"The Face Of America" Angle.

[ShinChan]

Kevin Owens has been referring himself as "The Face Of America" since winning the United States Championship for the first time at Wrestlemania 34.

Could this indicate that we might see Kevin Owens revisit his memorable debut feud with John Cena in the near future? Or I'm thinking too much off it?

What led to me thinking this was Kevin Owens using "Face Of America" Open Challenge. Much like John Cena's United States Championship Open every week two years ago. I don't see anyone else standing toe-to-toe with Owens about America. Jericho isn't coming back anytime soon. John Cena isn't supposed to be on Money In The Bank PPV and I think that when he eventually returns, this could be leading to another match and feud between these two.

Regardless, I won't mind them having another match or feud. We could see these two fighting for United States Championship at Summerslam.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Cena seems like the obvious candidate but I could see this turn in to the big face return of Rusev as some sort of redemption story. Mostly I just see it as KO being slightly clever.

 

[The Perfect Max]

Honestly I just think it's Kevin Owens being the heel champion. It pisses everyone off because they don't want him to be their champion (kinda rings some bells). Sure, it could eventually lead to a feud with someone like John Cena where he brings that up. Plus it's ironic because he's Canadian. A feud with Cena would be interesting though and I would happily watch that again.

 

[enviousdominous]

This is a very "Kevin Owens" angle, and I love it.

Kevin Owens faces a common dilemma where he's a heel that people love to love. If he talks trash about the US, then he'll be cheered in Canada (and don't be surprised if he's still cheered in certain parts of the US). Now he's doing something along the lines of what The Fabulous Rougeaus were doing back in the day, he's embracing Americanism in a manner that's meant to mock our expectations and also betray his home and native land.

It seems a bit over the heads of the crowd, I think they're opting to react to Kevin as opposed to his gimmick. I like that Kevin is doing this angle because he's the type of quick-wit who can capitalize on any interview and play his character as though it's obviously serious while also being subtly facetious.

That being said, sometimes I wonder if Slyfox and Kevin Owens are the same person.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I can see possibilities in all the options presented. On one hand, Cena returning eventually and taking exception to Owens as United States Champion and how he behaves as champion is a possibility that could become more likely as time goes by. I don't know how long Cena's time off will be, I've just heard that it'll be several months.

The possibility of Rusev being a challenger as a babyface seeking some sort of redemption is there as well, though I don't think it'll work as well as WWE would hope. Even though Owens is getting booed when he's up against someone like Jericho or Styles, I think fans would most likely cheer for him and boo Rusev. Then again, maybe Rusev would surprise everyone. After all, not many of us expected the old fashioned arrogant, dominant foreigner gimmick to catch on but it did, thanks in no small part to Lana. If they portrayed Rusev in a no nonsense sort of light, maybe with a somewhat changed look & ring gear, maybe a few new moves to his arsenal then maybe the "we want Lana" chants would die down very quickly.

It could also be a "Kevin Owens angle" as it just seems to suit him. Owens mock embrace of the US is the sort of thing that he'd likely do. I wouldn't mind if he took it a step further and went the Lance Storm route and renamed it the Canadian Championship, maybe with a new personalized title design and all, as I think that'd definitely get American fans booing the shit out of him. To push the angle a bit further, they could wait until both wrestles have entered the ring before making introductions for the title with Owens interrupting JoJo by saying that it's not the United States Championship, it's the Canadian Championship; or, Owens could make his own intros as champ during title and non-title matches alike by carrying a mic with him in which he could also brag on how great of a champ he is during his self introduction. Little things like that can really pack on heat with the right wrestler and it won't come off as something corny with Owens doing it. Potentially, the whole thing could circle around and be part of why Cena sets his sights on Owens upon his return.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

It's really interesting to see where they are going with this one. Styles, Owens and possibly Cena competing for the US title? That's big!

First we have to see if Owens will be able to overcome AJ Styles of course.. But Cena accepting one of Owens' open challenges just like Owens did 2 years ago, will be huge.

 

[thebigbadfox]

It won't happen. But my fantasy booking in me would like the following to happen.
After Angle gets fired from Raw GM (which will eventually happen) he is brought to smackdown and he takes issue with Owens being face of America. And Angle has 1 last fued which leads to his wrestlemania match with Owens.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

I'd rather not see him adopt the open challenge gimmick, mostly because it was Cena's and it's more befitting of a babyface.

Kurt Angle used to do his olympic challenge for the gold medals, Teddy Long used to do the white boy challenge for his various black and angry heels, so open challenges aren't exactly new as a gimmick.

It just seems like it would be too much of an I'm targeting John Cena thing to do it with the US title, especially when we're now two years removed since Cena ran the gimmick.

I'd let Owens do his own thing. This face of America angle isn't exactly horribly new, but for some reason has been pretty fresh. Owens' nationality has never been a significant part of his WWE, he is nonetheless Canadian, and French Canadian at that. We all know how US audiences feel about the French.

A foreign heel with the US title usually requires an American made guy to come calling for that title. Who aside from Cena fits that bill? AJ Styles is a good old southern boy.

Cena and KO put on some great matches, so it stands to reason they'd put on more. I found Cena's open challenge gimmick was often distracting from his main feuds, although it brought out the best in Cena and his opponents.

I don't hate this idea, but it seems out of the blue to retread an old feud two years later, although that kinda worked for Lesnar/Taker? I think we're about to see a long Styles/Owens feud.

 

[Wildcat66]

I can't see Owens bringing back the open challenge. Wouldn't be as impactive as it was with Cena.

A.J Styles on the other hand, if he were to win the title and bring back the open challenge; oh god, just think of the matches he could have. Styles vs Rusev? Styles vs Zayn? Styles vs Nakamura? This would probably be even better than Cena's. I'd much rather have that be the case than Owens.

 

[@smarkmouth]

The Face of America is still in it's infancy, and already we can see a handful of paths it can go in, many of which are interesting to speculate about. It has the makings of a great angle, regardless of what path they take. However, the only endgame I can really see is the aforementioned Cena vs Owens.

You have to figure Owens is eventually going to drop the belt to an American. It's fairly paint-by-numbers when it comes to a foreign heel (which isn't to say it can't still be a great storyline). Already, we're burning through AJ Styles, who's the only upper-midcard babyface US citizen on Smackdown, really. Sami, Nak, might challenge at some point, but it doesn't exactly beckon Americana. Maybe Mojo could be a viable contender, but let's not jump to panic.

Pretty much leaves Cena, by my estimate. Not sure it will happen by way of open challenge, but who knows?

Also, a minor detail I suspect many people haven't caught; July 4th is a Tuesday this year.

 

[LBGetBack]

It's just hard for me to accept Kevin Owens and AJ Styles wrestling for the US title.....while Randy Orton and Jinder Mahal are going for the World title. LOL, what?

Reminds me of in WCW when Ric Flair and Sting were battling for the US title....after years of being the top two stars in the company. Why would Owens and Styles not be badly wanting to get the World title back?

Nobody is buying Jinder Mahal as a real title contender. Orton is at the point in his career where he could be lowered to Midcard status. They've got this whole thing backwards.

 

[Avalanche™]

Ambrose,Owens, and Wyatt need a serious reset.