Ryan Dilbert's 10-Count: Kevin Owens Must Keep Beating John Cena

1. John Cena the Launchpad, Kevin Owens the Rocket Ship

Cena so rarely gets beat without an asterisk next to the loss that defeating him has become a career-changing achievement. At Elimination Chamber, WWE boldly chose to have Owens accomplish that feat in his first outing on the main roster.

A pop-up powerbomb and a three-count has electricity crackling around Owens. 

Despite the controversy surrounding how the WWE title match ended, the fact that Ryback won the first title of his WWE career and how Rusev's injury is set to remove him from the spotlight, Owens' win was the story coming out of Corpus Christi, Texas, on Sunday. Owens emerges looking like a monster, a wrecking ball, a potential top star.

All of that fades if WWE just has Owens fall into the same hole that has swallowed so many of Cena's past rivals.

Remember that Rusev won his first go-round with Cena. After forcing the megastar to pass out, Rusev then lost three straight pay-per-view matches to him.

Rather than use Cena's star power to elevate Rusev, the feud ended up stripping him down to the bone. He is now without his United States title, his manager and his momentum. Ryback, Bray Wyatt, Umaga and others know exactly what The Bulgarian Brute is going through.

WWE can't do that again with Owens. 

Whens he and Cena meet again at Money in the Bank, the company can either make Owens look like a mere mortal or signal to the audience that he is something special. Owens whipping Cena again would put the NXT champ in unparalleled territory. Going 2-0 to start a career is commonplace; being the man Cena can't topple is unheard of.

Cena can absorb the loss. He's WWE's Superman at this point.

Him evening things up at Money in the Bank is a story fans have already seen. The narrative that features WWE's golden boy going on a losing streak and a burly, sadistic newcomer being unstoppable is the more entertaining option.

With another win over Cena, WWE can load up Owens with copious amounts of momentum. The alternative is to turn the Montreal native into the next Rusev.

2. Divas/Women's Championship Matches

The difference in NXT women's wrestling and WWE's presentation of its female competitors is vast. The former hints at a new dawn for the division; the latter is a continual exercise in frustration.

The last few title matches shine a light on one of the biggest discrepancies between the two—ring time.

Nikki Bella has been defending her championship at a good clip recently. Her matches, though, aren't lasting long.

Event	Match	Match Time
Raw, June 1, 2015	Nikki Bella vs. Paige	5:05
Elimination Chamber 2015	Nikki Bella vs. Paige vs. Naomi	6:04
Raw, May 18, 2015	Nikki Bella vs. Naomi	6:20
Extreme Rules 2015	Nikki Bella vs. Naomi	7:18

Compare that to time NXT has offered its women in title contention.

Event	Match	Match Time
NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable	Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch	15:28
NXT, Feb. 19, 2015	Sasha Banks vs. Alexa Bliss	5:39
NXT, Feb 12, 2015	Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte	11:00
NXT TakeOver: Rival	Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch vs. Bayley	11:54

Just one of Nikki's title defenses has gone over the 10-minute mark during a reign that has now nearly spanned half a year. Sasha Banks, on the other hand, has battled past that amount of time twice in her first three defenses.

Match time is certainly not the only issue plaguing WWE's women, but it's a significant one. Paige, Nikki and company have half the real estate to work with as their NXT counterparts, and the results have been, not surprisingly, less quality action.

3. Throwback Video of the Week: Tommy Rogers

The wrestling family just lost another member. As Dave Meltzer reports for F4WOnline, Tommy Rogers, one-half of The Fantastics, passed away on Monday morning.

With Rogers now gone, it's only natural to start reflecting on what he did in the ring.

He and partner Bobby Fulton formed one of the most successful tag teams of the '80s. The duo took on foes in the Universal Wrestling Federation, World Class Championship Wrestling and Smokey Mountain Wrestling.

The following video is a look at them plying their trade in Japan. In 1990, The Fantastics battled Johnny Ace (John Laurinaitis) and Kenta Kobashi for the vacant All Asia Tag Team Championship.

It's a fun look back at Rogers in action, one of the many memories that he left behind.

4. Where Are All the Stables?

Other wrestling promotions are leaning more on factions. WWE is missing that element as of late.

In TNA, the Beat Down Clan has provided a compelling storyline and created many a rivalry. The Rising has given WWE castoffs direction. New Japan Pro Wrestling's Bullet Club is an entertaining posse, a dominant, must-see force.

WWE would be smart to follow these squad's leads.

Yes, the company has The Authority standing on center stage, but there is no group to oppose them. A rebellious band of babyfaces should be clashing with Triple H's crew. Guys like Jack Swagger and Damien Sandow would be far better off as part of that war.

5. NXT Well Represented

We will look back at Elimination Chamber as a key point in the transition of eras. NXT crashed onto the shore that night, as wrestlers billed as the future are beginning to become the present.

The event felt like a celebration of NXT's championship history.

Big E, a former NXT champ, retained the tag titles as part of WWE's top team. Neville and Bo Dallas, both NXT titleholders in the past, competed in singles action against each other. Paige, the first woman to ever win the NXT Women's Championship, pursued the main roster version of that belt.

And Seth Rollins, the first NXT champ, competed in yet another main event.

NXT's influence was most obvious with Owens, though. He is still wearing his gold from the developmental brand, and he has yet to actually leave NXT. 

This invasion is only going to increase. Sami Zayn and Finn Balor are among those poised to make the jump.

Meanwhile, older veterans will eventually step away. Guys such as Kane, Big Show and Mark Henry aren't likely to be around much longer. NXT's best will take their spots.

In due time, fans will turn on a WWE pay-per-view to find an entire card filled with NXT alumni. 

6. The Moves That Really Drive Them Wild

Somewhere at WWE headquarters, the company tasked someone with piecing together snippets of a collection of interviews. The result is the most entertaining version of Shawn Micheals' entrance music ever.

With as fun as that clip is, chances are WWE makes this a new trend.

7. Bad News for Barrett

Winning King of the Ring has aided Bad News Barrett in the win column. Just like when he took home the Intercontinental Championship, WWE has followed up his triumph with failure.

Barrett is just 3-8 since winning the King of the Ring tournament. He went 4-13 during his most recent IC title reign. That's a .272 and .235 winning percentage, respectively.

There's no point to letting Barrett accomplish these things if they don't serve as springboards for him. This is the time to have him go on a hot streak, not stumble around.

Beyond that, it makes something like King of the Ring less significant, as it is a prize associated with a loser. 

8. Texas Death Matches 

WrestleMania 32 could be where WWE delivers its next great Texas Death match.

In an podcast interview (subscription required) after Monday's Raw, Steve Austin and Paul Heyman discussed the possibility of Stone Cold facing Brock Lesnar in that exact type of bout. It's not a stipulation WWE has turned to much in recent years. The Last Man Standing match has been the preferred option instead.

The brutal endurance test that is the Texas Death match is something that WWE perfected decades ago and a clash that TNA has succeeded with more recently. Seek out these prime examples of the stipulation at work:

• Billy Graham vs. Dusty Rhodes: Madison Square Garden, Oct. 24, 1977
• Ken Patera vs. Bob Backlund: Madison Square Garden, May 19, 1980 
• Vader vs. Cactus Jack: Halloween Havoc 1993
• James Storm vs. Chris Harris: TNA Sacrifice 2007
• Ethan Carter III vs. Bully Ray: TNA Slammiversary XII

Bully vs. ECIII is a weapon-heavy, entertaining romp. The battle between the men who once formed America's Most Wanted is more intense, more of a bloodbath.

9. Easy Money in the Bank

Logic was missing when WWE compiled the Money in the Bank Ladder match field. 

It makes perfect sense that top stars Randy Orton and Roman Reigns got in, but their foes were rewarded for losing. Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler both failed in the IC title Elimination Chamber match. They, for some reason, then get a chance to compete for a world title contract.

There was no working their way back into contention, no explanation for how they earned this chance.

WWE could have easily solved that issue by booking qualifying bouts. Having Ziggler and Sheamus trounce someone else in order to make the field is far preferable to just tossing them in there.

10. Steve Austin on Selling

Austin and Heyman offered a glut of wrestling wisdom on the aforementioned WWE Network-exclusive podcast. At one point, The Texas Rattlesnake harped on the lack of quality selling in wrestling today.

He has an excellent point. There is too much hopping up after big moves and far too many folks kicking out of finishers. On that subject, Austin offered a mantra that trainers should be repeating to their students: "If nothing hurts, who gives a damn?"

All match statistics courtesy of CageMatch.net.