10 Wrestlers Set For A Big Push Following WrestleMania 35
1. Kevin Owens
Poor Kevin Owens.
It was reported in May of last year, mere months before ALL IN and the contractual paradigm shift that followed, that the Prizefighter had signed a new five-year deal. He missed out on the opportunity for leverage, in parallel with with his damaging and painful feud with Braun Strowman - and, upon his return from injury, he missed out on his own push. With remarkable poetry, he looked at the early draft of the WrestleMania 35 card, and was relieved to read the words 'KO MANIA'. The problem is that there was still a bit of space dust on it. Vince blew the cobwebs from the run sheet, revealing the words 'KOFIMANIA'.
Owens, briefly repackaged as a bowler, threw a gutter ball ahead of WrestleMania 35 - but his demotion resulted from a bizarre, rare striking of the iron. André The Giant Memorial Battle Royal fodder now, Owens was presumably promised something of note in the aftermath.
How this manifests is unclear - but intriguing. Owens would excel as the first challenger to Kofi Kingston's WWE Championship, and comes equipped with a vicious motivation born from jealousy. Logical as his motivation would be, and as fresh as that programme is, Owens is stale in a heel role from which WWE has surgically removed any sense of malice and aura. A babyface Owens boasts the genuine, quick-fire wit and instincts to get over in WWE's customary wise-cracking role.
A follow-up to the shelved Bryan feud, as an upper midcard attraction, could birth that rarest of beasts: an organic, popular WWE babyface.