Kevin Owens has been such a bright spot since debuting at the December 2014 NXT Takeover event and attacking his best friend Sami Zayn, who had just won the NXT Title. They carried that story into this year with Owens outsmarting Zayn by saying that if Zayn wanted a match then he had to put the NXT Title on the line even though Owens had only been in the company for two months at that point. Their NXT Title match at the February NXT Takeover delivered because Owens destroyed Zayn in a way that was similar to what Brock Lesnar did to John Cena at SummerSlam last year except this beating looked even more brutal. Lesnar pinned Cena in that match. Owens didn't pin Zayn because he beat him so bad the ref called the match and it put Owens over as this monster heel that would be tough to beat. It was the perfect example of not only having a great match that lived up to expectations, but telling a great story around the match as well. When you can combine those two things that's when you can really deliver something special in wrestling. They had a rematch at the May NXT Takeover event with Zayn starting off the match on fire until Owens stopped him with a Powerbomb off the side of the apron. The match ended there with another reminder of how ruthless Owens can be. Sadly, Zayn needed shoulder surgery and probably won't be in action again until early next year. Assuming this feud picks up at that point, we could see them having one of the best rivalries in WWE next year on the main roster as Zayn looks for his revenge.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
