Kevin Owens and the Best WWE Mic Mastery for Week of January 4

Ravenous to become champion again, dripping with disdain, Kevin Owens pulled off a masterful performance.

He took every minute that WWE handed him and squeezed something memorable out of it. Owens fired off a series of on-target verbal jabs, aiming at Roman Reigns, Michael Cole and Dean Ambrose.  

During his sit-down interview with Cole, he again showed himself to be a stellar heel. He made the audience believe he would do anything to gain back the Intercontinental Championship. He made it easy to hate him for the disrespect he showed just about everyone. 

Credit: WWE.com

These are becoming common occurrences for Owens. He's made the top-talker discussion in WWE a much tougher one to have.

On Wednesday, Cole spoke with him in his weekly interview, looking ahead to both the Royal Rumble and the first edition of SmackDown on the USA Network.

Before Owens spoke, his contempt for Cole was clear. He looked like he wanted to reach over and club the announcer. 

When Cole brought up Reigns and the fact that the world title would be up for grabs at the Rumble, Owens grew angry. He didn't want to talk about Reigns; he wanted to talk about himself. Owens shot a quick insult the champ's way before moving on.

"Roman Reigns is somewhere else, probably putting copious amounts of conditioner in his hair," Owens said.

The fact that Owens so clearly desired the IC title, even more than the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, was striking. Wrestlers too often dismiss the midcard belts as secondary. Owens, though, made it feel as if it was his lifeblood.

"I haven't had the intercontinental title for almost a month. And I got to tell you, that's just about as much as I can take," he told Cole.

He did well to keep the focus on his rivalry with Ambrose and the IC title match ahead, all while plugging SmackDown's move to USA. 

As any good heel should, however, he also lauded himself. He talked up how great he was, brushing off his title loss to Ambrose as a fluke. He claimed to be a driving force behind WWE's viewership. 

"When I'm on, people watch, people pay attention," he said before referring to SmackDown as "The Kevin Owens Show."

Eventually, he grew tired of the interview. Owens ripped off his microphone, threw down his water bottle and left in a huff. This was a welcome touch. His petulance was on full display here, giving the interview one last moment of heel-dom.

Credit: WWE.com

These interviews with Cole are often anything but must-watch, but Owens turned it into a chance for advancement, strengthening his case that WWE needs to push him to its top tier.

He continued his momentum on Thursday's SmackDown. Renee Young stopped him backstage to ask him about his IC title bout against Ambrose.

Owens looked more annoyed to be talking to her than he did with Cole. He made her hold up her arm, making sure to watch the time. He was only going to give her one minute; nothing more.

Convincingly confident, he told her, "I'm a world-class athlete, and nothing's going to stop me from taking back my title tonight."

Again, that desire for the title rang true. Owens has succeeded in making his championship pursuits seem hugely significant for him, upping how compelling they are in the process.

He then paid The Lunatic Fringe a compliment of sorts, comparing him to a cockroach and saying that he can survive anything. Owens deftly turned that into a chance to deliver a stellar line.

"Cockroaches can't survive me, and neither can Dean Ambrose," he said.

Like with the Cole interview, Owens managed to transform something low-profile, that some may take for granted, into an exhibition of his talent. He added to his character's appeal and got the crowd hyped for the battle he was about to step into.

Those are the marks of a good promo.

And as Wrestling Inc's Twitter account pointed out, this was a notch above good:

WWE has to see performances like that as reason to give him more mic time ahead. Ever since his arrival, Owens has looked like he belonged on stage right next to the biggest stars. Having the kind of presence he does when holding a microphone is a big part of that. 

Look for him to flourish this year, especially with so many marquee names going down with injury of late. ESPN's Jonathan Coachman among those who project 2016 to be huge for Owens:

It's hard to argue with The Coach there. 

Owens is consistently skillful on the mic, a villain of the highest order and among the most intriguing figures WWE boasts right now. His feud with Ambrose promises to be a thrill ride in part because of all the verbal sparring to come.