WWE Battleground 2017: Kevin Owens’ Best Character Work

Last Sunday at Battleground we saw the best character work from Kevin Owens since his feud with Sami Zayn. Owens knows exactly who he is and why he’s here.

Kevin Owens is one of the greats of this era. He is as tough as anyone, a hoss who can flip his entire body, and a brutal hard hitter.  Yet above all, what makes Owens special is his character work. Owens is one of the most well fleshed out characters that WWE has right now. Unfortunately, it seems we only truly get to understand who he is when he’s staring down longtime rival Sami Zayn. Enter AJ Styles and that all changes. Styles pulled out some of the best character work that we’ve seen of Owens since his feud with Zayn.

Owens’ excellent storytelling started well before he debuted in NXT. Almost every superstar who comes through the developmental brand has some sort of pre-debut vignette. They are usually fairly forgettable. We certainly don’t talk about them years later. KO’s is different. It resonates even now.

Less we forget, Owens debuted as a face for about a minute before turning heel on Zayn. His vignette was exactly that, made for a face. It was so relatable, the feeling of watching the people you love pass you by, to feel less than. “They called him first,” he said of Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan, Neville, and of course, the man he considers to be his best friend, Sami Zayn. There’s a subtle pain behind each one that gets stronger and stronger until we get to Zayn. “They called him first.” Do you hear it? The disbelief that Zayn, the friend that he has never considered an equal, beat him.

That’s exactly what he brings into the feud, a blatant lack of respect. If he admits that he respects Zayn, that Zayn is his equal, then he admits defeat. He does something very telling early into his tenure at NXT. He goats Zayn into giving him a championship match because he refuses to fight him without it on the line. We’re told he’s a prize fighter. He claims he wants that championship because it means more money and a better life for his family. Perhaps that’s true, but there’s something else happening here too. After all, Zayn returned the favor with the exact same tactic, and Owens bit. Why? Because that belt is a symbol. That belt means that he’s won. He’s won and Zayn has lost, and believing that he is better than Zayn is the only thing that matters.

Throughout their history on the main roster, Owens is always concerned about proving he’s better than Zayn. His face when Zayn debuts in the Royal Rumble told it all, he can’t stand the idea of Zayn being here. He knows that means it’s only about him and Zayn. Even as Universal Champion, he is distracted by that rivalry. That’s part of what makes it one of the best these days. Whether they’re taking each other out in a ladder match or bickering backstage, they can’t get away from each other. Owens tells that story so subtly in the details, like the way he can never look Zayn in the eye when he’s across the ring.

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That exact detail showed up again, this time against Styles. He came down to the ring at Battleground looking like he was about to cry. Looking down at the mat, not at Styles, there was a distinctive look on his face. Written all over it was the embarrassment of losing at a house show just a few months into his reign. As the match got underway, his character work only got stronger. There was desperation behind everything he did. Every kick out, every cover was desperate. Even his trash talking was almost pathetic, crying “that was two!”

After his victory, he scrambled to the outside and sobbed into the belt. Again, the prizefighter is a lie. It’s not about the money and it’s not about the status. It’s about being good enough.

The Festival of Friendship was good, but not quite this good. They never truly explained why Owens acted the way that he did. If we were looking solely at his promos, it would be bar none at the top of the list. However, when it comes to understanding who Owens is, his motivations, his desires, and above all else, his fears, this is some of the best that Owens has ever delivered. He tells us he’s motivated by money, but that’s not true. He’s motivated by fear and he is afraid of failure. In those moments, sobbing into the belt or looking away from his opponent, that we see the true Kevin Owens. There’s a part of him that is still the picked-on kid who needs to prove he’s the toughest on the playground. Otherwise, he is lost.

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Styles is one of the best competitors in the world today, but where he really shines is in bringing out the best of his opponents. He could have a match with a phone book and make the phone book look good. In this feud, he brings out the most compelling version of Owens’ character.  After what can only be described as a lukewarm Universal Championship reign, he needed this surge of creative energy. Owens has proved he can have a classic, story-driven feud with more than just one opponent, and he proved that he brings the absolute best character work that the WWE has today.