Why Kevin Owens Will Be SmackDown's WWE Champion for WrestleMania 34

Around this time last year, Kevin Owens was WWE Universal Champion and captaining Team Raw alongside his best friend Chris Jericho going into Survivor Series 2016. This year, KO has a new best friend by his side in Sami Zayn and likely will be a member of Team SmackDown Live at Survivor Series 2017.

The one thing he lacks is a championship, and that should change soon.

It has been an up-and-down year for KO, from losing his championship to Goldberg to his wars for the United States Championship with Chris Jericho and AJ Styles. It has looked like The Prizefighter was falling down the card even though he was heavily utilized each week on both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live.

Hell in a Cell 2017, though, changed Owens' direction. The monster inside KO awakened in his feud with Shane McMahon, and he emerged victorious over the SmackDown commissioner thanks to a renewed friendship with Zayn. Together, these two have taken over SmackDown Live at a time when nearly every other angle is floundering.

WWE champion Jinder Mahal has been struggling to find sustained success as SmackDown's top champion for going on 160 days, a longer title reign than anyone since 2015 that eclipses Edge, Ric Flair, Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan's respective runs with the belt.

The Modern Day Maharaja has struggled to grow into a main event role, which was always going to be tough for a wrestler who had barely even competed on pay-per-view in the four years he spent in the company before winning the championship. He is not going to be able to carry the title into WrestleMania 34.

There are multiple contenders who could defeat Mahal. AJ Styles is just beginning a feud with the champion and has held the title before. Many expected The Phenomenal One to walk into WrestleMania 33 as SmackDown's top champion, and he probably should have, managing to still steal the show working with Shane in the opening match.

However, Styles does not look to be on the right trajectory for a world title reign. Mahal will likely hold the championship through December, when WWE will have its India tour. That means Styles would have to still be feuding with Mahal by January, which is unlikely given feuds in WWE rarely take up that much time.

Shinsuke Nakamura was a trendy pick to take the championship at both SummerSlam and Hell in a Cell, but after falling twice, he will likely not be in the main event picture again for a while. If Styles wins the title, though, no one would object to seeing Styles vs. Nakamura for the championship come WrestleMania 34.

Sami Zayn is the final top star on the brand who could dethrone Mahal, but Zayn has rarely been placed in a main event position in WWE. His role with KO is entertaining, but he is likely to remain more as KO's sidekick than the dominant performer of the pairing. The Guardian Angel would make more sense to capture the championship post-Mania.

None of these performers make as much sense as Owens. His skills are unquestioned, and he is also a personable and charismatic star. He could easily run the media circuit on the Road to WrestleMania and catch on with a wider audience. Plus he would make every second entertaining particularly with Zayn by his side.

The main question is how would Owens win the championship given both he and Mahal are heels. WWE often avoids such pairings even on weekly TV. The answer is to slowly turn Mahal face. When WWE tours in India in December, the WWE champion will be portrayed as a face, and he is booked to defend his championship against KO.

This could be seen as a test run for the rivalry. Mahal has struggled as a heel in WWE primarily due to the portrayal of his character. He is supposed to be a hero for India but a heel in the U.S. because Americans cannot accept a foreign face. This feels openly condescending to the WWE Universe and has led to some embarrassing promos, attempting to garner heat through racial stereotyping.

Mahal may have found more success from the start as a face, an underdog hard worker who wants to prove himself to his people and the world. Owens and Zayn make for such a formidable duo they could easily convince fans to root against them and for The Maharaja. It would help move the title to the stronger performer and potentially right Mahal's direction.

Once Owens has the championship, he would open up the roster again and set up a bevy of interesting matchups come WrestleMania. Owens vs. Nakamura, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, John Cena or even a rematch with Shane would all make for interesting pairings that would be major highlights for the blue brand.

While few question the talent of KO, another title reign would help solidify him as one of the elite stars in WWE. It would also be the perfect setup for great matches to come at WrestleMania and beyond with even the possibility that Zayn sneaks in and steals the title from his friend before it is all said and done.