10 Positive Developments In This AWFUL Post-WWE WrestleMania 35 Season
3. The Kevin Owens Heel Turn
Daniel Bryan's absence prompted WWE, without a top heel, to turn Kevin Owens heel ahead of Money In The Bank.
Rash and short-sighted, yes, but in KO's immensely talented hands, it does not feel anything close to a diminished return. The naturally witty and physically formidable Owens could still star as a babyface, but his almost immediate betrayal of the New Day felt consistent with a heel character Xavier Woods so perfectly described as an "absolute and complete garbage human". This is what Owens does: he ruthlessly exploits compassion to circle the title picture like the sociopathic prizefighting shark that he is - but he is also, crucially for WWE's presentation, top, top banter.
He put a cast on the leg of Big E's action figure. That's top banter, that is.
Christ, even this feels like a stretch. Randy Orton, surely, would have made for a better first challenger to Kofi's WWE Championship. Orton is so established, at this point, that he wouldn't have needed a single win despite losing at WrestleMania. There was so much fertile narrative ground to explore, too, deep into Randy Orton's attempted 2009 burial. This would have allowed WWE creative to get off on its favoured kink: doing the absolutely bare minimum!
Stupid! Stupid!