Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro Feud Deserves Best of Five Series Stipulation

Kevin Owens has had an interesting past few months as a member of the WWE main roster, going from a headlining feud against John Cena to receiving minimal mic time on Raw. Now, he finds himself entangled in a ruthless rivalry with Cesaro heading into the fall season.

Owens was the focal point of the flagship show during his rivalry with Cena, but his TV time has been drastically curtailed since his submission loss at the Battleground pay-per-view. He embarked on a losing streak for the next several weeks before transitioning into a program with Cesaro.

At SummerSlam, the two contested an excellent outing that saw Owen emerge victorious in clean fashion. The rematch on this past week's edition of Raw featured a similar result, with Owens taking advantage of Cesaro's injured ribs and scoring a second victory over The Swiss Superman.

Although the feud has seemingly reached its end, there are many more matches to be had between the two. Plus, it'd be asinine to cut it short so soon.

With the feud still in its early stages, it's not too late to make the Owens vs. Cesaro feud a Best of Five series.

Credit: WWE.com

Of the many stipulations WWE has brought back over the years, Best of Five and Seven series have not been among them. In fact, it's been nearly a decade since the last Best of Five series was held between Booker T and Chris Benoit over the United States Championship in late 2005.

Benoit and Booker contested a strong series of matches together during that period, having critically acclaimed contests week after week on SmackDown and on pay-per-view.

Likewise, Cesaro and Owens would be no different, as they've already worked various matches against each other this year and all of them have been unique. Essentially, they're the perfect pair of competitors to be put in such a stipulation considering the matches they're capable of producing.

Furthermore, it'd make the weekly television shows feel more must-see on a regular basis because fans would be guaranteed an instant classic from the former Ring of Honor standouts. Their most recent matchup exceeded the 15-minute mark, so it's possible their future encounters might also be given the time they deserve.

On Thursday's SmackDown, Owens teased setting his sights on Ryback's Intercontinental Championship. He's shown desperation for wearing gold around his waist in the past, so it would be logical to assume that he will be contending for the title come Night of Champions.

Of course, that would mean his feud with Cesaro would be put on the backburner for the time being, but there's no reason they can't rekindle their rivalry post-Night of Champions. Plus, throwing a title into the mix would give Cesaro more motivation to beat his longtime adversary.

As good of a fit as Ryback is for the Intercontinental title, Owens needs it more at the moment, considering the amount of luster he lost after coming up short against Cena and Finn Balor on countless occasions over the summer.

Meanwhile, Cesaro would benefit from a fun title chase, and his eventual win against the former NXT champion will mean that much more the longer they wait to pull the trigger, especially if there is gold up for grabs.

At a time when the landscape of WWE is in need of a shake-up, now would be the ideal time to start experimenting with match types that could help reignite the roster—and a Best of Five series for Cesaro and Owens could be exactly what's needed.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a journalism major at Endicott College. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.

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