A championship may not be on the line, but Kevin Owens has everything at stake at WrestleMania 36. Here are five reasons why Owens needs to beat Seth Rollins.
WrestleMania 36 is already an anomaly, and the event hasn’t even aired yet. These unprecedented circumstances have affected life as we know, resulting in WrestleMania being a pre-taped, two-night event from the WWE Performance Center.
Despite the changes, WWE still delivered in the storytelling department with meaningful promos that expanded upon the in-ring action. One of the rivalries that has benefited from such treatment is without a doubt Kevin Owens versus Seth Rollins.
What started as a feud that many fans groaned over after watching them battle for months in 2016, has now turned into one of the more highly-anticipated match-ups on this year’s extensive card. But when it comes to discussing who is more deserving of a victory this weekend, Kevin Owens is the only name that should be spoken.
Owens needs to re-establish himself
Many fans believe Kevin Owens could’ve been “booked better” throughout his five-year tenure on WWE TV. While there have been periods of irrelevancy, Owens is a former Intercontinental, United States, and Universal Champion. While those are nice accolades to have, KO is worthy of more. The fans want to see more.
Believe it or not, we’re closing in on 1,000 days since Owens last held gold in WWE. In that time, he’s teamed up with Sami Zayn, challenged the likes of AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan, and Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship, and sent Shane McMahon packing. While he’s in between title chases, Kevin needs this win over Seth Rollins to re-establish himself as a credible challenger.
With this win, Owens can continue being one of the top guys on Raw for years to come. And, in the off-chance Drew McIntyre doesn’t win the WWE Title at WrestleMania, Owens can be poised to battle Brock Lesnar for the first time. Can you imagine Lesnar vs. Owens headlining this year’s SummerSlam?
Rollins has had plenty of WrestleMania moments
One of the major plot points in the Owens/Rollins feud has surrounded around the fact that Owens hasn’t had a true WrestleMania moment. While he did beat Chris Jericho for the U.S. Title at WrestleMania 33, Owens considers the moment to be a failure because Vince McMahon himself wasn’t happy with the match.
Owens also failed to keep his Intercontinental Title at 32 and came up short in a tag team match at 34. He was nowhere to be found on last year’s card. Seth Rollins, on the other hand, has achieved major accolades from beating Triple H to winning world championships.
After being victorious at the last three WrestleMania events, Rollins can take this loss and still stay at the same level. If Owens comes up short, I fear there’s a chance of him falling back down the card with nowhere to go.
A Rollins loss could be beneficial for the ‘Messiah’
Seth Rollins hasn’t been the Messiah of Monday Night Raw for very long, but hopefully WWE is considering how to keep the character fresh for the post-Mania season. While he could easily move on to challenge future WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, Seth’s character needs more depth.
Suffering a loss to Owens after having all the confidence in the world could pave the way for Rollins to go just a little bit insane. It would give him motivation. I’m not exactly imagining a rematch against Owens right away, but the two could meet again once Owens captures Raw’s top prize.
We need a feel-good win
WWE is one of the few companies still producing new content in the midst of the entertainment world being shut down indefinitely. As a result, WrestleMania 36 could very well end up being a feel-good show with the good guys coming out on top in many matches. One of those feel-good wins should come from Owens beating Rollins.
WWE’s fanbase is still largely made up of “casual” viewers, so I’m sure kids and families all over the world would love to see KO put the Messiah in his place after all these months of antagonizing each other. We’ve seen Owens beat Rollins before, so he can absolutely do it again.
This is supposed to be ‘KO Mania’ after all
Ever since making his WrestleMania debut in 2016, Kevin Owens has touted a new “KO Mania” shirt before every card he’s competed on. This year marks “KO Mania IV,” so why can’t the fourth time be the charm for a true WrestleMania moment?
Owens doesn’t necessarily need a roaring crowd rallying behind him because everyone at home will be rooting for his comeuppance. Against all odds, Kevin Owens can defeat Seth Rollins in a building that allowed both men to achieve greatness in WWE. Who knows, this could be KO’s best year in WWE yet.
Do you think Kevin Owens should beat Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 36? Sound off below!