WWE Must Have Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro United States Title Feud After Battleground

Of all the matches at WWE Battleground, the match that will carry perhaps the most intrigue and interest is the one between John Cena and Kevin Owens.

Should Owens drop the NXT Championship to Finn Balor in Japan this weekend, it would open a path for Owens to move to the main roster full time. And from there, he should immediately claim the United States Championship from Cena and bring the curtain down on a thrilling feud between the two.

But if that does happen, talk will immediately turn towards who Owens' first real challenger for the belt could be. After a feud with Cena that has seemingly had it all, Owens needs a good foe placed in front of him to keep his momentum going, and the best option would arguably be Cesaro.

It's a feud that immediately sets pulses racing; not least because they've both appeared to bring the best out of Cena inside the ring over the past year or so. 

Cena's matches draw plenty of criticism from WWE fans over being all too similar and, to be honest, labored throughout. However, Owens' two matches with the current U.S. champ have been magnificent; they've had a tremendous amount of back-and-forth, and Cena introducing new moves to try to put the Canadian away has only increased the enjoyment level and surprise factor for fans.

It's not too dissimilar to the bouts Cena has had with Cesaro, too. Fans will inevitably remember the most recent meeting between the two men on Raw, but go back to the start of last year, and Cena and Cesaro had what could arguably be described as the best match of 2014 full stop. It was a bout that seemed to springboard Cesaro forward and put him on a run that would eventually see him claim the Andre the Giant Memorial Trophy at WrestleMania XXX.

If Owens and Cesaro can produce brilliance from Cena on their own, imagine what they can do when they're in the ring together.

There's also a storyline logic behind having Cesaro and Owens feud. In a bid to be the man who takes the title from Cena at Battleground, the NXT champion decided to interfere to deny the Swiss Superman the win.

However, instead of taking out Cena to fit in with the fact he's feuding with the current champion, he opted to take down Cesaro.

He didn't just hit him once either, he nailed him with a Pop-Up Powerbomb to really lay a marker down. That gives Cesaro a legitimate right to come out and call Owens out the night after Battleground and insist that he's first in line, because he was denied surefire opportunity to make Cena tap out.

Given Cesaro's overwhelming popularity with WWE fans, he goes straight in as the babyface in the feud, and Owens can retain his status as one of the fastest-growing heels in the company. It just all seems to fit. The two men also met recently on SmackDown in an entertaining match, so it's not like there's no history or substance behind any potential rivalry.

With Tyson Kidd seemingly out for the long haul due to neck surgery, it also means WWE have to utilise Cesaro properly, given how he is still one of the more popular stars on the roster.

There will always be a sense of injustice with Cesaro given the shambolic way he's been handled, but the last few months with Tyson Kidd suggested that WWE were taking him more seriously. You only have to examine his record following that win at WrestleMania XXX last year; the Paul Heyman allegiance just didn't work because it instantly heaped heel heat on him despite him being supremely over, and Cesaro almost seemed to float into insignificance by this point last year.

The alliance with Kidd saved him somewhat and helped his cause, but now the tag team option is off the agenda for a good few months, that long-overdue solo push should now be in the offing. John Cena has done his job with the United States Championship and made it prestigious, relevant and interesting once again.

If Owens dethrones Cena at Battleground, there wouldn't be a better opportunity for Cesaro to get a babyface push than by feuding with Kevin Owens for a major title. And in putting the two together, it enables both to grow and develop together.