Why Kevin Owens will lose the WWE Universal Title at Hell In A Cell

Besides Triple H turning on Seth Rollins, the most iconic image that night on Raw was of the Cerebral Assasin holding Owens’ hand aloft, almost to signify that the mantle had been passed from one golden boy to the next.

Ideally, we awaited for the Authority angle to pick up from there. For cracks to appear between Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley and for Triple H to resurface, triumphant that his conniving will had yet again been imposed on the landscape of Monday Night Raw.

All we were left to contend with, however, was a Stephanie McMahon who seemed to be masterfully toeing the invisible line between face-hood and heelery, a Championship run whose crowning moment was arguably its greatest, a kayfabe ‘sidekick’ who was stealing the show and the gnawing void left by Triple H’s surreptitious absence.

Meanwhile, the ratings for Monday Night Raw were hitting rock bottom.

Really, it isn’t too hard to put the pieces together.

Somewhere down the line, the WWE decided that Kevin Owens wasn’t the way to go; that their Champion didn’t need to be booked as such. It didn’t matter that they were flagrantly undermining their own ethos or selection process in the first place – the ultimate litmus test was the story that the numbers told.

And that story wasn’t to Vince McMahon’s liking.

Abandoned – for all kayfabe purposes – by his mentor, undermined by his opponent, outdone by his aide and, now, passed up on by his boss, Kevin Owens’ run as the Universal Champion has hardly reflected any of the qualities that led many to believe that he was a shoo-in for future Championship gold.

It is just unfortunate that the opportunity came calling a little too soon for the Prize Fighter to make the most out of. He was thrown into the deep end and the expectations weighed him down.

So much so that at this point, it would only be merciful of the WWE to pull the plug on their experiment.

Kevin Owens will likely walk out of Hell in a Cell a good 10 pounds lighter than he walked in, his shoulder resting slightly easy with not having to bear the burden of the Championship strap any longer.

He isn’t the first Superstar to fall prey to ill-conceived timing, and he surely won’t be the last.

If he can take heart from anything though, it is that his mentor, Triple H himself, later on accepted that the push that he was slated to receive at the King of the Ring in 1997 was something that he wasn’t ready for then.

All these years later, he turned out pretty much alright.

There is no reason why Kevin Owens won't as well.