WWE Hot Take: Kevin Owens' Pipe Bomb Promo Was Great...but Also Awful

Kevin Owens is the latest in WWE to throw down a pipe bomb, and as expected considering his incredible talent, it was brilliant.

But the fact that Owens was merely the latest to do it is the problem.

A pipe bomb shouldn't have to happen as often as it does in WWE. The company shouldn't have to constantly hit viewers over the head with the terrible parts of its product, weaving it into storylines so a rebellious Superstar can get over.

But let's slow it down. On Tuesday's edition of SmackDown, the broadcast started with Owens interrupting things and calling out Shane McMahon.

Simple enough:

For those who happened to miss the broadcast, the crux of Owens' tirade isn't hard to figure out. He's tired of the prominent placement Shane gets on all WWE programming, tired of Shane calling himself the "best in the world" and so on. All the while, Shane was trying to get the production crew to cut Owens' mic. Owens proceeded to run away and then later returned during the main event to deliver a Stunner to Shane.

This is good for Owens—he was stuck in neutral again with no clear-cut direction before this. Now he's a lovable babyface just like that, an anti-authority figure who can get those upset with WWE, and plenty of others, to rally behind him.

But this all loops back to the aforementioned problem. If WWE weren't shoving Shane down viewer's throats every chance it got, this wouldn't even be necessary. This isn't WWE setting up some long-term booking so it can get Owens over at a later date. This is the company noticing a contentious issue that's boring its viewers and trying to capitalize on it.

And Shane has been a massive problem. The "best in the world" tag was cute coming out of a Saudi Arabia event a year ago. The shows are almost non-canon anyway, hence no title changes, etc. But fast-forward to now, year-to-date ratings are in the toilet, competitors like All Elite Wrestling are popping up and talents like Dean Ambrose are bolting.

Shane, meanwhile, has picked up wins over The Miz and Roman Reigns and is prominently featuring in a feud with Reigns and The Undertaker. He's also run roughshod on the silly wild-card rule, popping up on both Raw and SmackDown. Even on the latest episode of the latter, when Owens dropped his pipe bomb, Shane was featured in the opener, a few times throughout and during the main event.

For those fans with even middling memories, this flies directly in the face of something that occurred not too long ago. Last year, Vince McMahon and his family clambered to the ring and apologized to fans, saying they had to do better because ratings were down and so forth. And some fan service indeed occurred, with Superstars like Becky Lynch and Kofi Kingston emerging in prominent roles.

But Shane is back again, and the same old, tired authority figure storyline is once again popping up. Somewhere within WWE, it makes sense—plenty of folks dislike their bosses or simply people in charge. It's a relatable storyline.

That said, WWE viewers aren't watching for relatability. They want to see Ricochet do his flips. They want to see the mystery of characters such as The Demon and Bray Wyatt. They want bigger-than-life guys like a Brock Lesnar. Another Superstar rebelling against a McMahon can be fun but is incredibly played out.

And here's another problem: Owens is so incredibly good at what he does. He will have fans eating out of his hands the whole way, and he will make this work. In turn, it will convince WWE this is the way to go again at a date in the near future.

Even if Owens crushes the role, it won't revive the lost fan interest or bring in new viewers. WWE is simply too oversaturated as it is given the wealth of programming and Netflix-style streaming service. Fans might pop into the YouTube video (the above has nearly a million views already) or check out other social platforms, but it won't meaningfully bump the important stuff.

In other words, it's a superb waste of Owens' talent. He could be using a prizefighter persona to pursue titles or something. Building Superstars has been WWE's problem for a long time, and Owens has simply been relegated to the latest McMahon feud instead, which will have a ripple effect—Owens is going to overcome Shane, undoubtedly. Cool. What comes next, and how does the prestige of it help his next opponent at all?

It doesn't.

Broadly speaking, the reaction to Owens' promo Tuesday was nothing but positive, which is fair enough. He did what he does, and whether he likes the description or not, he is indeed one of the best on the planet at what he does. But as it unfolds, try to keep in mind the wide-sweeping ramifications because this latest pipe bomb was WWE starting a problem anew.