WWE Preparing Kevin Owens for Brock Lesnar Feud with Recent Booking

Kevin Owens has always had a little bit of a mean streak but recently, things seem to be even more severe than usual.

That loss to Dean Ambrose at WWE Tables, Ladders and Chairs has turned Owens into a ruthless aggressor, the kind we saw during his first few weeks in WWE.

He's become more unpredictable than ever before, and that's when Owens seems to be at his very best. But looking long-term here, you almost get the feeling that Owens is being primed and pushed ahead of what could be a quite incredible feud at WrestleMania 32—a match against Brock Lesnar.

There are a number of pieces that need to fall into place for the match to happen, but some of those have already started to happen. For instance, back at TLC he relinquished his championship to Ambrose, which has freed him up for a move elsewhere.

Sure, the rematch with Ambrose will likely take place at the upcoming Royal Rumble pay-per-view, but don't expect Owens to get his title back then.

What's more likely is that Ambrose will probably retain the belt via disqualification, with Owens beating down The Lunatic Fringe after the match.

That will be a continuation of Owens' recent behavior, which most recently saw him take Neville apart after their match on Raw this past Monday. The result itself has drawn confusion from plenty of people:

The way the ending of the match was booked was efficient in a number of ways. First, Neville got an impressive win to give him a boost ahead of the busiest period of the year—but crucially, Owens picked up some major heat in the process.

You think back to when he dropped John Cena on his first night on the main roster, or when he threw Machine Gun Kelly off the stage in a confrontation shortly after that. That was when Owens was majorly over as a top heel, and it became instantly apparent that he was headed for the top.

That momentum might have stalled in recent weeks, but what events such as Monday's and his rejection at the Slammy Awards do is build up plenty of heat for Owens.

So K.O. is frustrated about a lack of recognition as the Royal Rumble approaches, and he continues to take his anger out on anyone who crosses his path.

After his DQ loss midway through the Rumble, Owens is watching on from the back as Lesnar tears through the field in the marquee match itself.

The bout is reaching its conclusion, and Lesnar has stood tall for most of the match and battled his way through to the final three or four men. 

A victory for Brock seems inevitable before Owens—who has entered the match himself but been knocked out, causing yet more frustration for the Canadian—decides to strike a telling blow that ignites the feud between himself and Brock.

There has been no altercation of sorts between the two men during the Rumble match, which makes Owens' blindside attack on Lesnar late on all the more shocking. He brutally attacks him from behind, before Lesnar is eventually eliminated legitimately by the competitors left in the match.

Brock is seething and has once again turned babyface—or remained babyface, depending on what your view of his character is at the moment—and the rivalry is born. Owens has made his big statement he's been trying to do for weeks, and everyone now stands up and takes notice of K.O.

For Owens vs. Lesnar to even take place at a show with the magnitude of WrestleMania, Owens clearly needs heat. He would be the heel in any such rivalry, of course, but he would need some momentum to make a feud with Brock worthwhile.

WWE's recent booking of Owens—with him seemingly lacking any desire to win back his intercontinental championship and instead just beat people down—seems to be building him up towards what would be one of WrestleMania's standout matches.

The pieces are slowly falling into place, and we should see whether it all comes to fruition in the next few weeks. If it does, then hold on tight.