|
I go back and forth on Owens. The dude is such a good promo. So fucking good. He's also really good in the ring. But he does look like a normal dude. Dale and I got into it about Owens looking "tough." I think he looks like a geek. Something about his face and the way he is built just looks like "fat guy" as opposed to a "big guy." Like, Samoa Joe has got that aura of being a bad dude about him. Owens just doesn't have that. I'm sorry, he just doesn't.
Maybe it's also because he presents himself as eloquent and witty on the mic? If Owens presented himself like a dumber dude, I honestly think it would help him. Sheamus is another dude who I just think talks too damn much, even if he's good at it. Some dudes should just say one or two things and maybe spit at the camera a bit.
More problematic than Owens' weight, for me anyway, is his height. I can't remember who he was wrestling, but I saw him use a Stunner one week, and he had to jump to get it. It was kind of cute, honestly. I dunno, I just don't think the dude should be doing things that highlight how small he is.
And that's a problem to an extent. The dude is really small. Like, allegedly he was pushing for the Undertaker match that they gave to Shane, but it's like -- dude, for Taker to sell for you...
I dunno, is that too old-school? By the way, in kayfabe Shane is tough. Like, he's a wrestler. You can say he's not a wrestler, but to them he's a wrestler, and he's a bigger star than most of them. And doing the eye test, if you told me one was a wrestler and the other was the owner, and I knew nothing about WWE, I'd probably guess that Shane was the wrestler.
The gear is...fuck, I've always got a problem with wrestlers wearing non-wrestling gear. It just makes me think they think they're too cool to do what they're actually doing. I think it comes off as really insecure. I hate the jorts with Cena, the jeans for Ambrose, the swat gear for Reigns now. Like there's a time and place to dress like a gimmick, but they seem to indicate way too much with it now. If Austin were coming up today, would they have made him wrestle in the jeans too? Just give wrestlers wrestling gear, lol.
Buuuuut, Owens dressing the gimmick with the shirts and the shorts and stuff sort of suits him. Because he's so good as a personality he manages to breath himself into it a bit. I can kayfabe get why he brands himself "KO" and has the logo and stuff and the KO Mania shirts make total sense. But it's dangerously close to "fat kid doesn't want to take his shirt off at the pool," and they've really got to avoid that with him.
He's presented about as well as a dude with that look and gimmick can be. And he's so fucking good at talking. In another era, he probably wouldn't have made it as a wrestler, but he'd be a fantastic manager. Can you imagine him as a spoiled little fat kid talking shit? Holy shit.
But yeah, there are problems with Owens. Look, size and aura being the big ones, and there unfortunately ones you can't really change. I also don't think the dude is genuinely charismatic on that star level either. That's harder to gauge and stuff, but I think his Universal Title push would have gone better if he were. But he's always going to have some sort of value as a dude who can talk and as a solid hand because he seems to have incredible timing. I just don't get "main event bad-ass" from him.
|