8 Ups And 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (May 18th)

1. Owens Shows He€™s Ready

Without a doubt, the biggest highlight of the night came during the John Cena U.S. Open Challenge, when NXT Champion Kevin Owens made his Raw debut. In a matter of 10 minutes, Owens managed to become one of the biggest stars in WWE and made a match between he and John Cena a must-see affair €“ and you get the feeling he wasn€™t even trying. Owens plays such a different breed of heel that it€™s almost foreign to fans. He doesn€™t yell and scream like most heels, he€™s smug, confident and often in control of the situation. When he€™s not, he backs down until he can gain the upper hand. Even simple things like refusing to introduce himself and saying that €œthe people who don€™t know who I am aren€™t worth my time,€ is just an awesome display of disdain for everyone without resorting to traditional cheap heat. Kevin also went toe-to-toe with the 15-time world champion John Cena, telling him sternly that he would not accept any friendly veteran advice, pointing out that he€™s been wrestling longer than Cena, just without the breaks that he€™s had. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBiGXrDCKw4 The topper came when Owens backed down from a United States Championship match, only to demolish Cena with a pop-up powerbomb. Then for good measure, he held up the U.S. and NXT titles, dropped the U.S. strap and stomped it. Sure, Owens was out there to help shill NXT Takeover: Unstoppable on Wednesday, but he succeeded in (also) making fans want to see he and Cena lock horns, which now will take place at Elimination Chamber. WWE is currently in need of serious heels who can be convincing at a top level, and Owens fits the bill perfectly. Perhaps this was an audition? If so, Owens aced it. Sign that man up now.