Kevin Owens has had a lot of ups and downs in his WWE career. He’s always been a great performer in and out of the ring, but his fortunes do seem to shift a lot. He was the first Universal Champion to keep the belt for more than a day, as well as a memorable United States Champion. He’s had storylines with Chris Jericho and Sami Zayn, although the latter never got a proper resolution thanks to Sami needing time off for ACL surgery. He also got his Universal Title taken by Goldberg of all people, without even the opportunity for a rematch, and more recently had a feud with Braun Strowman that he didn’t come out of looking great.
Now it appears that KO will be out for a bit, as he needs surgery to repair a lingering injury to his knee. A backstage report that emerged from Postwrestling.com says that that’s why Bobby Lashley beat him up so badly on Monday Night Raw, with particular emphasis on the knee. That creates the excuse for him to be out for a period of time, although the same report states that it’s a minor surgery and the hope is he won’t be gone too long. It’s a shame he and Natalya won’t have any further matches as Team Pawz in the Mixed Match Challenge, but it’s more important that Kevin is taking care of his physical health.
The beatdown against KO solidly turned Lashley heel, but a lot of viewers were confused about whether or not it would also make Kevin a babyface. With him leaving for at least a few weeks, that question remains open. He could certainly come back from that as a good guy, and I think the WWE Universe would be behind him. On the other hand, he’s Kevin Owens, so he can easily stroll in, grab a mic, and have everyone booing in no time.
