The Prizefighter Kevin Owens is currently standing tall in WWE as the United States Champion, which is a title that he initially captured back at WrestleMania 33. Following a brief back and forth with former best friend, Chris Jericho, he is once again reigning supreme on SmackDown Live, with many fans praising him for instantly raising the profile of the belt.
Whilst that may be the case, we can think of plenty more negatives than there are positives when it comes to having KO be the champ. Some of the entries we’ve listed may seem a little bit picky to some, but in the grand scheme of things and where the company is going, Owens just doesn’t feel like the right person to hold the belt right now.
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For the time being it seems as if the title will be put on standby courtesy of Owens entering himself into the Money in the Bank ladder match, and that move itself should be a massive warning sign for members of the WWE Universe. They could always work this idea of him neglecting the title into a storyline, but that’s an extremely risky way to go.
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So with that being said, here are five reasons why Kevin Owens should drop the US Title.
#1 Charity reign
Kevin Owens being the US Champion doesn’t feel like it’s something he’s desired for long; it feels like a charity reign. As we all know Owens was embarrassed by Goldberg in their Universal Title match at Fastlane, and if anything, this feels like WWE saying “thanks for doing the job kid, here’s the US strap to carry around”.
They weren’t even remotely thinking about the title during the feud with Y2J, and when Jericho won it back, he may as well have been invisible. If they want to honour Owens’ hard work in the right way, they shouldn’t have had him lose the Universal belt in the first place.
#2 Repetitive
As we all know by now, Kevin Owens is Canadian, with the former World Champion also being able to speak seemingly fluent French. As such, the company felt the only logical and possible direction for him would be to go down the ‘Face of America’ route, which hasn’t really worked out all too well for him thus far.
The fact that it’s an old school gimmick isn’t necessarily the problem, but he isn’t being nearly as fresh as he was in his other personas. This repetitive nature makes it feel like WWE have handed him a script and demanded that he go through it point by point.
When Jericho was repetitive, he did it in a way that was adaptable to the fans – and this just isn’t.
#3 Step down
Kevin Owens was the longest reigning Universal Champion in history, and whilst that isn’t saying much given that the belt hasn’t even been around for a year, yet it’s still impressive. He beat a number of top stars, including Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, on his way to retaining the belt, and it’s sad to see how big of a step down he’s taken.
It’s a very clear message from WWE that they’d rather have him in the mid card right now, and the personal nature of his feud with Jericho took a much bigger precedent over the actual title at WrestleMania.
The belt itself is suffering because of this, and Owens comes across as being more disgruntled than ever before.
#4 Other possibilities including the return of a popular former star
The United States Championship is, by all means, a mid card title. That isn’t an insult by any stretch of the imagination; it’s just the truth. As such, Kevin Owens shouldn’t really be holding it, considering that he’s already thrust himself into a main event position.
You could argue that he’s raising the value of the belt, but that only really works when you’re on the levels of someone like John Cena.
The likes of Zack Ryder, Sami Zayn, Tye Dillinger or even former US and 3-time IC Champion Shelton Benjamin would be better suited to holding onto the strap for the few months after he hopefully returns to the WWE after 8 long years.
Yes, we know the first is still injured and the last is waiting to come back, but it’s not as if KO is going to drop the belt tomorrow.
#5 Storyline potential
There are so many things you can do with Owens outside of the US Title right now it’s not even funny. There’s a potential bout with Shane McMahon on the cards after the two have shared some tense moments over the last twelve months, there’s the possibility of Owens wanting to jump back to Raw to get his deserved Universal Title rematch, and much more.
You could also have an Owens-Orton feud somewhere down the line which would be interesting, as they’ve never really done much together beyond a couple matches.
Plus, if you want to build Owens up to the level of challenging for the main title, you could even have him join forces with someone like Rusev and go on a tear for a few months.
The possibilities are endless.
