In less than thirty seconds at Fastlane, WWE wasted all of the work put in by Kevin Owens in the last year.
It may have been one of the most predictable matches in WWE history, but Kevin Owens’ defense of his Universal Championship at Fastlane against Goldberg may have done a whole lot more harm than good, for both men.
Kevin Owens is rated by many as one of the best all-around professional wrestlers in the entire world right now. For more than the past six months, Owens has been probably the best thing on RAW. His duo with Chris Jericho showed how two men with great chemistry can get some of the most simplistic things over with the WWE audience. Who would ever have thought that a clipboard containing a list of names could get over more than the majority of the WWE roster?
Goldberg, on the other hand, is in the midst of a nostalgia trip, himself admitting previously that he only really wanted to come back to show his wife and son how big a star he is in the world of pro wrestling. Right now he has the most important title belt on RAW in his possession, something that should never have been allowed to happen.
In the grand scheme of things, it could be said that seeing Owens lose his title to Goldberg, via a distraction courtesy of the now former friend Chris Jericho, is the start of something big. To some fans, seeing a 50-year-old, part-time star, who has spent less than two minutes in actual matches since his WWE return is one of the worst pieces of booking in recent memory.
In those two matches, Goldberg has now beaten the two men — Owens and Brock Lesnar — who should be nowhere near him in the grand scheme of things, and most certainly shouldn’t be holding that title.
Goldberg defeated Lesnar back in late 2016, in less than 90 seconds. It was later explained that Lesnar had underestimated Goldberg, and had taken the challenge lightly which led to his loss. Owens lost the match and his title, owing to the distraction of his former ally Jericho. Hardly the best way to book the man who is meant to be the most important worker in your company. Goldberg has capitalized on those mistakes, mostly due to the fact that WWE doesn’t fancy putting him into a match longer than the ones he has been part of.
Owens deserves so much better than what happened at Fastlane. The fact that WWE is building such a large portion of their WrestleMania build around a rematch between Goldberg and Lesnar, tells you all you need to know about how the company values part time stars. What they really should remember is that it’s men like Owens that the shows have to be built around when these part-timers aren’t deemed necessary to the show.
The Goldberg vs Lesnar match at WrestleMania did not need the Universal Championship anywhere near it. The fact that two men like them are set to collide again at the biggest show of the year should be enough to sell that match. Lesnar being desperate to get his revenge on Goldberg should be more than enough to sell that match.
Owens should have walked into WrestleMania 33 with the Universal Championship still around his waist. He should have faced Chris Jericho in a title vs career match. Owens should then have pushed on to become the most important champion that WWE has had for a long time.
Instead we will see two part-time guys, who Vince McMahon obviously thinks will draw a lot of fans to tune into WrestleMania, do battle in what will probably end up being one of the least spectacular matches on the card. WWE has thrown all their eggs into a Goldberg vs Lesnar shaped basket, that could well prove to be one of their worst decisions of 2017 as a whole.
Kevin Owens should be the main focus of the RAW brand, but he will continue to fall into the shadow of both Goldberg and Brock Lesnar for the foreseeable future. In less than thirty seconds at FastLane, WWE wasted the whole of the last year of Kevin Owens’ career, whilst putting all the emphasis on Goldberg.