When the Wrestling Thread Got the Answers, HE Changed the Questions

[Donnie Darko]

I have zero issue with Owens feuding with Cesaro, my fear though, is that it won't be featured as a major feud that gets attention on RAW. Being a top level guy isn't always about wrestling the likes of Cena or Brock, it's about whether you get segments on RAW to build your story. I just hope Owens is allowed to matter outside the Cena bubble.

I agree. The other night, there was discussion here about Ambrose and how he is the utility guy in WWE right now, moving wherever he is needed on the card, always being involved, and never losing his steam, really. Ambrose could feud with Fandango for a month, and I wouldn't bat an eye at him moving into a world title feud the month after that. That's just how he has been handled.

Now, if Owens will be handled in a similar way (feeling like a legit main event guy no matter where he is on the card) is yet to be seen, but starting with Cesaro/Rusev ain't bad.

 

[MMMMM...Pancakes]

 

[Bat Brain]

 

[Trainwreck2100]

I bet Ryback gets a world title run before Cesaro.

he's already had two title shots

 

[Slushy]

Kevin Owens beat John Cena clean on his WWE PPV debut, and was pushed heavy both immediately upon his arrival in NXT and then immediately upon his arrival in WWE. His program with John Cena has been the hottest of the year, producing some of the best matches of the year. He's one of the most talked about wrestlers on the planet right now. Even after Cena beat him, it took like 3 Attitude Adjustments to do it. So I find it pretty hilarious that he loses a few matches and suddenly he's "buried."

Look what happened to Bray Wyatt and Alexander Rusev.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

I'd only be excited for Cena/Rollins if it's a title for title match.

 

[famicommander]

I don't know how anyone can say Owens wasn't buried.

He's not relegated to jobber status, but he is definitely buried.

He went from NXT Champ and pinning Cena clean to losing his NXT title clean, losing to Cena clean at two straight PPVs including a tapout, losing on RAW, what happened on Smackdown, and likely losing his NXT title rematch and possibly being left off the Summerslam card altogether.

You don't just give a guy six straight high profile losses and change his character from a dominant heel into a cowardly if you're not trying to bury him. There was a purposeful and concentrated effort to knock his standing in the company down. That's the definition of a burial.

He was out there with the jobbers getting ragdolled trying to stop the Taker/Lesnar brawl. The only guys who weren't out there were Cena, Sheamus, Orton, Wyatt, and Rollins. That tells you straight up who the top guys in the company are.

He didn't have to go over Cena cleanly. There were many ways that feud could have ended that didn't result it a burial. But they chose to keep the US Title on Cena and tap Owens out to definitively end the feud.

Owens went from holding one belt and feuding over another to losing every televised match and feuding over no belts.

 

[Donnie Darko]

He's still on tv feuding with top talents (Finn Balor in NXT and Cesaro in WWE). He has been sharing the ring with the biggest star in wrestling for the last few months in the best feud of the year.

None of that is buried.

 

[famicommander]

Yes it is.

They went from booking him as a strong and dominant heel to booking him to lose constantly and run away like a coward.

You don't give a guy six straight televised losses, four at PPVs/supercards if you're not trying to bury him. There's no reason for it other than to knock him down. He got over when Vince didn't want him to and now he's being punished.

 

[The Batman]

Um, Sheamus was out there during the brawl.

So was Russev, one of the few guys on the roster with an actual storyline, and Cesaro, who seems like WWE is once again testing the waters with in terms of an actual push.

Also, Owens looks a ton more credible right now than the freaking World Heavyweight Champion.

I can see why people get annoyed over the IWC's obsession with wins and losses. Owens took a ton of punishment in his recent match with Cena, but he ended up tapping out, so that suddenly doesn't count? Even guys like HBK have tapped to Cena.

 

[famicommander]

I don't recall seeing Sheamus out there. I may have just missed him though.

 

[Donnie Darko]

Is he supposed to go undefeated until WM and pin Cena, Orton and Lesnar in the main event? It's wrestling. People lose sometimes and fluctuate on the card (see Ambrose). It's not the end of the world.

 

[The Batman]

Also, I'm pretty sure Ambrose wasn't in that Taker/Lesnar brawl, and he sure as hell hasn't been booked as strongly as Owens has been.

 

[Slushy]

He's still on tv feuding with top talents (Finn Balor in NXT and Cesaro in WWE). He has been sharing the ring with the biggest star in wrestling for the last few months in the best feud of the year.

None of that is buried.

He may not be buried like Wade Barrett, but it took away a lot of his momentum. A common problem after feuding with one John Cena.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Owens had to lose the NXT belt to cut ties with the program and he had to lose to Cena the second time since he won the first time. Cena is still the most marketable guy in the business and the ultimate good guy. Him losing to Owens for the final time just isn't good for the kind of program WWE is trying to put out there. Cena is doing Make a Wish for Christ's sake. The bully can't win. I didn't like that he tapped out to that submission, but I got over that. Owens is still a WWE rookie and has had a great stretch of matches so far. He's not buried. This is almost as bad as when people said Neville got buried after losing to the WWE CHAMPION in, like, his second week on Raw. Owens future in the WWE is very bright.

You know Ring of Honor is a small company when they hand write your name and address.

 

[famicommander]

Is he supposed to go undefeated until WM and pin Cena, Orton and Lesnar in the main event? It's wrestling. People lose sometimes and fluctuate on the card (see Ambrose). It's not the end of the world.

I didn't say he should win every match. I said he shouldn't have an extremely high profile losing streak right after they pushed him so hard. He tore through NXT, showed up on Raw, destroyed Cena, then pinned him cleanly at a PPV. You don't do that with a guy unless you intend to pull the trigger on him... and then they completely reversed course. He lost his NXT title cleanly to a guy that is staying in NXT. If you pitch NXT as your developmental league and then you have a guy you're pushing on the main show lose cleanly to an NXT guy, it hurts his credibility. And then Cena pins him cleanly, which is fine. A normal part of a feud. But then Cena TAPS him out, cleanly, in a US Title match. Keeping in mind Cena is going to the World title scene, he will probably drop the US Title anyway. That title is a midcard title... and they obviously abandoned plans to drop it to Owens. Then they decide to give him some losses on TV, where he not only loses but simply runs away from the faces. Then they give him a pointless rematch for the NXT title we know he won't win because he isn't staying in NXT. And now he may not even be on the card at Summerslam?

It's this start-stop booking that is the problem. They didn't have to book him like a monster heel for his first seven months in NXT/WWE. They didn't have to put him in a title feud with Cena right off the bat. But they did, and then they quickly killed that momentum.

He was one of the freshest and most over new heels in the company in who knows how long. And now he is just another guy. If they weren't ready to have him go over Cena in that feud they shouldn't have done the feud. Now Owens' heel heat is dead and is Cena really any better off? Would anyone think less of Cena if he dropped a midcard title?

 

[Lobo]

Is he supposed to go undefeated until WM and pin Cena, Orton and Lesnar in the main event? It's wrestling. People lose sometimes and fluctuate on the card (see Ambrose). It's not the end of the world.

No he's supposed to travel back in time to defeat Takers steak. I kid, I kid

 

[Slushy]

Jeff Jarrett on Talk Is Jericho today.

I didn't say he should win every match. I said he shouldn't have an extremely high profile losing streak right after they pushed him so hard. He tore through NXT, showed up on Raw, destroyed Cena, then pinned him cleanly at a PPV. You don't do that with a guy unless you intend to pull the trigger on him... and then they completely reversed course.

This guy gets it. Owens is another casualty in WWE's "Push! Stop!" system.

 

[DarkSentinel]

Wrestling school tonight. Here's hoping I'm less green and more red by the end.

 

[DarkSentinel]

No he's supposed to travel back in time to defeat Takers steak. I kid, I kid

I hear Taker likes his steak tough.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Batista looked bad ass in the new Spectre trailer.

 

[TX85]

Has Batista hinted or is it rumored that he'll be returning later this year/sometime next year or after his disasterous last return did he cut all wwe ties for at least another couple of years?

 

[Wheels]

I actually think Dave was hurt by the reception he got from us. He was in wrong place at the wrong time. Plus, unfortunately for him he looked like Scott Steiner out there with his huffing and puffing.

 

[Slushy]

Has Batista hinted or is it rumored that he'll be returning later this year/sometime next year or after his disasterous last return did he cut all wwe ties for at least another couple of years?

He's still under contract. Must be nice!

 

[Donnie Darko]

This guy gets it. Owens is another casualty in WWE's "Push! Stop!" system.

I actually do agree that he could've/should've been handled better at the end of the Cena feud, but, IMO, push/stop booking isn't the same as burial.