In the last pay per view before WrestleMania, Kevin Owens will defend the Universal Championship against Goldberg. Owens has been Universal Champion since August of last year. Finn Balor was actually the first Universal Champion, but he had to vacate it due to injury, leading to a fatal fourway between Owens, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Big Cass. With interference from Triple H, Owens was able to win. This Sunday, his reign comes to an end.
WWE Fastlane Preview: Kevin Owens vs. Goldberg
The Case For KO
Kevin Owens has finally started being booked like a serious champion. Why would the WWE do that just to take him out at the knees? How can he recover and be taken seriously after getting killed by Goldberg? Especially because he’s been booked as a beatable heel champion for months. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins took turns getting screwed out of titles.
The Case For Goldberg
It’s hard to imagine the WWE taking the wind out of Goldberg’s sails right before WrestleMania. He’s been built as an unbeatable monster, and for him to lose to Kevin Owens makes no sense at all. The only way that Kevin Owens leaves Fastlane with the WWE Universal Championship is via interference. Speaking of interference…
Good Friends, Better Enemies
Chris Jericho has to get involved in this match, right? He hasn’t been on WWE TV since the Festival of Friendship, and if he’s going to start the build for his WrestleMania match, he has to show up eventually. This would be one way to protect Owens’ push despite losing. Owens mentioned in a promo that he plans out outlasting Goldberg. Maybe he could be running away, stealing cheap shots, and doing okay when Jericho came out and distracted him long enough for a spear or a jackhammer.
Ships Passing in the Night
The weirdest thing about this match is that both of these men already have obvious WrestleMania matches. Goldberg will go on to face Brock Lesnar, and Owens will go on to face United States Champion, Chris Jericho. Whatever happens in this match, it will be their last pay per view encounter for a while. Speaking of Chris Jericho…
Good Enemies, Better Friends?
Another strange wrinkle in this match is the involvement of Triple H and Samoa Joe. Joe basically fed Sami Zayn to Kevin Owens on Raw last week, and there are rumors of a new Evolution-like stable. What caused Owens to turn on Jericho? He was seen talking to Triple H earlier in the night, is there any way that Joe gets involved and saves KO’s title? That would be hilarious, considering the two were feuding when Owens left NXT.
