At one point, WWE's Monday Night Raw was the "Kevin Owens Show," where The Prizefighter wrestled Goldberg and Chris Jericho before moving on to SmackDown, where he took on the likes of Shane McMahon, Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles. Now, Kevin Owens is lowering the bar, apparently, so that he can feud with Raw newcomer Angel Garza.
While Garza is extremely talented in his own right, this feud is a major step down for K.O., wh recently defeated Seth Rollins and received his big WrestleMania moment. If the WWE Universe is wondering how Owens ever became included into this feud, they're not alone -- and if WWE thinks this feud will help either Owens or Garza, it should think again.
The origins of Kevin Owens' feud with Angel Garza centered around Apollo Crews' quest to take the United States Championship away from Andrade. Both Apollo and Zelina Vega's faction were guests on the "K.O. Show," which naturally turned into a tag match. Owens' inclusion into Apollo's feud with Andrade earned K.O. a tag team victory with Apollo, while seemingly sparking Garza's bitter hatred towards Owens.
Following the tag team victory, the match between K.O. and Garza became even more personal after Garza attacked Owens' knee from behind. This attack affected Owens throughout the match and was vital to Garza's surprising upset victory over the Prizefighter. While this huge victory over Kevin Owens, clean or not, should have been a massive moment for Garza, his conquest over Owens isn't likely to do as much for him as it should.
For starters, Garza's pre-match attack during Kevin Owens' entrance will taint his huge victory. What's more, any rematch will likely give Owens his win back thanks to 50/50 booking. If defeating a former Universal Champion is going to mean something, then Garza needs to receive the massive push that a win over a former Universal Champion deserves. These cheap wins over Owens, as established as he may be, won't amount to much without either a stipulation match or future title shot opportunity stemming from it. Unfortunately, WWE may not have that amount of trust in Garza just yet and will likely revert to the status quo, per usual.
If this feud fails to elevate Garza, chances are it won't do much for Owens either. Owens is a former Universal Champion who has also won the Intercontinental and United States Championships on multiple occasions. He has faced Hall of Famers and upper card Superstars on both Raw and SmackDown. Now, he's feuding with Angel Garza who isn't even a mid-card champion.
No offense to Garza, but feuding with him is a major step down for K.O. considering his previous feuds for the WWE and Universal Titles. Even worse for Owens was having to eat the loss to Garza on Raw. Yes, Garza's sneak attack on Owens helped him pick up the victory, but even that cheap loss is a tough pill to swallow for a former Universal Champion. With K.O.'s background and success, he needs to be much higher on the card than he is at the moment, not losing to lower card Superstars -- especially given the lack of major stars at the top of the card lately.
While this all may seem like an attack on Angel Garza, rest assured it is not. Angel Garza is a breakout star for 2020. He has the look, the skills and the charisma to take him far in WWE. Unfortunately, this feud with Owens may not be the best way forward for Garza or for Owens. K.O. needs to be higher on the card while Garza needs some meaningful wins that put him in contention for a first-time title win.