On SmackDown Live , Kevin Owens significantly upped his stock by brutally attacking Vince McMahon during their closing segment. Throughout the show, Owens was going through his ideas to revamp the blue brand to “The Kevin Owens Show.” However, those plans abruptly changed when Vince entered the ring.
Last week, Shane McMahon attacked Owens after he was provoked due to Owens repeatedly mentioning his children, along with disparaging the McMahon name. This caused Owens to threaten to sue the company and become the person to run the show. General Manager Daniel Bryan suspended Shane McMahon per order of Vince, but Bryan also announced that Vince would return to SmackDown Live for the first time in four years to address the situation.
During the segment between Vince and Owens, KO was able to create a legal loophole and get “permission” to attack Vince. As a result, he left Vince a crippled, bloody mess, following a headbutt, kick to the ribs, superkick, and frog splash. These actions even provoked Stephanie McMahon, who was last seen going through a table over five months ago at WrestleMania 34, to appear and approach Owens face to face. Before this attack, Vince officially booked Shane vs. Owens in a Hell in a Cell match at the pay-per-view of the same name.
The feud between Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens had been brewing for a number of months. This rivalry heightened when Owens felt he was being shafted by Shane for his decisions during the United States Championship feud with AJ Styles.
Interestingly, this feud comes with a specific purpose. There are reports that state that the match is set up due to Shane’s ability to bump up sales as an in-ring competitor. Apparently, Shane’s contract includes being the Commissioner of SmackDown Live , as well as competing in two matches a year. Last year, Shane competed against The Undertaker at WrestleMania and was a part of team SmackDown Live at Survivor Series .
What is next for Kevin Owens after Shane McMahon?
According to the audio section of PWInsider , there is speculation that Bobby Roode may be a likely opponent for Kevin Owens soon. While this should be taken as simply speculation, the feeling is that WWE is trying to get Roode over as a strong babyface on the SmackDown Live brand by feuding with Owens after all the heat Kevin draws from Shane McMahon.
Currently, there have been discussions of having Roode in a rivalry with Dolph Ziggler, since Ziggler is currently immersed in his “no respect” gimmick of mocking current and former WWE stars. While this feud will not do very much for Roode, it could kickstart more worthy feuds in the near future. Feuding with Owens following the Shane McMahon angle would certainly be a good way to increase Roode’s value.
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