BWOTW Special: The Year WWE Got KO'd

Welcome one and all to a very special post here on the blog, welcome to 'The Year WWE Got KO'd', a look back and a celebration of Kevin Owens' first year on the main roster. 

The best debut in a long time

On this date last year, Kevin Owens debuted on the May 18th edition of Monday Night RAW, and he did so in spectacular fashion.

Debuting against John Cena is one thing, but doing so by destroying him in the middle of the ring is another. Severe and several props must go to Cena for this segment and for everything he did for Kevin Owens, he absolutely sold fear and worry as soon as KO's theme came over the loudspeakers (not caught on camera was me flipping the fuck out in my living room).

"Shit."

In his first weeks on the main roster, Big Kev made a hell of an impact. His first official match was facing The West-Newburian Superman, John Cena, at Elimination Chamber. What a fucking match this was. The previous sentence can be applied to the Owens/Cena trilogy, which were all Match of the Year contenders and winners. Owens won the first bout, but Cena would beat him at Money in the Bank and Battleground. In my opinion, Owens brought the best out of Cena. I'm struggling to decide whether him or Cesaro were better opponents, but it doesn't matter because they were all phenomenal and we all benefited. These few moths feuding with Cena are arguably the best of Owens' WWE career. 

After facing Cena, Kevin remained a prominent figure in and around the upper mid-card and main event scene. He continued to put on great matches on RAW, SmackDown! and Pay-Per-View. At SummerSlam, Kevin faced the freshly re-invigorated Cesaro, who also was coming off of instant classics with Cena. The one problem I had with this match was that this was not for the Intercontinental Championship, which at the time was being contested between Ryback, The Big Show and The Miz (obligatory "FUCK SAKE WWE"). Nevertheless, it wouldn't be long before Special K had his tattooed mitts around the title his own son had told him to go after. At Night of Champions, Owens dethroned Ryback, a sweet relief for many a fan.

Kevin held the title like a damn champion should. The way he held it, celebrated with it, talked about it, it breathed new life to the Intercontinental Championship, similar to how Daniel Bryan wanted to do after winning it at WrestleMania 31 before later vacating it. He defended the title against names such as Chris Jericho, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler and more. At this time, Kevin reached the semi-finals of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship tournament. This tournament helped to prove Owens as a serious contender, only being knocked out of the tourney by Ambrose, because WWE just wanted a Reigns/Ambrose match. 

The Prizefighter

Ambrose was probably Kevin's best challenger to the Intercontinental Title in his reign, with Owens dropping the title to him at TLC in December. The two met again in a great Last Man Standing match at the Royal Rumble. What's a shame is that this match will probably be overlooked due to this event also having the debut of AJ Styles, an amazing moment in wrestling history. Kev got his own back by eliminating him from the Royal Rumble though, cementing himself as a right bastard to the fans in attendance. 

From here on, Kevin Owens would once again win the Intercontinental Championship thanks to The Authority dicking around Ambrose. Thanks Steph!

Soon after, Sami Zayn debuted on the March 7th episode of Monday Night RAW (which also is the start of this here blog). Ever since, Zayn/Owens have yet again been engrossed in a bitter feud, a familiar and wonderful place for these two. This led into WrestleMania 32, Kevin's first WrestleMania and said match being joint match of the night (I tied it with the women's triple threat). The Intercontinental was not to be retained though, with Kevin losing the title to Zack Ryder. Owens has since remained close to the Intercontinental Championship. He put on another Match of the Night at Payback against Zayn in another great instalment to their storied rivalry. 
And who knows? Kevin could become a 3-time Intercontinental Champion this Sunday

To conclude, Kevin Owens has had probably the best debut since Angle or Lesnar. Always entertaining and always a highlight of every show he's on, Kevin Owens is a valuable asset to the WWE and has money in him. It appears WWE know this judging by how much fucking merch he's had. 
I look forward to the future of KO. There are so many people he could have amazing runs with; more Zayn, Styles, Rollins, Joe, more Balor, Joe, Nakamura, Lesnar and hell I would love another run with Cena. Cut me another slice of that Kevin Owens pie and put on some cream because I want to savour this for a long time.