Jack-Hammer
YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!!!
Given some of the shenanigans that went on with these two last week, I was expecting this match to happen.
Ryback's been IC champ for 107 days, though he spent close to a month on the shelf recovering from a Staph Infection. Owens has been on the main roster since the summer, started out blazing hot in a high profile feud with John Cena that resulted in some classic bouts, has fizzled some since coming back down from on High against Cena to feud with mere mortals and still has a lot of people interested in where he goes.
On one hand, Ryback has been a good champion considering that the setbacks with the Staph Infection and fairly uninteresting feuds with Miz & Big Show. Because of these, I'm sure some of the more impatient fans think this is a good chance to get the title off Ryback. At the same time, I can also see the side of the argument that Ryback still has a lot to offer as champ now that he's moving on from relatively dead end programs with Show & Miz.
As for Kevin Owens, Owens is most definitely an "internet darling" due to his success on the indie scene, particularly in Ring of Honor. Again, some of the more impatient fans are of the idea that Owens is floundering since he doesn't have a title yet, despite only being on the main roster for about 4 months now, and....*gasp...sob*.... has tapped out to John Cena.
If I had to guess who has the most interest among fans as a whole, I'd say Owens has a significant advantage as he's still riding the wave of the notoriety of his feud with Cena and the fact that he cleanly pinned Cena in his very first match on the main roster. To be fair though, Ryback hasn't gotten the "Goldberg...Goldberg" chants for a quite a while and, surprisingly, smark heavy audiences have been pretty supportive of him rather than eating him alive.
I could see Ryback retaining in order to simply further himself along the way as a strong IC champ. I could also see Owens winning the title in what might well be an eventual rekindling of his feud with Cena with both mid-card titles involved.
Ryback's been IC champ for 107 days, though he spent close to a month on the shelf recovering from a Staph Infection. Owens has been on the main roster since the summer, started out blazing hot in a high profile feud with John Cena that resulted in some classic bouts, has fizzled some since coming back down from on High against Cena to feud with mere mortals and still has a lot of people interested in where he goes.
On one hand, Ryback has been a good champion considering that the setbacks with the Staph Infection and fairly uninteresting feuds with Miz & Big Show. Because of these, I'm sure some of the more impatient fans think this is a good chance to get the title off Ryback. At the same time, I can also see the side of the argument that Ryback still has a lot to offer as champ now that he's moving on from relatively dead end programs with Show & Miz.
As for Kevin Owens, Owens is most definitely an "internet darling" due to his success on the indie scene, particularly in Ring of Honor. Again, some of the more impatient fans are of the idea that Owens is floundering since he doesn't have a title yet, despite only being on the main roster for about 4 months now, and....*gasp...sob*.... has tapped out to John Cena.
If I had to guess who has the most interest among fans as a whole, I'd say Owens has a significant advantage as he's still riding the wave of the notoriety of his feud with Cena and the fact that he cleanly pinned Cena in his very first match on the main roster. To be fair though, Ryback hasn't gotten the "Goldberg...Goldberg" chants for a quite a while and, surprisingly, smark heavy audiences have been pretty supportive of him rather than eating him alive.
I could see Ryback retaining in order to simply further himself along the way as a strong IC champ. I could also see Owens winning the title in what might well be an eventual rekindling of his feud with Cena with both mid-card titles involved.