10 Times Wrestlers Got Over With ONE Match

4. Kevin Owens

Orange Cassidy PAC
WWE

The transition from NXT to the main roster is tricky, and it's not as simple as Vince McMahon being decayed.

Much of the time, the NXT fans have seen their guy reach a pinnacle in a better system. The more casual WWE fan meanwhile must be halfway mystified. The vignette has been replaced by the entrance, where one used to follow the other. There is or was a suggestion that main roster fans should or actually do know of these acts, one the Wednesday night ratings disprove. The creative is presumptive and repetitive through the respective lenses of the casual and hardcore fan.

The promotion was also perfected - to an extent that would have invited diminished returns, were it repeated - five years ago. It doesn't get more emphatic, exhilarating or cathartic than Kevin Owens, gilded as a super-working ultra-violent genius promo, defeating John SuperCena cleanly on his main roster bow.

Their match at Elimination Chamber was more exciting than it was well-crafted, but the audacity of the booking, and the thin but very well done premise, of Owens taking Cena to the limit, legitimised Owens as a star within just 20 minutes.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!