Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn Will Be WWE's Best Feud of 2015

In the flood of scripted violence that is WWE, there is the rare battle that stands out, that leaves emotions crackling along fans' veins. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn is one of them.

No current feud has the head start that this one has, building on a war that began long before either man first stepped into a ring at NXT. No WWE rivalry right now is as perfect a pairing as this one pitting gutsy hero against stalking beast, warrior against destroyer, friend against friend.

At NXT Takeover: Rival, Owens chewed on Zayn's bones in front of a live audience.

After just a few months of being part of NXT, the bruiser knocked off the champ. He did so in a way that channeled Brock Lesnar's SummerSlam dominance over John Cena. Owens powerbombing Zayn until his eyes rolled backward, his body went limp and the referee had mercy on him pointed to this feud only gathering momentum from this point.

It was a finish that some fans may have disliked, but as Bleacher Report's Dan Pecoraro says, the move elevates both men:

Looking ahead, it's clear that this story isn't over. A rematch, revenge and possibly redemption are on their way.

With as stellar as that match at Rival was and with as great as their pre-WWE battles have been, there's no doubt that Zayn vs. Owens will be 2015's premier feud.

History Repeating

WWE has wisely embraced the greatness that Zayn and Owens composed together elsewhere. As El Generico and Kevin Steen, respectively, those two men lit up Ring of Honor in 2010 and 2012 with a classic friends-turned-foe story.

Once both men were together at NXT, officials didn't try to create something new from scratch. They simply let existing magic play out on a different stage. 

At ROH, Owens and Zayn were tag team champs as a thunder-and-lightning duo. Just as Owens would later do at NXT Takeover: R Evolution, he ripped their friendship apart. The feud that followed was one of wrestling's best in recent memory.

They composed a number of stunning matches together, including a Ladder War at ROH's Final Battle 2012.

Owens and Zayn shared the kind of chemistry most opponents would be jealous of. Bookers throw guys together in the ring all the time hoping for a spark. These gentlemen produced a raging fire instead.

It's hard to imagine that Lesnar and Roman Reigns can catch up to them in that department in just a matter of months. When Randy Orton and Seth Rollins finally begin their expected series, it won't have years' worth of history to build on.

The NXT champ and his wounded foe have already shown they can deliver award-winning bad blood.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Indeed Wrestling) named their 2010 rivalry the Feud of the Year over Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels and John Cena vs. Batista. And Owens and Zayn are destined to outshine rivalries from bigger platforms once again.

A part of that will be because they complement each other perfectly.

Credit: WWE.com

There's the appeal of a smaller guy going up against a bigger one. Theirs is a battle of speed versus power, but Owens is plenty explosive enough not to make their contests the plodding kind. Owens vs. Zayn is a pure babyface against a monster heel, a flyer against a bruiser.

It would be hard to cook up a better fit in a lab. 

Continuing what they began at ROH and WWE-level production appeals to two types of fans: the ones who are fully familiar with these rivals' previous work and those who are just getting to know these men.

For some fans, this will be fresh, a great series that they are catching after it has already gathered steam. Others will experience it as an ongoing epic.

Zayn told WWE.com, "When you look at the history between us, I think we're destined to fight forever." After seeing them expand on their collective resume at Rival, leaving fans wanting more, one has to hope that he's right.

A New Chapter

One expects that Zayn and Owens will eventually be locking horns on the main roster at some point. There will be questions then about whether WWE officials will give them the proper spotlight.

Owens and Zayn are both far from prototypical Superstars. And WWE hasn't done well to hype feuds that aren't the main event as of late.

At NXT, though, this story will have the proper room to work with, the proper level of respect. That's already been the case. Officials didn't wait around for Owens to climb the ranks; they sent him after Owens on his first night on the job.

The NXT production team has cut great hype videos so far, borrowing from previous installments of their rivalry and adding an NXT-specific touch.

How their first NXT collision played out suggests that excellence will follow. Having Zayn lose by referee stoppage only plays up his heart.

Near the end of the match, he wasn't kicking out as much as he was instinctively rolling one shoulder up. He was helpless on the mat, stunned and spent, and he still did not lie down. That element will amplify this narrative going forward.

It sets up a story of Zayn looking to survive, playing Rocky Balboa to Owens' Ivan Drago.

Owens looked like an absolute beast in his championship win. The chase to take him down now feels like a knight going dragon-hunting. 

As Three Man Booth points out, the punishment and pain that are sure to come will be perfect for these rivals:

Zayn is the type of babyface who most thrills during the chase. We saw that last year as he traveled down his road to redemption. Zayn's pursuit of Adrian Neville didn't have the personal elements that this one had, though.

It has the benefit of a broken friendship and the desire for vengeance. After another night where Owens had him in need of medical care, the animosity between them promises to be the raging, boiling-over kind.

This is the kind of story that makes matches mean so much more, that turns victory and defeat into moments that have fans tearing up or overcome with joy. It's what separates the classics from everyday fare. 

And we all know how good the wrestling is going to be. Their ROH work and their latest addition at Rival speak to that.

Indy wrestler Gran Akuma has every reason to be excited about what's next:

He's spot on here. Expectations should be skyscraper-high. Zayn vs. Owens isn't just a rivalry; it's a franchise.

Count on NXT making sure that each man gets plenty of opportunities to outdo his previous work. Count on champion and challenger being the talk of WWE all year.