Kevin Owens Validates WWE's Confidence in Him with Stellar Performance

Kevin Owens stood over WWE's biggest star, tearing at John Cena's armband, shouting at him to stay down. A rookie was set to fell a giant of the squared circle. A man unknown to many a casual fan was in the midst of closing his jaws around WWE's ever-present hero.

This wasn't a debut match. It was Owens' declaration of his power.

Just five months after Owens first emerged at NXT, WWE offered him a 20-minute window to go up against the company's standard-bearer, to prove himself as a star worthy of the stage he was on. The bruiser did just that.

Owens excelled to the point that WWE has to be jittery with excitement about the possibilities going forward.

Credit: WWE.com

The company shot Owens up the ranks and he responded with a performance that can only be described as clutch. With no championships on the line, no Elimination Chamber to add to the spectacle, Owens looked capable of being a centerpiece.

Never before has there been such a fast-tracked journey in WWE.

In just his 10th televised match, Owens had gone from NXT newcomer to facing off against the top dog. Owens won the NXT Championship three matches into his WWE career. He barreled over a handful of prospects after that and soon found himself opposite Cena before he even reached the half-year mark in his tenure with the company.

WWE doesn't move things along like that for anyone. It clearly believes in Owen's potential. It offered him the most unique of opportunities: to debut on a pay-per-view, to debut against Cena, to join the short list of men who have ever pinned Cena without an asterisk next to the win—all in one night.

Credit: WWE.com

Owens maximized that chance.

His was a complete tour de force of a performance. He and Cena delivered a Match of the Year candidate, with Owens essentially hitting a 500-foot blast in his first major league at-bat.

At every point in the match, Owens held the audience's attention. Even before the bell rang, he paced in his corner, intense, focused, an animal antsy for the cage door to open.

He shone from both a wrestling and showmanship perspective. As he has done throughout his career, he wowed with a dazzling in-ring toolbox. He wielded a cannonball, package powerbomb variant and springboard moonsault off the top rope. Each move felt potent, significant.

Even the minor moves that make up a match had an added gusto to them.

Beyond that, Owens drew fans in with his facial expressions, by turning what are normally transition holds into key elements of the story. He clutched Cena in a headlock and exuded intensity on his face.

Credit: WWE.com

He glared at his opponent. Smugness wafted off him as he celebrated taking Cena down.

When Cena was on the offensive, Owens sold extremely well. He stumbled dazed around the ring in convincing fashion.

When Cena refused to stay down for a three-count, Owens' frustration felt real. This was no two-bit acting between the ropes. This was compelling in-ring theater.

Capping off what he did in the match itself, Owens grabbed a microphone after the bell rang and dismissed Cena. He declared the U.S. champ past his prime. In doing so, Owens showed off why he can separate himself from the flock of talented, athletic indy guys out there.

He can talk.

With as much as WWE centers around promos and interviews, being able to compel—as Owens so often does—with just words is vital to moving up the card. Owens' bashing of Cena was better than anything Roman Reigns has yet to do on the mic. It was a display of his presence and confidence.

Fans who have followed Owens since his days at Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and elsewhere knew he was capable of thriving at all those aspects of the mat game.

Even his biggest supporters, though, couldn't be sure of how it would all translate to WWE. They couldn't know what Owens would do when the lights got brighter, the audiences got bigger and he was asked to clash with a guy like Cena.

The answer is, he would be even better than expected.

WWE obviously believes in Owens. His trajectory thus far says as much. While there was worry that WWE might bungle Owens' run or undervalue him because he doesn't fit the typical Superstar mold, he clearly has enough backers to get him major opportunities.

In his first, he made sure WWE would hand him more in the future. Any doubters backstage had to see Owens flourish as the chesty, hard-punching heel against Cena and get excited about what's ahead.

With his fists, grimaces and post-match trash-talking, Owens made a thunderous statement. It said that WWE was right to trust him and we can expect him to punch his way to the mountaintop.