Despite all the criticism that WWE gets for not looking to the independent wrestling scene for talent, they certainly have been working to dispel that notion recently, with several internet darlings (as CM Punk called himself and other independent wrestlers) dominating NXT. Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, Hideo Itami and Finn Balor all built up massive followings around the world and now are focal points of WWEs farm system. Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan also made names for themselves in the indys and are integral parts of the WWE roster. Now, the latest signing will make his debut. Vignettes for Kevin Owens have painted the picture of a guy who is coming to NXT to fight. Hes fought against and alongside the likes of Rollins, Bryan, Neville and Zayn and been passed over by WWE. Owens is unabashedly coming in with a chip on his shoulder and ready to fight anyone, anytime. Thats about as straightforward of an introduction as you can have. So will he debut Thursday and demolish some poor, helpless schmo? Or will it be similar to Hideo Itamis debut in September, where he is introduced and maybe has a skirmish with someone? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CwY8l-t0Go Itll be interesting to see how they kickstart the former Kevin Steens WWE/NXT career.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
