8 Reasons Why Kevin Owens Is WWE's Quintessential Heel

At a time when WWE's roster is experiencing a stunning lack of star power, few competitors stand out from the pack—Kevin Owens included. Closing in on the one year anniversary of his arrival in NXT, he has quickly cemented himself as one of the company's most brilliant villains.

Owens was honing his contemptible craft long before he came to the major leagues, however, but the WWE platform has allowed him to perfect his game at an all-new level. In such a short span of time, he has already made a mark on the business with reigns as NXT and Intercontinental champion.

In 2015, it's difficult to be a bad guy. Blame social media, the death of kayfabe or just plain laziness, but being a heel is a lost art form these days, especially as WWE slowly moves away from the traditional narrative of good vs. evil.

Despite that, the former Ring of Honor standout has risen to the occasion this year and has earned his place atop the food chain. He will have a bright future ahead of him if WWE can keep the course with his character and allow him to fulfill his true potential as an iconic heel.

With Seth Rollins now out with an injury, WWE is in desperate need of a fresh face to replace him as the roster's lead heel. For these eight reasons alone, there's no reason why that man can't be Kevin Owens.

No Help Needed

Credit: WWE.com

It's a common cliché in wrestling for heels to have a backup whenever they find themselves in a situation where they can't win. Granted, it's in a villain's nature to want help if he or she can't get the job done himself or herself, but that's not always necessarily the case.

Take Seth Rollins, for example. He should have been able to put opponents away by himself during his title reign—as he did in matches against Sting and Kane—but because of his association with The Authority, WWE felt the need to have it get involved in every one of his title defenses.

Well, because Kevin Owens flies solo, he's willing to do whatever it takes to walk away victorious. Cheating to win is one thing, but blatant interference is cheap as well as repetitive if done to death.

As WWE's lead loner, Owens has scored many a victory over various top stars, most of them coming in clean fashion. He won the NXT Championship from Sami Zayn without any controversy and pinned John Cena for the three count in the middle of the ring.

Sure, he'll occasionally get a win after a distraction from ringside, but more often than not, Owens has no issue annihilating his opposition, which makes him all the more dangerous.

Clear Character Development

It's safe to say that the current WWE roster is likely the most talented crop of competitors WWE has ever had, at least wrestling-wise. But the biggest difference between the roster of today and the rosters of yesteryear is that the latter had characters crowds cared about.

Say what you will about the lack of wrestling that actually occurred during the Attitude Era, but even the lower-tier performers were "over" because they had an established backstory. Virtually half of today's Superstars have had zero character development—and WWE wonders why the ratings are as low as they are.

From the get-go, fans of NXT knew everything they needed to know about Kevin Owens, regardless of whether they followed him on the independent scene. He made it quite clear in the vignettes leading up to his debut that he was in WWE to fight for his family and, well, fight.

This was apparent during the course of his feud with Sami Zayn, with Owens stating that it was strictly business and nothing personal; he's a prizefighter after all, and what he coveted most was the NXT Championship.

Despite failing to capture the NXT and United States Championships earlier in the year, Owens' motives remained the same: He craved championship gold around his waist. Although he finally won the Intercontinental Championship in September, it appears he won't be satisfied until he has every title in his possession. Whatever puts food on the table.

Never One to Embrace the Audience

Credit: WWE.com

A heel is a professional wrestler cast in the role of a villain whose main goal is to elicit "heat," or boos, from an audience. Simple enough, right?

Apparently not, as many heels this day and age—not only in WWE—don't care about turning the crowd against them. They'll cheat and lie and do everything a standard heel does, but they won't attempt to garner a negative reaction because they want to be beloved.

Shades of gray worked for wrestlers during the Attitude Era, but nowadays, it causes confusion. Meanwhile, the greatest heels are those that will stop at nothing to ensure the crowd despises them, and that's exactly what Kevin Owens has done since his WWE arrival.

It could have been extremely easy for Owens to be cheered by the faithful at Full Sail University because of his Ring of Honor background, but in one night, he became the biggest heel in the promotion when he betrayed his best friend Sami Zayn.

There are times when Owens will do something that some consider to be "smarky" and take a bow for it. However, it's typically done out of sarcasm because he couldn't care less what the WWE Universe thinks about him, regardless of whether they love him or loathe him. He'll degrade them on Twitter either way.

Beating the Best of the Best

Credit: WWE.com

Kevin Owens could have done everything in his power to be a great heel, but if he wasn't booked properly, none of it would have mattered. Thus, WWE deserves credit for doing right by him over the last 11 months.

While his path to superstardom hasn't been without its hiccups, he's been handled very well by and large, starting with his very first night in NXT when he laid out the newly crowned NXT champion Sami Zayn at the end of TakeOver: R Evolution.

From there, he went on to decimate NXT's most popular star for the NXT Championship (two months to the day, as Owens himself pointed out) and embarked on a reign of terror on the developmental brand. Even when he ultimately dropped the strap to Finn Balor in July, he was already a fixture on the main roster in a high-profile feud with John Cena.

And in his first official match as a member of the main roster, he knocked off John Cena in clean fashion. Granted, he went on to lose his next two pay-per-view bouts to The Champ, but only after strong showings and hitting everything in his arsenal multiple times.

As is sometimes the case with people Cena conquers, Owens' momentum barely faltered. He emerged victorious against Cesaro in back-to-back matches at SummerSlam and Raw before beating Ryback for the Intercontinental Championship.

Master of the Microphone

Credit: WWE.com

It's been argued, including by Dolph Ziggler, that wrestling is the least important aspect of being a WWE Superstar. That may be true to an extent, but being entertaining is surely a key element in finding success in the business.

Among the many forms that may come in is being a master of the microphone. There have been those over the years who were awful inside the ring yet were talented enough on the stick to win over the audience.

Luckily for Kevin Owens, he just so happens to be a great wrestler and an even better talker. It was unknown how much WWE would allow him to be himself when he first signed, but whenever he cuts a promo, he isn't playing a character. He's just him.

Nowadays, fans attach themselves to what's real, and Owens has proven that you don't have be over-the-top to elicit a reaction. Through his quick-witted one-liners and snarky comments, Owens has already solidified himself as one of the best microphone men on the roster right now.

He's held his own in verbal battles with the likes of John Cena, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns, and shown them all up, so it's a mystery he hasn't been able to cut meaningful promos as frequently as he was during the summer.

Talking the Talk While Walking the Walk

Credit: WWE.com

You can be a brilliant mic worker yet not have the crowd care about you because of your unimpressive win-loss record. Again, this goes back to booking someone the right way, but it's rare a wrestler can talk so much trash in addition to backing it up in the ring.

Bray Wyatt is as talented of a talker as they come, yet a vast majority of his recent promos have been beyond boring. His cadence is excellent, and he knows how to engage an audience, but the content of his promos are repetitive and nonsensical.

Not only that, he never wins when it matters most, so why should anyone buy into what he's selling? Kevin Owens, on the other hand, has had the luxury of running his mouth while getting the job done between the ropes.

His feud with John Cena was a prime example of how a heel can be so effective through promos. For weeks, he boasted about being superior to the then-United States champion and then at Elimination Chamber, he backed up his claims when he scored the win against him.

In other words, Owens is a credible competitor. He's been beaten by pinfall very few times in the last year, and because of that, fans are anxious to hear what he has to say whenever he has a microphone in his hands.

No Remorse for His Opponents

Credit: WWE.com

Kevin Owens being a great wrestler isn't what makes him special. Truth be told, the current roster is filled with incredible athletes, but it's Owens' in-ring style that makes him stand out from the rest.

Simply enough, he loves nothing more than an old-fashioned fight, but "Fight Owens Fight" isn't just a clever catchphrase; it's a way of life for the Quebec, Canada, native. He's willing to fight to the death to secure victory, and it shows in every one of his matches.

Look no further than his first official match in NXT against Neville. He didn't care about coming out on top—he wanted to have the former NXT champion taken out on a stretcher. And he was successful in doing just that.

In fact, both of his bouts with Sami Zayn ended with Zayn not getting pinned but being attended to by medical personnel. His second matchup with John Cena was no different as even in defeat, he injured Cena with a powerbomb on the ring apron and temporarily took him out of action.

The best part of all? He couldn't care less about the pain he inflicts on his opponents or how long they're on the shelf. As long as he has championship gold around his waist, it doesn't matter to him in the slightest.

Kevin Owens Is This Generation's Kevin Owens

Credit: WWE.com

In a recent segment with Shawn Michaels, Seth Rollins referred to himself as the second coming of Shawn Michaels. In a way, he was right because of all the similarities between the two over the course of their respective careers, but let's face it: There will never be another Shawn Michaels.

Almost everyone on the roster today is compared to someone from yesteryear, whether it be John Cena to Hulk Hogan or Dean Ambrose to Brian Pillman and Roddy Piper. But what makes Kevin Owens so spectacular is that he really isn't a second coming of anybody.

Owens is an old-school heel based off how he presents himself, but there isn't anyone from the past that comes close to being similar to him. That's not to say he's the best heel there has ever been, but he's a different type of heel, one that others will be compared to in the future years.

This isn't a case where if Owens fails, WWE can find someone else to fill his spot because he's a generic, cookie-cutter bad guy. He's irreplaceable; no one can do what he does, much less do it how well he does it.

Stone Cold Steve Austin was his own person. Shawn Michaels was his own person. And now Kevin Owens is his own unique entity as well.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a journalism major at Endicott College. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.

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