John Cena vs. Kevin Owens: Analyzing Importance of an Owens Victory to WWE TV

There is no match on Sunday's Elimination Chamber card more important to both the future and present of World Wrestling Entertainment than United States champion John Cena's showdown with the breakout star of the year, NXT champion Kevin Owens.

In just six months, Owens has exploded onto the scene, becoming the best and most consistently booked star in all of WWE.

The lead villain in NXT, he has systematically picked apart the likes of Alex Riley, Sami Zayn and Neville, sending them away on stretchers and standing atop the brand as its most despicable yet celebrated competitor.

To this point, he has been utilized to perfection, a driven and motivated ass-kicker whose one goal is to destroy anyone in his path en route to providing the best life possible for his family. To him, the NXT Championship is not some glorious prize; it is the means to an end.

The story is incredibly intriguing, as are his interactions with Cena, whom he will look to add to his list of victims Sunday night on the WWE Network.

And for the sake of the company's television programming going forward, it has never been more imperative for a Superstar to defeat the franchise player in WWE than it is this weekend.

Thanks to the immense talent and determination of the young stars, and the vision of Chief Operating Officer Triple H, NXT has become the cornerstone of the company's revolutionary network.

As such, it is important that the top stars on that roster be carefully booked as not to devalue them.

If the NXT champion rolls into Corpus Christi, Texas, for this weekend's show and loses to Cena, it is yet another instance of Superman conquering his latest evildoer. Cena will gain nothing from the win, while Owens' undefeated streak will come to a screeching halt.

Worse yet, the fans of NXT will have watched the biggest star on that roster become, to paraphrase Cena himself, "another guy to step up and be put down."

Those fans who emotionally invest themselves in NXT and the weekly goings-on involving the company's developmental talent will be harshly reminded that the guys and gals they cheer for are not as good as the Superstars and Divas from Monday and Thursday nights—especially when that guy is the champion, and face, of the entire brand.

But NXT is hardly the only show that would suffer from an Owens defeat. A loss for the NXT champion would be detrimental to Raw and SmackDown as well.

The main-roster shows have been sorely lacking legitimate main event heels, to the point that an aging Kane and former in-ring competitors such as Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble figure heavily into main event angles they have no business appearing in.

Sheamus, Bray Wyatt and Rusev have all flirted with the main event but have been shuffled back down the card, with their opportunities limited by uneven booking.

Owens, on the other hand, is such a complex and interesting heel, who has been booked to the level of his competition, that he could easily be the guy to fill the role that the company has allowed to go vacant for too long.

Having him lose to give Cena another pay-per-view victory would be irresponsible of WWE Creative and, worse, Vince McMahon.

It is not every day that a star comes into a company, makes as big an impact as Owens has and remains as protected as he has been to this point. His performances have been leaps and bounds beyond what anyone could have expected for him in the land of sports entertainment.

Wasting that would do a great disservice to the performer, the company, the future and WWE's major television properties.

A hero is only as great as his villain, and Owens is a superb bad guy—the type of despicable heel who can, and will, provide Cena's Superman with his version of Darkseid or Lex Luthor.

Perhaps that is where Owens is most valuable.

Over the years, television has become as stale as Cena's character, which is no coincidence. The leader of the Cenation has rarely encountered an opponent fans believe can convincingly defeat him.

Owens is that guy—if, and only if, those in power make the right decision when the two clash Sunday night at Elimination Chamber.