WWE: Now is the time to move Kevin Owens back to NXT

Kevin Owens could use a return to the NXT brand

Ask any group of wrestling fans who is being misused by WWE Creative and the list returned will be exceptionally long. It is easy to name talented performers up and down the roster who could be presented in a much better light. Kevin Owens is a name that may pop up on the list, even though he is frequently featured on WWE television. Still, the former Universal champion could stand a refresh of sorts and after Extreme Rules a change in brands would be a step in the right direction.

Owens picked up a clean win over the wrestler formerly known as Buddy Murphy on Sunday. The 36-year old performer has been in a holding pattern of sorts these last few months, feuding with Seth Rollins and his apparent ministry. In some fashion he is defeated Rollins, Murphy and Austin Theory in months recently passed dating back to WrestleMania. While that feud has kept him on television often, moving him to NXT could be a breath of fresh air at a time when all the WWE brands could use it the most.

“For a while there, it looked like I was going to head back to NXT. I had even discussed it with Vince McMahon and stuff like that. I was excited about it. I do not know if it would have been a long- or short-term thing. I’ve been vocal about wanting to go back there because I’d love to help make it grow even more and help make it as big as it can get and make it so we have three brands people know about,” Owens said in an interview with Brent Brookhouse of CBS Sports. “I would love for people to be just as aware of NXT as they are about Raw and SmackDown. I would have loved to be a part of that, but some decisions were made that I had to stay put on Raw and SmackDown. That is fine, but I would love the chance to go back.”

Imagine how much of a shot in the arm that would be for all parties involved. It has been more than three years since his reign as the WWE Universal champion. A reign that gave us such amazing moments as the Festival of Friendship. The other half of that festival, Chris Jericho, is one of the driving factors that keeps AEW Dynamite ahead of NXT in the weekly ratings. Shifting “main roster” talent around on the NXT brand has helped bump numbers from week to week, but none of that change has shown a sustained pattern. Owens could help as a shift in a positive direction.

New faces for the former champion

The NXT roster has several talented individuals that Owens could interact with on a weekly basis. Imagine him in matches with the likes of Adam Cole, Keith Lee, Karrion Kross, Trevor Lee or any of the other individuals that are struggling to garner mainstream attraction. Injecting Owens into that conversation immediately makes them relevant to a wider audience. Lee versus Owens for the NXT championship is an angle that has cache, bigger than anything in the main title picture on both Raw and SmackDown. Plus, we all know that Owens can deliver in the ring, so it would be interesting to see what different types of matches he could provide with foes we have not seen him work against.

In the right lenses, change should be a good thing. WWE is struggling to give fans a fresh across all its content. Roster moves is one way to shake things up and right now is the perfect time to send Kevin Owens to NXT. Allow him to help build that brand up to the status it should have or watch him cause a path of destruction like he did during his first time in the black and gold group years ago.