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What's the story?
Kevin Owens has appeared frequently on both Raw and SmackDown Live since Vince McMahon introduced the ‘Wild Card Rule’ to WWE programming in May 2019.
Speaking to Sporting News, the former Universal champion revealed what he thinks of the much-debated storyline development.
In case you didn't know…
In the Latest WWE NEWS, following four months out of in-ring action due to double knee surgery, Kevin Owens made his WWE return as a member of the SmackDown Live roster in February 2019.
Although it was widely reported that he was originally supposed to face Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 35, that role went to Kofi Kingston instead and Owens ended up watching WWE’s biggest show of the year at home with his family.
Since then, the former NXT champion briefly became an honorary member of The New Day before he returned to his villainous ways by attacking Xavier Woods and Kingston to set up a one-on-one match with the latter at Money In The Bank.
After failing to defeat to Kingston, Owens reunited with Sami Zayn but the duo have been unable to form a winning partnership, losing all four of their televised matches together over the last month.
During this time, WWE’s ‘Wild Card Rule’ has come into play, meaning a select few Superstars from Raw and SmackDown Live can appear on the other brand’s show on a week-to-week basis. That is why Owens, who is officially a SmackDown Superstar, has competed in matches on Raw in each of the last two weeks.
The heart of the matter
Regarding the introduction of the ‘Wild Card Rule’, Kevin Owens had this to say about the logic behind WWE’s decision to use as many as 10 Superstars on an opposing brand every week:
"I guess the whole point of the ‘Wild Card Rule’ is to add a sense of unpredictability to all the shows and I guess it definitely has achieved that because you never know who is going to show up where. The ‘Wild Card Rule’ itself was very loosely defined when it was first announced and it’s been loosely enforced since it’s been announced (laughs)."
He added that he prefers to perform on Raw, as well as SmackDown Live, on a weekly basis because he would rather work on Mondays than do nothing.
“Any day I’m away from home, I’d rather be working because spending time away from my family to do nothing is not something that jives well with me.”
What's next?
Kevin Owens is set to team with Sami Zayn against Big E & Xavier Woods at WWE Stomping Grounds on June 23.
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