Fight. Owens. Fight.
I’ve seen Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn lock up a dozens times, wrestling all over the country for various promotions, and had you asked me even two years ago if we’d ever see them dance in a WWE ring, I’d have laughed at you.
Never say never.
These two are always magic when they come together, and their first collision under the WWE banner was no exception.
There seemed to be a lot of fans in attendance unsure of what to do with this match. Part of it is that the completely one-sided beatdown made nearly everyone uncomfortable, which is something I’ve always loved about Kevin. He finds a way to do something outside of YOUR comfort zone more often than not. Even those cheering him didn’t quite know how to react to Sami Zayn being methodically broken down over the course of 20 minutes.
The finish saw Owens win the title by TKO after the referee stopped him from delivering what I believe would have been his sixth powerbomb to the champion. The fans briefly chanted “bullshit”, but some cheered when they realized what had actually happened. Another awkward moment that made me appreciate the days when we could just buy into a program without cheering the guy who just mercilessly beat down another human being we all marked out for not two months ago for winning the same title.
Despite how “off” I thought the crowd was – and maybe they were just exhausted after two amazing matches prior to the main event – good storytelling is still good storytelling, and wrestling is still wrestling. Not to beat a dead horse, but I think this could have been a Match of the Year candidate in front of just about any other crowd. I hope Full Sail University isn’t going the way of the Impact Zone.
For those concerned, Zayn will not go down as just a transitional champion. NXT spent too much time building him up, but the debut of Owens in December muddied his moment. I believe that the powers-that-be understand their audience is primarily “smart” fans (what a stupid term), and have just created a scenario in which even the die-hard Kevin Steen followers will “boo” him as the top heel of the promotion. If either had gone over traditionally, the crowd would remain split between them. The TKO finish was a nice, albeit unsettling plot device that will ultimately steer the ship in the right direction.
There’s always more money in the hot babyface chasing the title. See: Bryan, Daniel.
