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Credit: WWE.com
The Road to WrestleMania is paved with winners and losers; men and women who have faced creative hardships and others who have excelled despite them.
For Kevin Owens, the path to immortality on sports entertainment’s grandest stage has been unforgettable. A feud with a childhood hero and the highest-profile exposure he has ever received has inspired him to some of the greatest work of his career.
Not everyone was as lucky as the former Universal champion.
Who joined Owens on the “winner” side of things and which Superstars were not quite as lucky in recent months?
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Six months ago, it appeared as though Kevin Owens was on his way out of WWE. His contract was up for renewal but most expected him to go elsewhere, to be with friends he had not worked with in many years. Then came news of a massive new contract for KO.
Then buzz of a match with the returning “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
Suddenly, a guy who was toiling away in creative hell half a year ago was going to be the guy to face the greatest Attitude Era star in his comeback match.
While it’s not a match, per se, the host of The KO Show with Austin will be the most significant role Owens has ever played at WrestleMania. It is a massive opportunity for The Prizefighter and a shot at immortality.
This is not going to be a little bit of back and forth before the inevitable Stone Cold Stunner but, rather, a fight that sees Austin get as physical as he has in two decades. That is an enormous honor for WWE to bestow on Owens and a reflection of the trust it has in him to deliver up to expectations.
His work leading into WrestleMania has been extraordinary, with strong, intense promos and a damn fun impersonation.
There have been many Superstars who saw their stock rise on this Road to WrestleMania but one would be hard-pressed to find any who exploded off the screen and made the lasting impact KO has over the last two months.
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When Ricochet defeated Sami Zayn to win the Intercontinental Championship on the March 4 episode of Raw, it felt like the start of something new and exciting for The One and Only.
It was not.
Just two weeks into his reign, he did not appear on SmackDown. By week four, he was losing to Los Lotharios’ Humberto and Angel to set up a Triple Threat Match for the Intercontinental Championship…on WrestleMania SmackDown the Friday before the big show.
As if that was not a slap in the face enough, he went to Raw Monday night and proceeded to lose a glorified squash match to Austin Theory, really cementing his place as Intercontinental champion.
Maybe Ricochet rebounds and gets the reign his talent and hard work deserve but for now, it is impossible not to look at him as one of the big losers on the Road to WrestleMania, especially when his booking threatened to sabotage his first singles title reign in two years.
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As a member of The Way in NXT, Austin Theory broke out. His comedic timing and in-ring performances made him one of the young stars to watch. Upon his arrival on the main roster though, he saw his stock climb exponentially.
A brief feud with Jeff Hardy gave way to him becoming a protege of sorts to Mr. McMahon. Since then, he has become an integral part of WWE’s Raw brand. So much so that at Elimination Chamber this past February, he went toe-to-toe with Brock Lesnar as the final two combatants battling for the WWE Championship.
That did not go his way, but he did land a high-profile match on the WrestleMania card, against SmackDown commentator and mainstream media personality Pat McAfee.
The fact that Theory was hand-picked by McMahon and booked against a star who is recognizable far beyond the world of WWE is a huge statement. This is a young star with all of the tools to be a major player for years to come, beginning with his match against McAfee.
The former Indianapolis Colt has competed in a WWE ring before, as part of the same NXT brand that bred Theory, and is no stranger to throwing caution to the wind in search of that unforgettable moment.
Their match will surprise, might be one of the most intense on the card, and Theory will emerge a bigger star than he was going into it.
Regardless of whether he wins.
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For a moment, it appeared as though United States champion Finn Balor and new rival Damian Priest were destined to spar on the grand stage. Priest’s heel turn, Balor’s title victory and an intensifying rivalry pointed to a championship clash in Dallas.
Instead, they will compete on the “special” WrestleMania SmackDown this Friday as part of the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
You know, the match where WWE throws everyone without anything else to do on the card.
Here you have two guys who delivered strong performances as opponents and rivals, building a feud for a midcard title that has seen its stock rise and fall repeatedly, only to be shunted into a forgettable battle royal on the last SmackDown before the most important night in sports entertainment.
They earned better than that and the fact that WWE could not squeeze them onto one of the two nights of action is an indictment on the writing team more than the competitors themselves.
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On the surface, it may appear as though Seth Rollins is a loser based on booking. After all, he was presented as a total failure until he threatened his way onto the WrestleMania card. Those looking at wins and losses are missing a key point: entire episodes of Monday Night Raw revolved around Rollins.
The Visionary has been all over WWE television, arguably the most visible Superstar in this build to WrestleMania. The creative behind it may not have been the best but that can be said about several of the key rivalries and feuds ahead of the extravaganza.
He was presented as a big deal, dominating screen time with one of the most prominent stories of the entire lead-in.
The expectation is that Mr. McMahon’s announcement of a mystery opponent for Rollins will be the returning Cody Rhodes, giving Rollins’ run up to the biggest show of the year even more gravity.
He may not have won and WWE Creative may have done him no favors with the loser gimmick, but there is no denying that Rollins’ status as one of the premiere stars in the company, trusted to carry major stories and entire shows, is as strong as it ever has been.
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