericho’s Intercontinental Championship there, or team up with him against a common foe before both ultimately make their way back to WWE.

#1 Kevin Owens turns face

A worked shoot angle could lead to KO's first real run as a face in WWE.

It’s not entirely clear if WWE meant to turn CM Punk face with his big worked shoot push in 2011, but based on that experience, the company has to know that fan will rally behind an anti-authority hard worker who can talk and who can go in the ring. With the exception of his debut NXT match, Owens has only worked heel in WWE, and he’s due for a try in a face role, especially given he’s so outsized by his fellow top-tier Superstars on Raw.

How would Owens do as a face? It’s hard to know with any certainty, but experts like Paul Heyman have suggested that’s his bigger destiny in WWE—as something like a modern-day version of everyman Dusty Rhodes, able to connect with fans through his gift for gab and for the fact that he looks more like the everyday fan than a superhero. Time will tell whether that pans out, but giving Owens the kickstart of a CM Punk-like push could give him a shot at thriving in that role.

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