Kevin Owens is the Face of America

The United States Championship has seen its share of peaks & valleys in its level of prestige. Sometimes its just a secondary title to be fought over by secondary people. Its recent history has been very good, as many of WWE’s top stars vie for it when they’re temporarily outside either the WWE or the Universal Title picture in an attempt to stay relevant.

There are various types of US Champions. One of the most interesting types over the years has been the foreign heel champion that disdains the United States and targets the championship in order to enrage American wrestling fans. Nikita Koloff had a successful run with this persona in 1986 as a Soviet Superman attempting to show Russian dominance in the dying days of the Cold War. Magnum TA defending America against him was good business up until Magnum’s career ended due to a car accident.

The next great foreign heel US Champion took it to the next level. Lance Storm was so proud of his homeland that he changed the US Championship to the Canadian Championship. He also had the 100 Kilos & Under Title & the Saskatchewan Hardcore International Title at the time, but it all began with Storm sticking a Canadian flag sticker over the US title plate design. That was great heat. Storm’s total time as champion lasted 115 days and puts him 45th all time, but the fact he was Canadian Champion makes his reign stand out among the rest.

WWE has attempted to replicate the success of evil foreign-born US champions in recent years with limited success. Rusev had good runs in 2014 & 2016 with the title, but you also had the time Alberto Del Rio won the title & formed Mex-America with Zeb Colter, which went over like a lead balloon. He even tried to rename the championship but didn’t have a cool sticker to put on it, so nobody really paid attention. Antonio Cesaro also held the US title as an evil foreign heel in 2012-13 and had a very lengthy reign, but he had so little heat at the time that he and the title couldn’t even get on the WrestleMania card. Not even on the preshow!

The US Championship has seen a resurgence in the last couple of years. John Cena, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns & Chris Jericho are all top-level performers, and all have held the championship as part of their quests for the top-level championships. Jericho targeted the US strap because it was the one championship that had eluded him during his illustrious career in WCW & WWE. Now he has officially done it all. Another man that has made a habit of collecting championships since his arrival in WWE won it from Jericho as part of a bitter feud between two former best friends.

Kevin Owens made his way to SmackDown Live as part of the Superstar Shakeup soon after winning the United States Championship. It was a great coup for SD Live, as Owens has already held the Universal, Intercontinental & NXT Championships within three years of signing with WWE, and seems to be well on his way to creating a new category of champion. I figure if he adds the WWE Championship to his collection, those five titles have to have some kind of name. Do we call him a Fab Five Champion? I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Kevin Owens is from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Yes, it’s another foreign heel US Champion. With the makeup of WWE’s roster, it’s tough to not have a foreign-born wrestler holding at least one of the championships at this point. I’m certainly not complaining about it, but it does make the whole “oh he’s not from America BOOOOOOOOOOO” thing kind of hard. You have to come at these things from a different angle now, and that’s exactly what WWE & Owens are doing right now. Kevin Owens has proclaimed himself to be the “Face of America”.

Kevin Owens might not be from America, but his persona & everything about him fits the United States to a tee, doesn’t it? Let’s break this down:

-We all know Owens’ physique isn’t exactly the mold a WWE Superstar is built from. He’s a little bit overweight. I’ve been there myself, so I’m not going to knock it. I will, however, point out that it is the American stereotype. Americans are known for being fat, all right? I know some people won’t be happy that I’m pointing out, but it’s true.

-The hair? The five o’clock shadow? It’s so American. The big old beard Owens used to have would have been perfect for the character too, but sometimes we try to impress people. So we shave in the morning. We wear suits when we’re trying to impress people, and we wear cutoff t-shirts and athletic shorts when we work out. Or when we wrestle, if we had to. I fully admit that if I ever had to wrestle it would be in a t-shirt and athletic shorts. No way am I wearing any spandex. Good Lord.

-Owens is a loud, obnoxious individual. I think most people would agree that Americans are loud & obnoxious.

-Owens is very arrogant. He thinks he’s better than everybody else, and that nobody is worthy of being his friend. Does that describe America? Absolutely it does. But, then again, Owens has won all of these championships and America has won all of these wars. So maybe there’s some deserved arrogance there.

-The only person Kevin Owens cares about is himself. People tell me that he cares about his family too, and he’s mentioned them before, but I get the feeling that he’d sell them out if he had to. Does that describe most Americans? Absolutely it does! We have a political party that runs on the idea of “screw everybody that isn’t us”, and they get most of the votes!

With all of these things in mind, I can’t think of a professional wrestler alive today that represents America more than Kevin Owens does.

I take a look at the picture above, and it reminds me of my grandfather. See, my grandfather was a golfer and regularly watched golf on television. When we were over at his house on Sunday, golf would be on the television. And he would root for people based on the following specifications:

-He was American
-He was a left hander
-He was a family man

Owens carries his belt on his left shoulder. He’s a family man, in fact he renewed his wedding vows recently. And he’s the Face of America. My grandfather would have supported Kevin Owens 1000%. My grandfather was the type of person that would support the government we have in place now. He would be in favor of the direction that America is going in.

Whether I agree with it or not is irrelevant. Whether you agree with it or not is irrelevant. Kevin Owens is the Face of America in 2017. His values are our values. He looks like the typical American. He acts like the typical American. The direction America is going in is the direction Kevin Owens is going in.

Frankly, Kevin Owens is a more fitting representative of America than anybody else on the WWE roster. Who would be better? AJ Styles?

Well, actually, yeah. But that’s another ball of wax that we probably don’t want to get into here.