WWE Raw: Kevin Owens, From Prize Fighter To Sympathetic Figure

After his loss on WWE Raw this past week, Kevin Owens quit WWE as part of one of the latest storylines.  What is even more interesting is that this announcement was not met with cheers, but instead, sympathy.

There are few superstars who can claim to have had either an NXT debut or WWE main roster debut with the impact that Owens had.  The man that has been fondly referred to as “KO”, saw his first couple of years in WWE filled with championships.

Owens’ reputation was that of a prize fighter, someone who would fight anyone, as long as it was a championship fight at a major event.  While on the surface that appears cowardly, but that tune would change when it became time to fight.

Owens took the ruthless heel persona that he had on the independent wrestling scene and parlayed it into his WWE career.  Chants of “fight Owens fight” (tribute to his indy wrestling days) became a regular part of any KO match.

Slowly though, Owens’ character went from being the feared foe, to the laughable cowardly heel.  The “best friend” segments with Chris Jericho were comedic and all-around great television, but this was the first time fans really started to see Owens as a cowardly heel.

While the way that friendship ended was brutal, the months leading up to Owens’ attack on Jericho did its damage.  WWE would attempt to repair Owens’ image with a feud against Shane McMahon that also included an attack on his father Vince.

Unfortunately as intense of a feud as KO vs. Shane O Mac was, it would eventually lead to Owens resuming a cowardly heel role with his long time frenemy Sami Zayn.  Both superstars would try and weasel their way into championship matches, while also avoiding one on one confrontation.

As 2018 began to wear on, the whispers throughout the WWE Universe began to grow louder.  Could it be that Kevin Owens was being underutilized?

If momentum already wasn’t at an all-time low for the former Universal Champion, his next adversary would be the most dominant force in WWE, Braun Strowman.  Each week on Raw, Strowman would not just beat Owens up, but would humiliate him in the process.

The former prize fighter was even lowered to the point of being trapped in a porta potty while it got dumped off the stage.  Even Owens’ steel cage win at WWE Extreme Rules 2018 felt like a loss.

Despite winning the match, Owens was thrown off the top of the cage and through an announce desk.  Finally, to conclude the feud, Strowman would make quick work of Owens at WWE SummerSlam 2018.

The final match between Strowman and Owens did not feel like the conclusion of a feud, but more of a superstar being put out of his misery.  Owens and Strowman at no point felt competitive, it was a squash.

While this might have been an important step for Strowman, this was an even bigger step back for Owens.  Now the whispers from the WWE Universe had turned into complaints, and there was real sympathy being shown for a superstar that had been booed for so many years.

Most recently the final stage in a potential Owens face turn may have happened when KO pushed Seth Rollins to the limit for the Intercontinental Championship.  The match was met with cheers, and despite coming up short, Rollins gave Owens a nod of respect.

Despite putting on at least a four star match, the disappointment of another loss pushed Owens to quit.  What is interesting about the timing of this announcement is that it came after one of Owens best matches of 2018.

So to recap, the WWE Universe has had a growing feeling that Owens was being underutilized, then fans knew he was being underutilized based off of the booking with Strowman, and after putting together a classic with Rollins the fans were on their feet.  KO has been getting a rough go for some time, but now the fans are noticing his grind.

Everyone has had that moment where they feel that their hard work is not going to payoff.  Owens quitting after repeated failures does not make him a bad guy, it actually makes him relatable.

Despite all the bad things that the character Kevin Owens has done over the years in WWE, fans love a great comeback story.  When KO does grace the WWE Universe with an appearance, we will all be rooting for him to get back to form.