Backstage News on Why Kevin Owens Was Booked to Lose at WWE “Battleground”

The latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has provided speculation and backstage news on why Kevin Owens was booked to lose at WWE “Battleground” on July 19. Owens lost his second straight match with John Cena for the United States Championship, and his third “big match” in 30 days at the Pay-Per-View.

Fans took to social media to express their displeasure with Cena going over on Owens at “Battleground,” complaining about the fact that they believe, “Cena is never going to let any new comer beat him in a program.” However, as Dave Meltzer describes, it likely didn’t have anything to do with the company not wanting to use Owens as a featured superstar on the main roster, but that maybe they do not completely believe he is special enough to protect him.

Meltzer writes,

“It [“Battleground”] was really promoted as a two match show. John Cena and Kevin Owens once again stole the show inside the ring, with each kicking out of the others’ finishers until Cena made him submit to the STF.

The submission was Owens’ third straight major show loss, with his loss to Cena and his NXT title loss to Finn Balor. While he is clearly a main roster star, the idea he’s something special and a protected headliner was out the window with that finish. The fact he wasn’t protected from being a face in the crowd in the pull-apart brawl on Raw says the same thing.

Given that the direction they were headed was Cena challenging for the title on the next major show, his winning strong makes sense. But there was no reason he had to beat Owens again right now, as they could have held things off or done a finish that wasn’t a clean submission to better protect Owens. Cena didn’t even need the second win over Owens to be a viable title contender, and they could have saved the first match for a time down the line.

In a way, the Cena booking is like the Divas division. The company knows it has to transition, wants to, but can’t make changes. The dynamic is different, because unlike the women’s division, Cena is still the big money full-time draw in the company even if Lesnar and Undertaker right now are completely outshining everyone as stars, and thus you do have to protect Cena’s spot until you find a new Cena, and Reigns hasn’t been that guy.

Using the money guy in the position to make new stars, while at the same time protecting him to where he has to go over at the end, mitigates the value of the new stars he makes if he has to beat them when all is said and done. Instead of making new needle moving stars, they make more upper midcard stars, and they’ve got the largest roster of midcarders in history. And that’s one of the reasons when a big show comes, they have to bring people in from the outside to make it a big deal. Aside from Cena (and Batista, who drew big at certain points), they haven’t successfully been able to make a new true top guy, and Cena was made a decade ago.”

WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and PWTorch.com‘s Wade Keller, who are both extremely behind Owens as a superstar with main event potential, also discussed his loss at “Battleground” on the latest edition of “The Steve Austin Show,” and both men claimed that Cena winning the match was the right call for the company. Keller argued that if Owens had immediately conquered Cena in his first feud, there would be no other viable competitors for him to work programs with, besides possibly Brock Lesnar, who is currently positioned as the No. 2 babyface in the company.

Cena is, and has been for the last 10 years, positioned as the No. 1 babyface. If Owens defeats Cena in his first program on the main roster, there’s no where to go but down for the guy as far as competitors. The loss gives him a chance to be a sour heel, go on a path of destruction, and work his way back up the card.

Owens will still be featured heavily on the main roster, despite what early rumors Monday claimed, as Triple H and a slew of other officials love his mic work and in-ring ability, while others that are considered to be Vince McMahon’s right-hand men feel otherwise. Owens is expected to work a match at “SummerSlam” on Aug. 23 with Cesaro, as well as the main event at “NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn” on Aug. 22 in an NXT Championship rematch against Finn Bálor.

Editor’s Note:

People need to stop with the, “Kevin Owens has been killed by John Cena.” No he hasn’t. He’s going to be JUST fine, people. Would you not be entertained by an Owens vs. Cesaro program?