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Owens vs Rusev: Who should have they gone with?


Matt D

  

32 members have voted

  1. 1. Owens vs Rusev



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Yeah, that was my point... Unless Owens starts speaking French, he doesn't sound that much different from the average American vs. someone like Cocoa Beach's very own (lol) Rick "The Model" Martel, who has Quebecois stamped all over him.

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There may be more “upside” in Owens over the next few years, if you see him as a more broadly usable character. He can more easily turn face/heel, he'll suffer less from losses, and his whole persona is simple. That said, Rusev is the better investment longterm if he can stay healthy. Has many more years in the tank, and I enjoy him more than Owens, both as a character and a worker. Maybe even as a promo, and I'm someone who thinks Rusev shouldn't have said one word in English for at least another year. He's not some Boris and Natasha caricature. He can easily transfer into a character who is a monster first and a foreigner second.

 

To answer the poll question more specifically: Rusev should have beaten Cena in that feud. I like the Cena Open Challenge a lot, but Rusev should have been the one to take the title back. Maybe he will in time, but it shouldn't have come after so many losses. He needed the win much more than Owens did. No one expected Owens to randomly show up and beat Cena. It's cool that he did, but the two aren't mutually exclusive. Strong heel Rusev could have taken the US title off Cena this summer, with Owens coming in and beating Cena with a decisive win at a later date. Or have Owens come in and beat a different main eventer (though I do think Cena's the best for the job, and the most natural fit to work against Owens). Or as Skinner said, have Reigns be the guy to beat Rusev.

 

Regardless, Rusev losing 3 straight to Cena was really thoughtless booking, and you can see right now that for whatever reason they have him in their minds as a midcarder. Which is quite dumb as they spent a year straight booking him really strong, only to job him out to the last guy in the company who needed that rub.

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Both are money to me. I also think Rusev's recent injury has hurt him way worse than the loss to Cena. He was penciled in to win the IC right?

 

I think you can heat Rusev back up pretty easily: Have him beat Cena on a RAW. Clean or not, that would make him a viable number one contender to me instantly. Rusev/Reigns has potential.

 

I'm going to MITB tomorrow and I'm hoping Owens wins tomorrow just because I really don't want to see a replica of the Rusev/Cena feud. I enjoyed it, but why not switch it up a bit? Have Owens beat him twice just for the sake of elongating their rivalry. If Cena wins, you're left with not just Owens in a somewhat directionless spot, but who's next for Cena exactly?

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I don't see anything wrong with Rusev as a standalone talker without Lana. I think he's shown himself as capable, especially since the split with Lana. But he's hardly been working with great material, so there's that.

 

But yeah. Steen's got the most upside in my opinion. Even if you find his work from the indies to be overrated, the guy's got the gift of gab. He's clever & witty - but he can mesh that with this sense of being sinister and an absolute asshole.

As a talker, I'd rate him above Rusev, mostly because I think he's been better at building big fights through his interviews. WWE sometimes hinges on those sound bytes and those little "in the moment" remarks that can't be scripted or recreated in post-production. Steen's better at capturing those gems than a lot of guys on the roster at the moment.

 

In terms of being a promo guy, I actually think it'd be more interesting to compare him to a guy like Punk & see what people consider to be his ceiling as a potential main event player. Will they give him as much leeway with his dialogue as they did Punk? Or do they try and filter most of his stuff, etc.

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I think Kevin Owens needs a more memorable name.

 

I reckon a lot of the reason that certain guys are remembered is because of the "stickability" of a name.

 

Hulk Hogan

British Bulldogs

Brutus the Barber Beefcake - alliteration

Jake the Snake - rhyme

Stone Cold

Triple H

The Rock - easy to remember

 

Kevin Owens - just a bloke's name

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