Kevin Owens vs. Authority: The Song That Never Ends

Those of us that have followed Kevin Owens’ career knew that something like this was bound to happen.

It was only a matter of time before KO got unhappy with WWE management. This has happened everywhere that Kevin’s gone in the world of wrestling, You can go all the way back to 2006 & his days in Combat Zone Wrestling. He was Iron Man Champion & getting showcased whenever he showed up, but he still wasn’t happy with owner John Zandig & the way things were run and wanted out of the company. He publicly begged for Ring of Honor to sign him, as ROH seemed like a classier promotion and certainly had more eyeballs on it.

He went to ROH. He seemed pretty happy there for awhile teaming with El Generico. Then he lost a match at Final Battle 2010 against his former tag team partner where the stipulation was that he would have to leave ROH if he lost. Somehow, ROH became the bad guy to Kevin, and a lot of fans, in this scenario. As if it was their fault that he lost a match resulting in his departure from the company. He spent the next couple of years making trouble for ROH managment whenever possible. Fans supported Kevin & his allies against the likes of Jim Cornette & eventually he wound up back on the good side of the fence, but its doubtful many tears were shed in ROH offices when he got the call from WWE.

Many of us weren’t sure how Kevin Owens would fare in WWE. He’s not the type of performer that they typically favor. To their credit, KO has been prominently featured ever since he entered the company. He won the NXT Championship in short order. He got matches against WWE’s top star, John Cena, right after entering WWE. He won the Intercontinental, Universal & United States Championships in shorter time than it takes most WWE Superstars to win one championship.

And oh by the way, he won that Universal Championship with the help of Triple H.

WWE management supported Kevin Owens like they’ve supported very few wrestlers over the past decade. They’ve given him every possible chance to succeed. He gets more title opportunities than anybody with his tenure with the company. He gets more time to talk than anybody with his tenure with the company. As much as people want to say that Roman Reigns is the Chosen One, it seems pretty obvious to me that Kevin Owens has received much more support from WWE brass & the McMahon family.

At least until he went to SmackDown Live, anyway.

Shane’s always marched to the beat of a different drummer from the rest of the family. Kevin might have been the chosen one of Triple H & Stephanie, but that just meant that Shane wasn’t going to like him. Daniel Bryan pretty much started the issue between the two when he made Shane the guest referee of Kevin’s match with AJ Styles at SummerSlam. Owens lost cleanly, but there was an instance of physicality between him & Shane. Just enough to cast blame for his loss in a direction other than himself.

Shane would become involved in another match that resulted in another Owens loss & the loss of KO’s ability to challenge for the US title as long as AJ Styles is champion. Which could be for awhile since AJ Styles is pretty good. Owens knows this, so he wasn’t happy. He demanded another title shot, Shane said no, and then Owens got a beat down after disparaging the McMahon family. Shane was suspended, but a different McMahon appeared on SmackDown last week to confront Owens.

There probably isn’t a more demanding boss than Vince McMahon.

He doesn’t go on vacation and he doesn’t expect anybody else to either. His writing meetings are legendary. He was an announcer for years and still takes that part of his product extremely seriously. He takes it all extremely seriously. Whether you agree with his vision or not, you have to admire his dedication.

That dedication extends to physicality as well. He was never the most graceful athlete out there. His Stunner sells are legendary in their awfulness. But that crazy son of a gun will do whatever it takes to get something over. He nearly killed himself taking a bump off a cage through an announce table. He took way too many shots to the head & lost way too much blood for a man of his station in life.

We thought he was too old to be doing this stuff eighteen years ago. Now he’s out here getting beat up by Kevin Owens at 72 years of age. I got 10 bucks saying that Vince told Kevin he better lay it in before the headbutt.

My main takeaway: What the heck is Adam Pearce’s problem? Dude ducks out of the way so his senior citizen boss can eat a top-rope splash. Not a good look, Scrap Daddy. And where were the rest of the random agents? Finlay certainly wouldn’t have stood for that if he was around.

In all seriousness though, that was a pretty good piece of business. As usual, the McMahons go all out when they’re physically involved in an angle. Vince isn’t going to ask anybody to do something that he wouldn’t do…because he’d do just about anything.

At least he’s not making out with the women anymore.

Shane vs. Owens should be pretty darn entertaining. Owens is a good brawler & Shane, like his father, is willing to do just about anything. The question isn’t if Shane will fly off the top of the Cell…it’s if it will end the match.

Another question I have concerns the future of Kevin Owens. I’ve seen these McMahon feuds play out before. More often than not, the wrestler feuding with the McMahons becomes a good guy by the end of it. AJ Styles did horrible things to Shane McMahon, but after their match at WrestleMania there was mutual respect. Does Kevin Owens gain Shane’s respct after Hell in a Cell? Does Shane gain Kevin’s respect?

I can see it going either way. Either Kevin Owens retains his status as the most despised man on SmackDown Live, or he gains the fans’ respect and becomes their representative against the ills of society. Like, for example, billionaires that are full of themselves & look down on people. Or WWE Champions that people see as undeserving.

I don’t think the story of Kevin Owens vs. management ends at Hell in a Cell. I do think how people perceive it might change.