Kevin Owens and the Brock Lesnar Dream Match
Kevin Owens recently gave his pick for who he would like to face at WrestleMania and to the surprise of no one, he said Brock Lesnar. It makes perfect sense, as the two pair up well on paper and for many fans, it's a dream match of epic proportions.
But some dream matches are not meant to be and maybe this is one of them.
The booking is the issue here and ultimately it always is. For WWE creative to even consider this move, then a couple of things must be in play. The first is protecting Owens and the second is protecting Lesnar.
From the time he came to WWE's main roster, KO has been compared to a prize fighter. The idea of a heartless warrior who cares only about money is not unique in the business; mercenaries and bounty hunters have existed for years and have made for some intriguing storylines.
This is what Owens is at his core but unlike other heels around him, he's made a conscious effort to go old school.
The old school term has been overused to the point of nausea but if it applies to anyone, it's Owens. He doesn't care for getting cheered, he doesn't like fans and he does everything in his power to heel out every time he's on camera. He's got the perfect attitude to be who he is and he knows exactly what he must do to get over.
If all of that sounds familiar, it should. It used to describe Brock Lesnar.
But if WWE wants to keep the aura around Owens, then he cannot be exposed against Lesnar. Lesnar can't be asked to sell to a guy that can't keep up, nor can he bump to a guy that is not in the best physical shape.
This is not to criticize Owens, as the old school mentality directly applies to his body as well. He's a brawler, not a bodybuilder and the truth is, it's working for him.
But Lesnar is not called The Beast Incarnate just because it looks good on a T-Shirt. He's a monster, a vicious animal that devours everything in his path. John Cena with his chiseled physique couldn't stop him. Undertaker and Big Show both standing at seven feet tall couldn't get the job done. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, who both live in the gym, did not make a dent.
How could fans really believe Owens would stand a chance against him? The match-up does sound good, there's no doubt about it but the moment that both men are in the same ring at the same time, will it suddenly look like a massacre waiting to happen?
If Owens puts Lesnar on his back, what then? Will the crowd cheer as if one gladiator has just slain another? Or will the sight of it cause everyone watching to suddenly lose any belief they had in the match itself and the understood truth of talent cooperation is on stage for the whole world to see?
If Owens' physique was not an issue, if he looked like Cena, then the booking would still be a problem. How could anyone honestly believe that the man who destroyed Cena, who bested The Undertaker twice including ending the undefeated streak, would lose to a guy that himself could not beat Cena in the end?
Neither man is protected and neither man has anything to gain if the booking is not right. WWE did not spend all the time and money it took promoting Lesnar as the big fight monster that he is for it to all be wrecked now. There's no doubt Owens is stuck in the same place as several other Superstars are and could surely use the rub that Lesnar could give.
For it to work however, it has to be perfect and there may be no way to make it perfect.
Does Owens deserve it? Absolutely. Will the match happen? Perhaps. Will WWE do it justice or will it be an odd situation that in the end could do more harm than good? The fact is, there's no way to know. WWE needs to elevate fresh faces to the main event level and Owens definitely fits that description so the idea could very well be getting kicked around among WWE creative at this very moment.
But maybe we should all keep dreaming.
