Last night’s SmackDown Live was one of the best shows that WWE has put out this year. While the highlight of the show might have been Finn Balor and Roman Reigns joining the blue brand, Kevin Owens as a New Day member stole the show.
There is a general consensus among WWE fans that Kevin Owens was born to play the heel role. When he is on the dark side, he oozes evil in a very natural way and is certainly one of the best in the business.
In short, being a villain is his natural role. However, he returned from his injury lay-off as a face and, much to my surprise, has been exceptional as a face. And on SmackDown Live, he joined the New Day an honorary member to replace Big E.
And here are 5 reasons why he should continue being a New Day member for some time at least…
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#5 So much fun
I mean, just look at how Kevin Owens was last night. They say that he is a natural heel, but his antics with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods as a New Day member made me realize that he might just be a natural as a good guy as well.
Owens was dancing, moving his hips in a circular motion, got himself a new name – Big O – and ate as many pancakes as he liked. Heck, even his in-ring camaraderie with Woods and Kingston was perfect.
The Montreal crowd started chanting for him – which is natural because he is a Canadian – and they seemed to have loved every minute of his action as a New Day member. For me, this was one of the more fun episodes of SmackDown, thanks to Big O and the New Day, and it should continue like this for a while because it also…
#4 Consolidates KO’s face persona
When Kevin Owens came from injury as a face, not many were convinced as to how it would turn out to be. And to be fair to Owens, the circumstances were really not in his favor as he was used as a filler in the KofiMania storyline and have a match for the WWE Title at Fastlane against Daniel Bryan.
Owens had just replaced a crowd favorite, so it was natural for him to not be cheered as much as a face should be. After his loss at Fastlane, Owen didn’t have much to do apart from galvanizing Kingston as one of the many backstage members, which somewhat did help his ‘good guy’ persona.
But at Montreal on SmackDown, he took the game to another level. The fan reaction to him joining the New Day was incredible. Don’t believe me? Just go and read the comments on social media on anything Big O related from yesterday.
#3 Merchandise
This is a purely business maneuver and WWE have recently done very well to capitalize on KofiMania and push New Day merchandise sales. The New Day were already one of the biggest merchandise revenue generators in the company.
So when Kofi Kingston won the WWE Title from Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania, WWE pulled a masterstroke by making Big E unveil a new line of Kofi New Day champion t-shirt then and there itself.
Now if Kevin Owens stays on as a member for some time – even for a few weeks – they could release a new line of New Day merchandise which also features Kevin Owens.
Given the way the fans reacted to Owens joining the faction, New Day merchandise featuring Kevin Owens in them could also generate quite a revenue for the company.
After all, this is the power positivity with the New Day we are talking about.
#2 Heel turn
As much as I love Kevin Owens as a face now, there is no denying that this is just a temporary thing with him. SmackDown have also, according to rumors, lost a tremendous heel in Samoa Joe as the Samoan Submission Machine is going to perform on WWE RAW henceforth.
Meanwhile, Daniel Bryan is currently out injured, which means that SmackDown have essentially lost two great villains. So it might just be a matter of time before Owens turns bad again.
If history is to be kept as a witness, then the best heel turns are often the ones where the subject in question deeply hurts the fans. With Owens consolidating his face persona, his heel turn would be more effective now than ever before.
The more trust he gains from New Day, the more vicious his turn would be. And turning against the New Day is sure to generate a lot of flak – just what is necessary for a villain.
#1 Title shot
It has been over a week since WrestleMania 35 ended. Four TV shows have taken place so far and in none of those did we have a hint of who Kofi Kingston’s next opponent for the WWE Championship could be.
Remember, it wasn’t a long time ago when Kevin Owens was in the reckoning for this very title. He had a shot at it during Fastlane but got so lost in the mix after that that he didn’t even get a match at WrestleMania.
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So, if Owens turns heel, which might be the case somewhere down the line, he could smoothly feature as Kofi Kingston’s next opponent. Because, after all, he would be turning against the New Day and so, going for the WWE Title held by the most experienced member of the faction makes a lot of sense storyline-wise.
Also, apart from Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens has the strongest case for a title shot.