Kevin Owens Needs to Win Money in the Bank Briefcase to Continue Strong Run

Kevin Owens isn’t the new sensation. He isn’t the next big thing. He isn’t the face of WWE.

Owens is a prizefighter, and a damn good one. Possibly the best one in professional wrestling right now.

While his rematch with John Cena at Money in the Bank later this month is sure to make wrestling fans giddy with anticipation, it’s not the best possible match for Owens.

Owens should be among the wrestlers fighting for the Money in the Bank briefcase, trying to earn a shot at the greatest prize in the industry: the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

And as Roman Reigns, Sheamus, Randy Orton and everyone else lie amid the carnage, Owens should be holding that briefcase in the end. 

Owens driven by championships

Owens has been a champion at every organization for which he’s fought. From the tiny independent rings of Canada to regional organizations in the United States to the nationwide promotions, Owens has climbed each mountain at a frantic pace.

Hell, it took him all of two months to claim the top prize in NXT, the Triple-A league of wrestling.

Owens’ victory over Cena at WWE Elimination Chamber was an announcement to the main roster that he had arrived—and he’s ready to fight.

But Owens doesn’t fight for free. That’s why his rematch with Cena at Money in the Bank is misguided.

Owens fights for the prize. The prize isn’t Cena’s United States Championship; Owens has made it abundantly clear that the title doesn’t interest him.

The prize is the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

The Money in the Bank briefcase is the golden ticket, a virtual guarantee to holding the company’s highest position. Only three times has the Money in the Bank ladder match winner not cashed in and won a championship (Mr. Kennedy won the ladder match in 2007, only to lose the contract to Edge weeks later; Edge cashed in and won the title).

Fighting for that chance is the logical progression to keep Owens’ character strong. The journey to a championship has been his career arc at every promotion.

Briefcase offers unlimited storytelling potential for Owens

Owens' beating Cena at Elimination Chamber was monumental, but winning the Money in the Bank ladder match would be revolutionary. He is the perfect character to hold the briefcase and could propel some amazing storylines.

Since he will still be splitting time between the main roster and NXT, he might not show up on every television broadcast. The champion—be it Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose or someone else—would not know where or when Owens might strike.

Maybe Owens could hold NXT challenges for the briefcase, giving guys like Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, Tyler Breeze, Baron Corbin and others a chance to make their main-roster debuts, only to fail each time.

Owning the briefcase creates the potential for unrest in The Authority, with two of Triple H’s prodigies, Owens and Rollins, vying for both the company’s top title and a spot at the COO’s side.

It could lead to Rollins’ split from The Authority if Triple H chooses Owens over the self-anointed future of the company. It could cast Owens as the "Stone Cold" Steve Austin to Triple H’s Vince McMahon, a role Ambrose has yet to get right.

Maybe Owens, Rollins and Triple H could combine forces and use the Money in the Bank briefcase as an insurance policy, should Rollins ever lose the title.

It might even lead to the potential blockbuster: a staredown with a very angry Brock Lesnar looking to recapture the belt he lost without being pinned.

"

I may work for @WWE now but I’ll always be a fan and as a fan, @BrockLesnar re-signing is incredible. As a competitor…it’s even better.

— Kevin Owens (@FightOwensFight) March 25, 2015"

Rematch with Cena too soon?

While a rematch with Cena was destined to occur, the problem is the timing.

After what Owens and Cena accomplished, it’s too much to ask them to replicate it so soon. WWE risks too much by booking this rematch only two weeks after their clash.

First, there is the very real possibility of a tremendous letdown, a hangover from fans expecting the duo to top their previous match. Second, WWE is choosing to ignore Owens’ prizefighting history, pushing a personal battle that doesn’t fit Owens’ style.

Third, should WWE Creative allow Cena to settle the score so soon, Owens would become just another notch on Cena's belt, cut down faster than he rose up.

WWE should have moved this feud to the backburner for a while, giving Cena time to lick his wounds by continuing his U.S. Open Challenge and beating up the midcard roster. And then when Owens came calling a second time, reminding Cena that he took the pin cleanly, WWE could book the rematch.

The rematch could even been for Owen's World Heavyweight Championship, a championship he would've won thanks to cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase.

That rematch—when both Cena and Owens were strong, when a loss couldn’t cut down the beginning of what could be a massive run for a fresh face—could have been epic.

Instead, we’re left to hope that WWE Creative knows what it's doing, and that Owens remains as strong after the pay-per-view as he is today.