Why Kevin Owens Should Win The Universal Championship On Raw

Kevin Owens knows what it means to be a champion.

In his short time in WWE, Owens has stacked up an impressive 143-day reign as NXT Champion and is a two-time Intercontinental Champion. He’s gone face-to-face with some of the sport’s biggest names and at times has even come out on top. Cleanly. He would make his main roster debut while still NXT Champion and showed the world why he was ready to be a top guy.

Tonight he faces off in an elimination match for the WWE Universal Championship, the world title for the Monday Night Raw brand and easily the biggest prize of Owens’ WWE career. A fourteen-year veteran in the sport (under his real name Kevin Steen) before even stepping in a WWE ring, Owens has gone up against some of today’s biggest stars while they were in the independent scene together. His resume shouldn’t be put into question as it’s one of the strongest that WWE has to currently on their roster.

Tonight should be Kevin Owens’ time.

Owens stands tonight against Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Big Cass to be crowned the new WWE Universal Championship as its recently vacated as Finn Balor was injured at SummerSlam. It’s obvious that the Roman Reigns experiment isn’t exactly a failure, but definitely over for the time being. Roman is a three-time WWE Champion as-is and in the middle of what could a hot feud with Rusev for the United States Championship. They could push Roman again down the line, but he hasn’t gotten a welcomed reaction from fans since being pushed so hard last year.

Then there’s Seth Rollins. Already a two-time champ and the company’s seemingly top heel, but it’s too soon for another Rollins title reign. The other problem is that the match consists of two faces and two heels, but have different fan reactions from what they’re supposed to be represent. Rollins has embraced what he did to Balor at SummerSlam, but could be seen as a possible legitimate threat to his fellow in-ring participants.

The thing about Big Cass in the match is that it’s hardly a secret of what Vince McMahon wants out of a superstar. With Enzo injuring himself not long after their debut, you could almost see the dollar signs float in Vince’s eyes in turning Big Cass into a solo act. Truth is, he’s too green and working with Enzo, who is the better performer, could elevate his status to where it needs to be before being considered for championship material. Of course, if the WWE wants to be less predictable, this would be the route to go.

However, with Owens taking the victory, it’s almost unexpected with both Rollins and Reigns in the match. With elimination rules, it would tell so much more of a story if it came down to Rollins and Owens for a few reasons. One being they already started a fun twitter feud for fans to follow. Two, Rollins is so much better of a character if he’s chasing something that he feels entitled to. Rollins had one of the best world champion reigns in recent memories, especially for his first reign to boot. Him chasing it even more will make that third reign all much more important.

Owens taking the charge and becoming champion might seem too soon but considering his career and already an established legacy outside of the WWE, it’s actually passed due. Kevin Owens belongs up there with the likes of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and yes, even Brock Lesnar and tonight should prove that to what longtime fans have known for years.