WWE Is Ruining Kevin Owens!

[Softcore Holly]

Um, maybe it's just me but that rumor doesn't seem as bad as "ruining" him. He's a heel so since Rollins is champ it's only natural that all other heels are in the midcard. He's also working the main event Saturday night so it would be understandable if he wasn't wrestling at SS, although it wouldn't surprise me at all if he was there in some way. Lastly he went through 3 PPVs in a row against Cena, now I'm sure many of us would be happy with more Owens vs Cena(I know I would be) but it shouldn't surprise anyone to see both men move on to other things after the tiebreaker.

For the most part I think Owens should be fine. He was a relatively unknown guy that they let beat their top dog clean, and the only way that could've happened is if they were really behind him. He started off really hot so it's only natural that he would cool down a little, especially since there's no other face at the level of Cena atm. He's easily one of their best talents and I'm sure they know that, so I doubt they're going to waste all the work they put into building him up this early in his main roster career. Well least I seriously hope not.

 

[atlporter89]

Brockie maivia - you actually think the crowd would shit on Owens if he got hot shotted? Your dumb. Unlike Reigns he has worked for 15 years to get there. Had no favorable relatives to get him there. There's a big difference between the two. Before you make such comments think before you type. Dumbass.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Well, I wouldnt said ruining. You cant expect for talent to come out of developmental(after all, as much as WWE likes us to think otherwise that is whats NXT is) and be mainevent talent from day 1. He is fine and he would be fine, though losing in submission to Cena is hurtfull thing.

They could off try something new and acctually maked Owens go over Cena instead of just plane old and boring "he took Cena to the limits and lost". Cena wouldnt be hurted with loss of one feud and Owens would get, what, midcard title to parade with it. Though its still not late to do it but I have a feeling that they would both move on next thing.

 

[chuckmdubya]

Hope not. Hope you can't believe all the stuff you read. That would be a dumb call. He's the biggest debut in the last few years and is a red hot heel or face. He could keep his same attitude, hell, even his same lines, and start fighting against heels and be a solid face. We all know that around WM and SS you gotta sit back and let the legend wrestlers do all the drawing, but it wouldn't be solid booking to let him fade into obscurity. He needs about 3 minutes on the mic and a solid 5 minute match at least every week, and that's it, he'll take it from there and do well. No reason to waste a guy like that on a long term basis.

 

[Glacier]

Owens does not deserve to be dropped.

He made (IMO) the biggest splash as a newcomer since Jake the Snake
came out of nowhere and put the DDT on Ricky Steamboat on the concrete
at ringside.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

All of the sudden his push is gone and it looks like he will be nothing more than
mid-card from here on out! How can this be?

http://www.cagesideseats.com/2015/7/22/9012563/rumor-roundup-july-22-2015-undertaker-story-triple-h-babyface-turn-kevin-owens-plans

From the article:
"It looks like Kevin Owens has been dropped from the US title scene and he'll be
working in the mid-card going forward. What's more, he likely won't be in a featured
match at SummerSlam."

I'll believe it when I see it on television. If its true then the brass at WWE were not impressed with his feud with John Cena , its too bad, he's obviously the best wrestler on the roster. Maybe not as a whole package, but IN THE RING , WHERE IT FUCKING COUNTS YOU ASS CLOWNS IN THE HEAD OFFICE !

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Plus, he doesn't suck on the mic.... his ring gear needs a little work but...that's it. Where it counts is in the wrestling ring, this is wrestling , Kevin Owens is the best wrestler the WWE has...it can't be true.

 

[Messiah]

People do realize the US. Title is a mid-card title, right? He was a mid-carder the moment he stepped on the main roster, and that's all he'll ever be.. Kevin Owens is a great talent, but in WWE, he's not main-event material. You need to have a certain look to be a main-eventer and Owens doesn't have that. He would need some sort of movement like Daniel Bryan had to push him to the main-event scene... And this is not wrestling, it's all entertainment, even ROH is entertainment on a smaller scale. You want to see wrestling watch greco-roman wrestling or watch the Olympics. What happens between those ropes doesn't mean shit, unfortunately for Owens.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

People do realize the US. Title is a mid-card title, right? He was a mid-carder the moment he stepped on the main roster, and that's all he'll ever be.. Kevin Owens is a great talent, but in WWE, he's not main-event material. You need to have a certain look to be a main-eventer and Owens doesn't have that. He would need some sort of movement like Daniel Bryan had to push him to the main-event scene... And this is not wrestling, it's all entertainment, even ROH is entertainment on a smaller scale. You want to see wrestling watch greco-roman wrestling or watch the Olympics. What happens between those ropes doesn't mean shit.

Oh I definetly agree its Entertainment. But don't you want your entertainer , who's dressed like Elvis , great on the mic, has amazing entrance music...awesome promotional value...to at least know what he's doing when he gets inside the ring ? Or at the very, very least...pass off like he has an ounce of wrestling, fighting knowledge when he is battling another entertainer in the ring ? What good is the flash and dazzle if the entertainer is a dead, floppy fish with two moves in the ring ?

Is Brock Lesnar a good entertainer ? Not really. He doesn't have to be, but you get my point.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

Now there's speculation Owens won't be on the SummerSlam card. Hey John Cena supporters, what's your excuse this time?

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Now there's speculation Owens won't be on the SummerSlam card. Hey John Cena supporters, what's your excuse this time?

I doubt he won't be at Summerslam. He will be there in some fashion. There's plenty of opponents for him if they really are ending the Cena , Owens feud.

 

[BigBombB]

There are a LOT of wrestlers throughout history who were SUPER over without being chiseled out of stone. Dusty Rhodes is the most obvious one and Owens definitely has a modern "every man" feel to him. I may not personally look like Kevin Owens but I know a lot of people who do so he has an immediate familiarity that makes him easy to connect to.

Anyone that thinks Owens is in any danger simply because he isn't starting at the very top is out of their minds. Barring an injury, Owens is going to continue being a big deal in WWE. You don't look THAT GOOD against the biggest star in the industry without everyone behind the scenes taking notice.

 

[ghettodan]

Look what happened the to last NXT champion to come up to the main roster, Seth Rollins.

The last NXT champion to come up to the roster, while champion, would be Big E, not Seth Rollins.

 

[Woodstuff]

Absolute bullshit. They should push Owens vs. Rusev or Cesaro or whoever its going to be as the highest profile match on the PPV card. 'Cause upper-mid card (nice edit btw) is basically jobbing on Superstars, right?

He won't have a match at Summerslam? Well shucks, it must be true if you read it on the internet.

Get a grip.

 

[L@RISANO]

Clearly not.



A lot of people don't seem to have all the info out there on this. A ton of backstage info has come out regarding some higher-ups not wanting Owens to succeed, while certain other ones see the potential in him.


Everyone take a wild guess who is who, there.




Its fucking ridiculous that the guy can have multiple MOTY and POTY canidates and that both he and Cena have worked their asses off to present this character to be one of the top 2 or 3 heels in the company only for it to be discarded....Its totally counter-intuitive to have a guy who has something special, the ability to be a huge deal, only to throw a damper on the fire.


Now it will be up to Owens to keep fighting, and keep proving people wrong. Hopefully it doesn't take as long for them to pull the trigger as it did on Punk and Daniel Bryan.

Seems the perfect way to create another Bryan/Punk like story, doesn't it? And it seems like the target audience is prepared to bite.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Seems the perfect way to create another Bryan/Punk like story, doesn't it? And it seems like the target audience is prepared to bite.

No! They're holding him down, and eventually we'll force them to push him anyways. We have power. I know it!

Vince won't do what we want because he hates money and doesn't know anything about wrestling even though he's been doing it for decades because he's out of touch! He's holding all the best wrestlers down. And yes, I said wrestlers. Tim foil hat! Tin foil hat!

 

[adam]

I'd have to agree with the sentiment that the WWE is about sports entertainment and recent history suggests pushing the guys like Roman Reigns who has the athletic ability and look but none on the ability (yet) to put together a match like Owens, Cesaro can offer. Likely we'll see Hogan, Sting,
Rock, etc at the really large events like SS and WM for they offer Vince easy and predictable profit which is why Super Cena is virtually certain will be getting another title run as WWE champion.

 

[FlairFan2003]

What I'm not understanding here is the US title is a mid card title. He's still in the feud with Cena, and who said he still won't be going after him at Summerslam.

I was under the assumption that they would have the rubber match at SS, and then Owens would enter a feud with Cesaro. I know things change, but I don't think Owens will be dropping down the card.

That's because Cena is in the mid card right now. You could argue that he was in the top tier because of the void of quality feuds outside Seth Rollins but all that means is Cena is working the mid card and his matches have added importance because there is nothing worth watching going on with anyone else. That's not exactly HBK-Scott Hall in a Ladder Match or Austin-Hart in an "I Quit Match".

Up until a few months the overwhelming majority of the wrestling audience had no idea who Kevin Owens is, instead of a slow intro and working his way through jobber/comedy matches and building his brand WWE hot shotted him against Cena in a great series of matches and put a major title at stake. Now he has some name recognition that otherwise it might have taken him 6-8 month to build. He still needs some cred with the audience though, he simply hasn't been around that long.

No regular fan is going to buy this guy as US Champ, beating Cena, etc....he isn't a known commodity, in fact up until maybe two months he wasn't known at all to virtually the entire audience.

What he does have is a small amount of cred and recognition gained from this feud that will generate some interest in what he does next (provided WWE does something good with him).

WWE did the same thing with Sheamus a while back having him take out HHH out of nowhere. Problem was since he was virtually a nobody fans never completely bought it, fans hate when a guy is suddenly shoved down their throats at the expense of their long time established favorites, it turns them off to the wrestler & the product in general. WWE dropped the ball with Sheamus moving forward shoving him down our proverbial throats and now they cant give tickets away to watch him wrestle, which is a shame, he has some talent.

HHH worked his way up the card, slowly over a few years, so did Austin, he caught on faster but he didn't start out as the #1 guy - and he was an established top teir star in WCW before he joined WWE!!! (HHH wasn't, he was bottom carder in WCW). How long did it take The Rock to make it big with the audience ?

Even guys like Batista & Orton were booked almost exclusively in mid card matches against semi top teir guys for the first few years they started, working their way up to main event status, getting a rub from their association in storylines with two legit main eventers (Flair & HHH) and the occasional top tier opponents they faced (and usually lost to).

Let Owens prove his worth to the audience with some great moments against the Zigglers, etc of the world. After a few months of that if he is catching on then it will be conceivable for him to get some main events or close to main events (2nd or 3rd biggest match on the card) against the real stars of the time like Rollins, Cena, HHH, Reigns, etc.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Plus, he doesn't suck on the mic.... his ring gear needs a little work but...that's it. Where it counts is in the wrestling ring, this is wrestling , Kevin Owens is the best wrestler the WWE has...it can't be true.

Where it counts is on the mic....if you cant sell your match why should I watch ?

Pro wrestling is full of guys who were smooth, athletic, and very polished in the ring....and they didn't draw a dime, especially compared to Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger, guys who brought charisma and personality to the table that the "great wrestlers" didn't have.

Yes, sometimes you get a combo of both in ring skills and mic skills, and those guys, like Flair, Angle, HBK, Austin, etc are the gold standard of all that is pro wrestling.

Three months ago Owens was a nobody the overwhelming majority of fans knew nothing about. Now they have seen him, he's earned a reaction, and a little cred thanks to how good he looked against Cena, give him 6-8 months against the Zigglers & Miz's of the world to burnish his very small just recently developed rep and by the new year if all goes well it will be believable that he is wrestling in the Top 3 matches on the card. And by then fans will actually buy it and not revolt against him because he is being shoved down their throats, force fed nobodies fans never heard of by WWE almost always end up as colossal failures.

 

[FlairFan2003]

I'd have to agree with the sentiment that the WWE is about sports entertainment and recent history suggests pushing the guys like Roman Reigns who has the athletic ability and look but none on the ability (yet) to put together a match like Owens, Cesaro can offer. Likely we'll see Hogan, Sting,
Rock, etc at the really large events like SS and WM for they offer Vince easy and predictable profit which is why Super Cena is virtually certain will be getting another title run as WWE champion.

Rollins is going to keep that title at S-Slam, WWE has something special they can build in him, a legit heel who can work in the ring and give them a full time schedule (which Lesnar cant and HHH wont). Someone other than Randy Orton needs to be able to fill that role. If Rollins survives S-Slam he practically a made man as champ, and beating him when it finally happens will be a much bigger deal.

Besides, the main event at S-Slam, at least the match that gets the most publicity going in, will be Taker-Lesnar, and with Taker almost certain to win WWE can give fans the satisfying "happy ending" they like at the big PPVs, which means Cena (red hot with his success of US Champ and the Open Challenges) can put over Rollins (likely in a screw job but expect Rollins to have a great match, just with a dirty ending, ala vintage Flair/HHH heel champion material) and fans wont be as upset.

Plus, since we never really got a satisfying ending to Lesnar-Rollins due to Taker WWE can always revisit that down the road for another PPV buy if they need too.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Where it counts is on the mic....if you cant sell your match why should I watch ?

Pro wrestling is full of guys who were smooth, athletic, and very polished in the ring....and they didn't draw a dime, especially compared to Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger, guys who brought charisma and personality to the table that the "great wrestlers" didn't have.

Yes, sometimes you get a combo of both in ring skills and mic skills, and those guys, like Flair, Angle, HBK, Austin, etc are the gold standard of all that is pro wrestling.

Three months ago Owens was a nobody the overwhelming majority of fans knew nothing about. Now they have seen him, he's earned a reaction, and a little cred thanks to how good he looked against Cena, give him 6-8 months against the Zigglers & Miz's of the world to burnish his very small just recently developed rep and by the new year if all goes well it will be believable that he is wrestling in the Top 3 matches on the card. And by then fans will actually buy it and not revolt against him because he is being shoved down their throats, force fed nobodies fans never heard of by WWE almost always end up as colossal failures.

There are plenty of guys who suck royally on the mic. One of them is in the Main Event at Summerslam. But he has Paul Heymen to talk for him so he's safe. Even Undertaker...who's low character driven voice isn't a star on the mic...it doesn't have to be ...his over the top character is too larger than life to fall to the wayside of other gimmick characters over the years....plus he had Paul Bearer for awhile. Ziggler, has improved but seems like he's nervous...not the best guy...Ryback isn't great on the mic...Roman Reigns is not good .....PTP are not good....USOs not good....Cesaro, Rusev is improving...

I believe its not all the wrestler ( though its a huge part ) that has to be a selling point to his match....commentary hype really helps.

 

[stingray11214]

That's because Cena is in the mid card right now. You could argue that he was in the top tier because of the void of quality feuds outside Seth Rollins but all that means is Cena is working the mid card and his matches have added importance because there is nothing worth watching going on with anyone else. That's not exactly HBK-Scott Hall in a Ladder Match or Austin-Hart in an "I Quit Match".

Up until a few months the overwhelming majority of the wrestling audience had no idea who Kevin Owens is, instead of a slow intro and working his way through jobber/comedy matches and building his brand WWE hot shotted him against Cena in a great series of matches and put a major title at stake. Now he has some name recognition that otherwise it might have taken him 6-8 month to build. He still needs some cred with the audience though, he simply hasn't been around that long.

No regular fan is going to buy this guy as US Champ, beating Cena, etc....he isn't a known commodity, in fact up until maybe two months he wasn't known at all to virtually the entire audience.

What he does have is a small amount of cred and recognition gained from this feud that will generate some interest in what he does next (provided WWE does something good with him).

WWE did the same thing with Sheamus a while back having him take out HHH out of nowhere. Problem was since he was virtually a nobody fans never completely bought it, fans hate when a guy is suddenly shoved down their throats at the expense of their long time established favorites, it turns them off to the wrestler & the product in general. WWE dropped the ball with Sheamus moving forward shoving him down our proverbial throats and now they cant give tickets away to watch him wrestle, which is a shame, he has some talent.

HHH worked his way up the card, slowly over a few years, so did Austin, he caught on faster but he didn't start out as the #1 guy - and he was an established top teir star in WCW before he joined WWE!!! (HHH wasn't, he was bottom carder in WCW). How long did it take The Rock to make it big with the audience ?

Even guys like Batista & Orton were booked almost exclusively in mid card matches against semi top teir guys for the first few years they started, working their way up to main event status, getting a rub from their association in storylines with two legit main eventers (Flair & HHH) and the occasional top tier opponents they faced (and usually lost to).

Let Owens prove his worth to the audience with some great moments against the Zigglers, etc of the world. After a few months of that if he is catching on then it will be conceivable for him to get some main events or close to main events (2nd or 3rd biggest match on the card) against the real stars of the time like Rollins, Cena, HHH, Reigns, etc.

I just want to ask this question: Owens has been in the business over a decade. Fans of wrestling would know, or at least have heard of, Kevin Steen. Many of them more than likely know that Steen is now portrayed as Kevin Owens. We are not talking Maven Huffman or the Bogeyman here, who started in Developmental and then went to the Main Roster. As far as the fan of professional wrestling is concerned, Steen/Owens already HAS credibility.

That said, why then does the WWE not at least respect that history? Now, I can understand if Steen/Owens was like Grim Reefer, Starman, Habib from the Car Wash or Casanova Valentine, and wrestled in local Indies that had a card every six weeks. Unless you are one of those 50-1000 people that watch them, you would have zero clue as to who they are. But Steen has wrestled in RoH, CZW, PWG, and most of the Canadian promotions. So, in closing, are you saying that the WWE Universe are not necessarily fans of Professional Wrestling? Or, do you believe that those people only think that WWE is the be all and end all of their fandom? Or, is it that the WWE is basically a TV show that incorporates a wrestling component, and not necessarily a Professional Wrestling promotion?

I know that I am going to get heat for this question. But, I would like to have a better understanding of this era's mentality when it comes to Pro Wrestling.

 

[Mustang Sally]

As followers of pro wrestling, we try to figure out what WWE is thinking in regard to wrestlers and storylines.....and it often proves frustrating, doesn't it?

Concerning Kevin Owens, who really knows what factors went into the decision to relegate him to midcard level? (if those rumors are true) Earlier in this thread, I said he'd probably be kept at main event level; otherwise, why give him an extreme push in working with John Cena from the day he joined the main roster?

Is the problem his physique? You wouldn't think so, given that WWE brass could see that enormous stomach and ring gear that made him resemble an out-of-shape, overweight pug who works wrestling shows in junior high school gyms in West Virginia.

Did management feel KO's performance was lacking? That seems hard to believe after seeing his work with Cena, doesn't it? Or perhaps they're figuring it's one thing to look good when working with Cena, but feel he'd be inadequate against others.

The point is, it's not as if KO is being future endeavored. He's still on the roster and the ability he shows will hopefully boost his status in the company in the months to come.

Still, I can't help thinking the company initially had grander plans for Kevin Owens.

 

[Shining Mizard]

You know who didn't come up from developmental and immediately headline? Every single person ever. I don't know exact dates, but it took Brock f'n Lesnar about a year to be a WWE Champion.

Sorry to correct you on this but the reason Brock Lesnar got the reputation he did was how quick he won the WWE Championship from his debut. Brock debuted in March 2002, the night after Wrestlemania and won the WWE Championship after defeating of all people, the Rock at Summerslam in August 2002, 126 days after his debut. He was built as a monster and was booked accordingly and look at the career he's had as a result.

Owens was supposed to be Lesnar 2.0 (to some extent) but his recent booking will tell you otherwise. Rock dropped the WWE Championship to a rookie to put him over big time, however fast forward to 2015 and Vince won't even have Cena drop the US title to a rookie. How times have changed.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

In an era of monthly ppvs, indeed now we have the Network there are more specials than ever before, why does absence from a ppv card mean someone is being buried/downgraded? Perhaps WWE has a feud in mind for Owens but the opponent is currently embroiled in a feud, so Owens won't come into the picture until after Summerslam? We already know Owens is facing Balor for the NXT title at Takeover just before Summerslam, perhaps WWE doesn't want to burn out, or even over-expose, Owens that weekend. There are various reasons for as to why someone may not be required on a ppv card, especially as Summerslam has always been the one ppv of the big 4 that didn't try to shoehorn as many of the roster onto its card, traditionally.

I just don't understand the arguement that missing a single ppv means a wrestler is being dropped. I've seen it a lot on here recently with Dean Ambrose, who missed Battleground but main evented the previous 3 ppvs. Hardly means they are going sour on Ambrose, especially since it is pretty obvious that the long term plan for the Shield is to turn them into modern day Rock/HHH/Stone Cold

In fact, the last name there is a great example: Stone Cold Steve Austin, one of the biggest names in history, was basically born at the 1996 King of the Ring. The character was there before KOTR, but people REALLY started to notice him when WWE strapped a rocket on his back and booked him to win the tournament, followed by that fantastic speech; he ended the year in a top-level feud with Bret Hart, and, minus a few months in late 1997 where he dropped to the mid card to feud over the Intercontinental title with Owen Hart and the Rock, stayed at the too of the card ever since. Clearly (in hindsight), WWE giving Austin the KOTR showed they had big plans for him....

At Summerslam '96 though, Austin won a meaningless match against Yokozuna on the free-for-all, the 1996 equivalent of the kick off show. That meant that he had no real feud, and was not on the (main) card. Didn't do Austin any harm though, did it?