7 Mistakes WWE Have Made With Kevin Owens As Universal Champion

Aside from the crimes WWE have inflicted on Owens himself since the Universal Title victory, the characters around him have caused just as many problems. Raw’s main event scene is a convoluted mess where the heels routinely draw bigger cheers than the supposed “good guys,” and it has as much to do with the booking of Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins as anything else.

Rollins’ face turn has been entirely unconvincing. There was widespread disappointment when he reverted to his old heel persona after returning at Extreme Rules last year, but the eventual turn just hasn’t paid-off. Rollins is as insufferably whiny as it gets, and the whole impetus for his turn was “Triple H doesn’t love me anymore.” It’s an incredibly weak foundation, and his playground insults and general cockiness have done nothing to build on it.

Reigns, meanwhile, remains the most divisive wrestler in the world. He recently became the first babyface to ever win PWI’s “Most Hated” award, and his negative crowd reactions are regularly the night’s loudest. He’s a smug, smarmy bully who’s almost impossible to root for, and WWE show no signs of turning things around.

KO’s run would have been entirely more enjoyable if he had genuine heroes to face-off with, but likeable babyfaces are becoming increasingly rare in WWE. Owens’ feuds with Rollins and Reigns have disrupted wrestling’s tried and tested dichotomy of good vs. evil, and left fans rooting for a cowardly heel champion.