When Kevin Owens cleanly defeated John Cena at Elimination Chamber, the wrestling world took notice. From insiders to fans to critics, everyone had their opinion on what had just happened within a WWE ring, and why the untouchable John Cena had gone down to Kevin Owens.
After the defeat John disappeared from view and allowed the current NXT Champion to have his moment, and Kevin Owens didn’t disappoint. Grabbing the microphone Owens cut a blistering promo, reminiscent of Steve Austin at King of the Ring in 1996, the ushering in of something new, something different. Kevin Owens is walking in the footsteps of many independent performers who made the transition to WWE, no doubt the work of CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose have all helped make the road easier, however there is something about Kevin Owens that makes him that little bit special.
Before making his debut in NXT he spent fourteen years perfecting his craft on the American and Canadian independent scene. Kevin Owens, then known as Kevin Steen most notably made his name in CZW, PWG and ROH before signing a contract with WWE. Slowly Owens built his reputation as a hard hitting, hardworking individual with a great work ethic; he gained a cult following for intense matches and his infamous feuds, his work with El Generico (Sami Zayn) S.C.U.M and as “The Anti-Christ of Pro Wrestling” made him a name to remember. The reputation that Owens built made him perfect for Triple H’s version of WWE, but first he had to make his mark in NXT and that he did without failure and made it such a memorable debut that many knew what was to come.
On December 11th 2014 Kevin Owens made his debut at NXT TakeOver in a squash match against CJ Parker. Owens performed well in the ring and got his first win in WWE, he was undoubtedly super over in this match. The crowd loved everything he did. However although he made a successful debut it’s what happened after the evening’s main event that made the NXT universe take notice. After a gruelling matchup between Adrian Neville and Sami Zayn in which the former El Generico captured his first NXT Championship, Kevin Owens made his way down to the ring to congratulate his real life best friend….The fans rejoiced for this real life feel good moment, then NXT’s newest storyline began, Kevin Owens viciously turned on his best friend, beat him down and Powerbombed him onto the ring apron. The line in the sand had been drawn, Kevin Owens had arrived in WWE and he wasn’t here to play second fiddle to anyone.
From December 2014 to February 2015 he established himself as the most hated character in NXT and in the process he accepted an NXT Championship match with Sami Zayn at NXT Rival on February 11th. Critics and hardcore fans knew what these two men were capable of when pitted against one another and at Rival they produced a match unlike anything seen in a long-time in WWE. You now know that Kevin Owens walked out of Rival the New NXT World Champion and he held the belt ever since, he’s the star you love to hate but he has earned your respect along the way. In his title defences against Finn Balor and in a rematch with Sami Zayn he excelled again, here stood a superstar unlike any other, what he said he did and you could believe it.
All the momentum gained could not be ignored and WWE went with it by having Owens respond to John Cena’s US Title open challenge on Monday night Raw on May 18th 2015, on that night Kevin Owens truly arrived in WWE. The crowd erupted for his entrance and his slow walk to the ring only made the moment more special, let alone the NXT Champion appearing on Raw but this was Kevin Owens, a man who five years ago WWE would have never looked at twice. Owens and Cena went nose to nose and traded faintly veiled threats, you knew something was coming and it did. In a split second Owens laid into to Cena with a cheap shot and then hit his infamous pop-up powerbomb, John Cena, the face of WWE was out cold and to add insult to injury Owens stomped on the US title.
The battle lines were drawn for the two to collide at the Elimination Chamber PPV, and collide they did last Sunday. In Kevin Owens’ WWE PPV debut the bar was most definitely raised, both men contested in (my opinion) a candidate for match of the year, in a near twenty minute match the two men traded big moves and near falls all before Kevin Owens hit Cena again with his patented powerbomb followed by 1, 2, 3 the crowd erupted in disbelief, many knew he could do it but John Cena was pinned clean by Kevin Owens in the middle of the ring.
The result of that match has made Kevin Owens a household name within the wider wrestling community and my hope now is that WWE keep rolling with the momentum he has gained, as of Monday night Raw they are scheduled to face off once more at the Money in the Bank PPV in a week’s time. Ideally from a standpoint of making/pushing new stars Kevin needs to go over Cena one more time cleanly to really establish himself, however I am a jaded WWE fan and I’ve seen this story before.
Alberto Del Rio, Bray Wyatt, Ryback and most recently Rusev have been the victims of the John Cena affect, all four of those men had to rebuild their careers within WWE or move elsewhere because of WWE’s inability to make Cena look weak. John does deserve retribution during this feud but at least hold off their third encounter until Summerslam, Survivor Series or Wrestlemania 32. How awesome would it be if at MITB Owens left Cena laying once more then vanished back to NXT only to return fully at the Royal Rumble and reignite the feud in time for the show of shows?
There are so many possibilities stemming from Kevin Owens’ debut on the main roster, so far so good but this is WWE and in WWE they really know how to make something beautiful very ugly. Since the inception of NXT and with the current WWE product I’m quietly confident they can make good on this situation and give Owens the required rub needed to get him to that next level. So come Money in the Bank 2015 will we be rejoicing over the evolution of Kevin Owens or hoping he can rebuild quickly??
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