The Kevin Owens Show

WWE looks like it is pulling the trigger on a significant push for KO. And the writing of it seems to be good quality so far. In a way you do have to discredit most of WWE's history when it comes to owners and people in power getting physically involved with employees. Steph trying to drown Daniel Bryan as a classic example but, the way SD live has been presented since the split has been that they are a legitimate federation that puts talent first and adheres to some sense of logical rule, so in that sense it is only a continuation of that.

Anyway the gist of it is, and I'd call it must watch so start watching SD now if you haven't, is kO became the heel I wanted him to become. It doesn't matter how talented he is in ring, he is just a grade A asshole. They didn't quite do a Connors cure level disgraceful move, that I will say again someone HAS to do one day if they want to be the biggest heel in forever, and boost sales of charity merch in retaliation, but KO got to really push the envelope this week, using Shane's kids to rile Shane and even to suggest that they would all be better off if Shane had died in his helicopter crash. Shocking stuff for a PG "B" show...

In response Shane absolutely laid in to KO with his most realistic assault to date, fighting off staff, straight punches to the head and ribs, and an announce table takedown. Good stuff.

But that wasn't all from this shows number one storyline from now on, KO solidified his asshole status by promising to sue Shane, and all the Mcmahons and the WWE. This led to some more bombshell moments, with Bryan receiving a call from Vince and being forced to indefinitely suspend Shane on his behalf. This was not enough for KO, who now threatens to take the show hostage, antagonize Bryan to try and draw a reaction from him, and to make everyone at Smackdown's life a living hell because he doesn't care about the brand with him not wanting to be there anyway. This led to another bombshell. Vince is coming to Smackdown live in Sin City next week to sort things out.

All this means two things, great viewing for fans and a seriously big storyline for KO to get stuck in to. He has been ready for a while for this next step, and it's safe to say his time has come.

And its been a while since he go to do something cool like this... https://goo.gl/images/K3NLUP

They're going into the Cell, aren't they?

It's hard to buy KO as an arsehole though, when he's wearing a Conors Cure t-shirt. If he was wearing his own stuff, even if it wasn't acknowledged, something subtle like that would be more effective.

I also keep coming back to Bryan wrestling again. Him vs KO at Mania next year could the eventual pay off...

Yeah, the most warchable cell match on paper was probably always going to involve a mad adrenaline junkie and a big guy who can pull off aerial spots.

KO Is the guy I always hoped would tear up a Connors cure shirt and scream he's not here for charity,  he's here to fight. Everything about his character would fit a despicable move like that, especially now he is anti company. I know it won't happen, but the fact WWE helped found the charity means they could easily get away with it as a storyline because everyone would be in on it and understand what WWE is. A bit of outrage from oblivious parents aside, it would be a great move to create a top heel. To get blistering heat from people who understand that it's not real, but still think that wrestlers are actually who they portray would be fantastic. And anyway, outraged people paying to see a guy they hate get beaten is what wrestling is. Apart from when it's outraged people paying to see a guy they hate win clean haha.

Anyway, I digress. KO came across way more heel than he has for a long time, which is a good thing. He is obviously one of WWE's most trusted guys now,  and his latest efforts are going to rile more people than his usual smarky commentaries and comments. He is great at that, but he doesn't need to play to people who already like him, he needs to wind up the people that may not take him too seriously yet.

It was actually great heel work by Carmella and also Dolph Ziggler after KO too. SD was packed full of noteworthy stuff outside of the ring. 3 heels all playing it differently was so refreshing after the recent anti US bore fest.

And obviously the out of the ring work is what is needed to have the general audience give a shit too. I read through some general fan opinions of wrestlers recently, and the public aren't really getting Nakamura yet, (this week was probably the first time he was presented how he should be, he tactically outclassed Orton, the promo hinted that Orton had played his strongest card and the match followed through with that story with the counters of the RKO) but there's is this weird phenomenon of people who seem to think Nakamura couldn't realisticly beat Randy Orton even though he beat him clean. It's like they both think it's real, and not real at the same time. I can only guess it's because people are conditioned by WWE to think that muscle equals victory. Others came from a different angle saying "his dance is stupid, he looks like a carrot, he doesn't deserve (deserve!) to beat Orton?"  ....

I don't think it's that WWE have conditioned us to believe muscle = wins. I think it's more symptomatic of Orton's booking over the years. He rarely loses clean, never loses to midcarders (admittedly, does sod all to build them either, but never mind), and the RKO is one of the most protected finishers in the business. Given all that, I can see how people who know nothing of Nakamura would have problems with a rookie who dances funny beating a multi-time world champ first time out. Him beating Cena is slightly different, Cena is actively working with the midcarders now and is no longer Super Cena, but Orton is still a full-timer and still being very much protected.

Ziggler's bit was a bit shit, I thought. He still doesn't get how to get over, and his ship has sailed now. Saying 'no-one can do what I do in that ring' is a dumb thing to say, now with the level of talent WWE has. He's great at selling, I'll give him that, but so is Heath Slater. I dunno, if Ziggler left tomorrow, I wouldn't miss him at all. He's just not relevant at all, he can't redeem himself with a promo the way that Miz does, and no-one cares about him. Using that as a tool to get heat makes no sense either - 'you lot don't care! Boo me!' and you can hear the audience shrugging as they go off for a piss.

KO, on the other hand, seems to have a Miz-style innate ability to just really piss people off. It's a sure sugn that Jinder's title run has been terrible when he's being shunted away from the Cell match for a guy who couldn't hold the US title a few weeks back.

It's probably just a sign that they need to keep booking Nakamura as near untouchable, because the fans haven't been buying the artist/rockstar thing, But as the story arc went for that match, they actually delivered what was needed. I was just surprised people didn't start buying in. First impressions are probably hard to shake, and WWE definitely stuttered with Nakamura in the beginning, They know that the network only gets 1million odd subscribers, and still tend to expect the tv audience to just buy in without putting any effort in, other than telling fans "This guy is a star". Remember the Ascension? "This is a great tag team" while losing to nostalgia acts. That was an extreme example of lazy promotion of NXT talent.  


I thought Ziggler's bit was shit by design though. It's like he's having a mental break down drawn out on air. He really can't find a way to get over and that's always been his problem so actually addressing that seemed like a chance for him to become himself on screen, and I've always thought he was a complete tool, so maybe he will garner heat if he just keeps being himself on tv. He seemed to deliver his promo like a stand up too, which apparently... He is (tool) there was a slightly different style to the way he spoke, I thought anyway. If he keeps it up other people might realise he's always been an annoying bastard parading as something he's not, and they might start to boo him for not fucking off to Japan if he wants to be the best in ring performer.

He is a guy who even on talking Smack came across as a twat though, so at least they are trying using that element of him on TV.

Saying that though he is also the guy who couldn't get a heel run going out of trying to kill Jerry Lawler, so... Yeah...


Nakamura isn't known for gimmick matches either so it would probably be a bad idea to have them in hell in a cell. But like you say, Jinder doesn't even command the main event of SD he is that far behind others. We have to remember before Summerslam he jobbed out to Cena and Orton. So having him cheat to win  again at SS was just dragging something out for no obvious reason. But it is obvious they don't want him to look strong in any way

I think's Ziggler's thing may actually his last attempt to make people care about him. His career vs Miz match last year was interesting, and possibly the best thing he's done since the Authority vs Team Cena Survivor series match that they totally didn't bother to capitalise on afterwards. I wonder if he'll threaten to retire if the crowd doesn't care and then vanish for a while. Maybe see if his stand-up career takes off, and when it doesn't, he'll be back for another run.

I think the thing with Jinder in the Cell could also be that he was in a similar match at Battleground and Khali's asking price might be a bit high to get him to come back again.

Just out of interest - when Mahal loses the title, does anyone think he'll ever get a second one?

I thought that about the Jinder scenario recently. And what I came up with was they could do the complete destruction of his face via knee in his rematch, where he decides to leave the bolly brothers in the back, as obviously when he loses the title they have failed him. One last grasp at honour and a big reveal that he sucks without help, as that's how he has been booked.

But then I thought Vince might have him regain the title straight away, like the night after a PPV (Tuesday anyway) just be cause he can and it would wind people up haha. People would not expect it so it would get a reaction. But it would be terrible.

One positive, it's a truly international match, there has never been two Asian guys main eventing together I would confidently guess. It's just a shame they didn't make Jinder a bit more credible, he is more like the old style stereotypical heel, which isn't what an Indian kid would aspire to be in kayfabe. Being of Indian descent he will obviously get some coverage, and legit respect like he has from most people for doing what he has despite slightly naff narrative and booking, but within the WWE Universe he is a mid card guy at best who lucked his way to the top and cheats to stay there, so no one can buy in to him in that sense. It's just a waste of an opportunity to have a legitimately exciting all foreign, all Asian main event that ticks all boxes. In MMA the two fighters are usually pretty legit, regardless of nationality, so it can be marketed better globally.


There is another tangent I could go on now, but I might write an article in the week at some point, the basis was I thought - is there now too much cheating on WWE, especially in matches of no consequence, which has diluted the whole aura of heels and rendered more matches and outcomes less satisfying or infuriating than they could be to fans. Like why cheat to win a match that has no bearing on future opportunities? Cheating should be desperation from a contender who can still win on there own merit, but has met someone in better form, or who has there number in a match that matters dearly to them. With stronger booking of heels, so that they don't have to cheat all the God damn time, you get a stronger product and stronger reactions when they do actually cheat, surely. I don't know, I feel like I'm a bit bored in seeing cheating on every show multiple times. This week I might jot down the amount of times and the ways it happens, just to see if I'm crazy, or if it's over saturation for these times where combat sports are a bigger draw and people are really popping for matches like the fatal four way and people just being booked as strong and capable of hurting people. We shall see what I come up with

The Kevin Owens Show

Has anyone seen Smackdown yet? It was a really good show overall, the writing has got itself on track after the weird dip it had for months and of course this happened...

Spoiler:

I've seen the highlights, KO looked like an absolute star. Only the really top guys get to pummel Vince - that's the one thing Vince has always got that his kids haven't, that he has to look weak sometimes to make the other guy look great.

Says a lot for my confidence in WWE that I'm now expecting Shane to batter him in the Cell.

I've had a feeling for a while that WWE really trusts KO in all aspects of his performances, which means they can start to build an entire show around him. This was his crowning moment that he has earned. I think the only people that needed convincing were the casual tv audience, and they have to see him as a serious son of a bitch now. It played out smartly too, he has manipulated Vince in retaliation to Vince telling him how he can manipulate the situation to ruin Kevin Owens. If he can't hurt the WWE through the courts, he can still hurt them through his actions, and you could tell as a character there was a realisation that he has crossed a line that he isn't coming back from.

WWE now has a guy that can wrestle in a style that can entertain various crowds, talk naturally, promo, portray an interesting character and carry off major storylines at the top of one of their shows. If there was a hole left by CM Punk, KO is the guy that has filled it. He has way more about him than Rollins as the top heel, and it's good that this time they aren't just doing the repaeted Rollins thing where KO became the cookie cutter second Rollins in HHH and Steph's master plan to bore the shit out of everyone,

Aye, KO is brilliant and for a guy his size and build, is not your typical WWE guy at all. There genuinely is nothing he can't do, and getting to lay waste to Vince is a massive thumbs up. I can't remember who said it but the goal for any wrestler should be to be the focus of the show, and not just the champ. Mahal is a complete afterthought behind KO at the moment.

The other noteworthy happening is the dud that AJs on challenge has been so far. Where are the surprise opponents? The shock nxt appearances, Raw guys, legends? Would have been a great way to reintroduce Shelton as opposed to American Alpha v2.

Corbin has looked good in this role though and Tye is actually getting do something weekly now. Its not a big talking point of the show, but at least some guys are being used better. AJ is just on hold until nearer the Rumble and Mania season I expect too. Just keep him going before a new big push. If that turns into a triple threat they could have the challengers cost each other before starting a proper mid card feud, leaving AJ to face Orton, Rusev Ziggler or Roode at the PPV, or drag the Corbin and Tye thing out to the PPV first.

I could see them teaming Ziggler with Mike Kanellis at some point though, unless they do eventually go somewhere with Ziggler. AJ as the legitimate best in WWE vs Ziggler saying he is the best seems like something that might be considered. AJ is the exact opposite as a personality to the real Ziggler, who is a bit like his current character, AJ never really talks himself up when he doesn't need to, he went from world champ to mid card champ, but sees it as an honour. It just seems like it fits for them to fight at some point.

People expect it to be Roode vs Ziggler, but I think Roode is only being booked as a face temporarily to make him seem legit, and to get him a chance to turn on the fans and do what he does best.

There is only one place I see this feud going and that is with HHH retuning to face Owens now that hes laid his hands on Vince and Steph came out I think it is all leading to HHH Vs Owens, maybe he beats shane so bad shane is off tv for a few months he keeps bragging bout how he has took out the Mcmahons when HHH returns probably Mania match next year.

The problem with him facing Trips is that one of them would have to be cheered - even if there's no full-blown face turn, Owens being cheered kinda ruins all the work that's going in now. What he needs to do next is face someone who's genuinely cheered and loved as a face - on Smackdown, now Cena's moved, there'sno much choice. Orton isn't loved, Owens vs AJ has been done to death - Nakamura, maybe? Or shift Finn Balor over - there's not much else he can do on Raw until he finallly gets a shot at the Universal title.

After beating Shane to a pulp, which is what has to happen, right? He should probably be in the world title picture, being an absolute pain for Bryan, but also having a much more legitimate feel to him that warrants the spot, even with the PR nightmare that comes with it for the GM.

Buuuut I don't think Nakamura beating Mahal to lose to KO would be really work for anyone. So maybe he will have to face someone else for a while first. Zayn could stick up for integrity and be the babyface that can't really overcome the new KO. If it was old school they could start a long rivalry that finally gets Zayn up to the top level too. But he wouldn't have to beat him for a long time. Zayn can really sell a beating though, so having him stand up to KO before him losing with the ref stopping the match like they did NXT would be cool to see on the tv show.

I can't see the entire McMahon clan as faces though, this worked with Vince because even though he said some asshole things himself to KO, it's respected old Mr. McMahon now, not the crazed VKM. And he really looked helpless as he took his beating. I expect there will be some sort of Steph controversy down the line to keep the story going. She is the rival commissioner to Shane, and Vince is clinging on to power and didn't hand it all to her etc. Plenty of old footage they can use to back up that story starting with Shane returning to ruin Steph's moment, and the awkward "we're getting on, honest" stuff they did on Raw. And HHH hand picking KO as their guy as well.

Hopefully not though, Owens can do it on his own, and maybe it will just end with him convincingly beating every Mcmahon/Helmsley. One of Shane' s kids first spots could be taking a slap from Owens. Now that would create outrage

Something I read that has apparently been axed as a storyline that could have been great...

The HIAC was going to have Shane putting his shares / ownership of Smackdown on the line. Triple H interferes and helps KO to win, who promptly gives his newly won SD ownership to Triple H. Trips then runs SD like he did Raw, until Shane re-appears and goads Trips into a Mania match with the ownership of SD on the line.

Apparently it's been axed, but could have great.

I can't see a reason for that to happen now in the story, the actual shares thing, so it probably has been axed. There are a tonne of ways to get Steph and HHH involved though, maybe they thought up something better. I guess that would have been KO saying I'm not fighting that lunatic in a cell... unless he puts the shares on the line. But they probably realised doing that and HHH helping won't make KO what he now is after the Vince attack. KO is a made man now.

Owens assaults Vince, the next step will be a planned Mcmahon vengeance, but KO is almost untouchable. Maybe Bryan will have to stop Stephanie or Shane getting in to the building tonight because if they go after KO it's square one again, he'll sue. I can see Bryan getting bumped by accident at some point because that adds a level of reality because he can't be cleared.

The main question will be is Vince's word enough for KO to get away with his actions because that was the main thing, Owens outsmarted Vince as well as beating him down. Maybe Owens can say he doesn't need to fight Shane any more as he's satisfied now, which would be such a dick move, leading to Shane being tricked into the shares thing too.


I think we should take a minute to say Sexton called the Vince bump a week early when even on the night and after the general word was not many saw it coming. People say they respect Vince, but they still didn't think he would do this at this stage of his life, or for KO. Come on, it's Vince the master of taking one for the team. HHH and Steph still have some learning to do in that regard.

I think it's something that could have been built up to, but having their first match in the Cell implies that it's the end of the run together - where can they go afterwards, unless TLC in December is a SD show and they use the briefcase idea instead of a belt above the ring?

The PPV's are switched round this year so TLC is Raw.

The Kevin Owens Show was just that again this week. Started the show, had a match and ended the show with more build to the big match and furthered his position as the guy who will severely hurt you if you get in his way. Its so refreshing for Smackdown to have a consistant direction again, even with the title on the sidelines.

Kevin and Sami have been sent home from the tour for fucking with the end of their match apparently.

It felt weird st the time. Zayn lost to a cross body, Owens came in and mounted Kofi and then both escaped. Reports say they were supposed to be beat down by new day. Which is also weird booking after a loss.

The arc for them has been weird. Smackdown was all about KO. Sami joined in at the PPV. So Kevin managed to headbutt Shanes father and brutalise Shane a few times. Sami screwed Shane in a very dangerous manner, but now since Shane has returned it's like he's more upset that they aren't team players for Survivor Series. Really?

I thought their might be a long burn towards A Shane heel turn after the Steph promo on Raw, but you surely have to keep KO and Zayn as public enemy number one until then? Sending the, home from the tour would fit that, but I think this is more mismanagement of talent mixed with the impatience and high self worth of this era's talent. WWE can't fuck around with this generation, but there has to be a compromise somewhere.

At the time, they're not booked on the Survivor Series at all. I reckon we're going to end up with the Shield vs New Day, which leaves KO and Zayn as one of the hotter acts on SD, without a match on a Big 4 PPV. I don't see how them getting a beatdown from New Day is a bad thing either, they're outnumbered against the tag team with the longest reign in WWE history.

I'm kinda hoping WWE play up to it, and make it a storyline sending home, rather do what I expect them to do and bury them as punishment.

It fits so nicely so they should mention it on tv. It's a weird one though, if they went into business for themselves then maybe they should just take a minute to think how it's just bad timing. They couldn't be on Shane's team. They can't be on the Raw team, and they don't have a title. But they were probably going to be back at the top end once this mini rivalry with Raw ends, and they were still involved with Shane, even if it wasn't as heated as it should have been since the cell match.

The whole PPV is naturally a bit cobbled together with title changes to set up more interesting matches or to free up the Shield, for example. The whole survivor series gimmick at times just feels like it's getting in the way a bit, even though some matches will be great. The 2 PPV's together have hardly revolved around a complete story or any real build, but WWE is salvaging some good stuff.

The more the information festers the more It doesn't feel like it adds up. I still think it would be weird for Sami to lose then get a random beatdown from New Day. Why would the faces attack them unless provoked? (They were a bit) but then why would KO not run away From a 3 on 2? You never see a heel hit someone cheap and then allow themselves to get caught instantly, and once outside the ring the most a heel would do is act like they are going to get back in the ring to fight, but then walk off.

Speaking of works. Neville is in their close friend group. I did say on here (I think) if Neville was a work he could show up with those guys on SD. KO, Zayn and Neville would be some trio. Big enough to rival New Day and even the Shield. Although I thought if that was the case it will have been written by Jimmy Jacobs and maybe he would end up on SD staff to keep the 4 friends together. But he actually went to ROH lol.

It's going to be an interesting few days until after SS, anyway. I'm kinda hoping they write it into the storyline, have Shane totally ignore them next week (and as they're not part of Team SD at the Series, it's not going to be difficult to do that), maybe have them interfere and cost Team SD the tag match? Gives a bit of fresh impetus to the angle...

Or, as an idea that just popped into my head, have them align with Trips in some kind of NXT-to-main roster stable? Use them and maybe another NXT guy (Bobby Roode?) as 'his guys' on SD, to overthrow Bryan and Shane so he can control SD and Steph has Raw. That could work...