Kevin Owens

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe. 

Reported Plan for Royal Rumble Matches

With Raw, SmackDown and NXT now being presented on equal footing, it could have a major impact on this year's Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

According to Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Marc Middleton), WWE is planning to equally split the men's and women's Royal Rumble matches with 10 Superstars from Raw, 10 from SmackDown and 10 from NXT in each match.

Over the past couple of years, NXT Superstars have appeared in the Rumble as surprise entrants. While they were never expected to win, many acquitted themselves well and were introduced to a wider audience in a positive way.

Survivor Series helped establish the fact that NXT is on par with Raw and SmackDown since it won four matches, which was the most of any brand. To continue with that theme, having an NXT star win the men's or women's Rumble would further boost the brand's credibility.

The men's Rumble has some clear front-runners such as Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan and Kevin Owens, but the women's Rumble is far more wide open. After she beat Becky Lynch and Bayley in a Triple Threat match, NXT women's champion Shayna Baszler may be the odds-on favorite.

WWE arguably has a deeper and more talented roster than ever before, so allowing wrestlers from all three brands to shine in the Rumble match could go a long way toward showcasing the impressive roster at a high level.

Rollins vs. Owens Reportedly Not Happening at TLC

Despite the fact that their rivalry reached the next level on Monday's episode of Raw, Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens reportedly won't have a match at TLC.

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Raj Giri), Rollins vs. Owens was originally scheduled to happen at TLC, but that is no longer the case. Meltzer noted that Rollins suffering a broken pinky finger at a live event last week may have played a role in the decision.

Rollins was wearing a wrap on his pinky Monday, and it reportedly led to the cancellation of a scheduled match against Cedric Alexander on Raw.

Instead, Rollins revealed that he was working with AOP, and the trio proceeded to beat down Owens. Rollins then cut a scathing promo in which he called out the fans for not appreciating everything he did for them previously.

Rollins vs. KO is a feud that likely has no shortage of staying power, and since both Superstars are contenders to win the Royal Rumble, their rivalry figures to be a key storyline in the match.

If neither of them wins, it is also possible that their program could stretch all the way to WrestleMania and culminate with a match on the Grandest Stage of Them All.

Regardless of when the feud ends, the fact that they aren't wrestling at TLC could be a blessing in disguise in terms of allowing the storyline to play out over a longer period of time.

Styles vs. Orton Reportedly Set for TLC

While Rollins vs. Owens may not be in the cards for TLC, AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton reportedly will happen on Sunday.

Per Meltzer (h/t Giri), Styles and Orton are expected to clash at TLC after WWE ran an angle between them to close Raw. As of now, the match as yet to be announced.

Styles closed Raw in a United States Championship match against Rey Mysterio, and just when it looked like Styles was about to potentially recapture the title, Orton slithered into the ring to distract him.

That allowed Mysterio to catch The Phenomenal One in a small package to retain the U.S. title. Orton also played a role in Mysterio winning the championship two weeks earlier as payback for The OC costing him a title shot.

Orton and Styles faced off at WrestleMania earlier this year, but the roles were reversed since Orton was the face and Styles was the heel.

The Viper isn't a traditional face by any means, but fans love what he is doing currently and are always on the lookout for his RKO out of nowhere.

It can be argued that the TLC card leaves something to be desired as curiously constructed, but Styles and Orton have the ability to put on a killer match and could steal the show if given the opportunity.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

WWE has something special with the brewing tension between Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins. 

While it just seems like WWE is testing the waters of a feud right now, it's pretty clear this is a big-ticket item the company needs to handle properly in the coming weeks and months. It isn't just another feud—this has the potential to carry pay-per-views without a title. 

That's expected of Owens and Rollins, of course. The chemistry, in the ring and out, is just there. Both are storied modern legends who can cut wicked promos and keep crowds in the palms of their hands. 

But the unexpected is how this can benefit both guys—in this case, especially Rollins. 

It is no secret Rollins has been something of a punching bag lately. He put on the stinker of a match at Hell in a Cell with The Fiend and ultimately ended up dropping the title. He's taken shots at various people on social media, including a CM Punk angle that (at least for now, but they're perhaps long-term seeds) isn't going anywhere. 

And to Rollins' credit, he embraced it all in a recent interview on WWE Backstage: 

That's all well and good, but like Rollins freely admits, he's got the burden of being the top guy. Like plenty before him, most recently Roman Reigns, he's had problems connecting with and keeping every type of fan engaged in his character and storylines.

But a slow burn into heel mode thanks to a feud with Owens? It's the sort of all-encompassing idea that saves angles and shows, if not characters.

The seeding so far has been fun. Rollins called out the Raw roster for its loss at Survivor Series, and Owens fought back. The next week the two traded jabs again. In the process, both top guys have excellently weaved in The Authors of Pain. This is sheer brilliance in the way it gets AOP back in the mindshare of fans, if not introduces them to some new followers. 

But observant fans can sort of see where this is going. Owens is the tweener character beloved by all who can't really do any wrong. He's leaning into it, goading Rollins along and likely to keep doing so until Rollins snaps. 

Rollins recently had a backstage interview where he noted he's wrong no matter what he does, that he can't please anyone and it's his burden of leadership to carry because nobody else can. But the beginnings of cracks have already started to show, and there isn't a talent on the roster outside of Owens who can keep jabbing at the cracks, leading to a full break. 

Even Rollins might attest he's better as a heel. WWE perhaps taking its time getting him there via Owens is just good storytelling. Done right, it could be an iconic moment. The two don't necessarily need to work overly defined roles in this day and age, but it sure doesn't hurt to see some of Rollins' The Architect ways as he puppeteers baddies like AOP to keep on Owens. Rollins eventually getting his due by the stunner-equipped, cussing Owens isn't just shades of Stone Cold chasing after other guys in the past, it's must-see television. 

Clearly, much of this has centered on rehabbing Rollins. He's in need of it, and Owens certainly isn't. WWE botched Owens' full-blown transition into a modern Stone Cold recently, but he's as loved as ever by fans regardless. It speaks to the level of his talent in all facets he's been picked as the guy to help along Rollins, whose speedbumps in dead-end feuds with Baron Corbin, teaming up with Becky Lynch and the Fiend disaster have led to, well, disaster. 

WWE doesn't need this just for Rollins' sake, either. The Fiend runs wild on blue brand, but with the way the company has suddenly promoted the tar out of the United States title again, it's abundantly clear we're headed into another stretch where Brock Lesnar and his top title disappear for months on end. 

Into the void steps this Owens-Rollins feud. In what could be a dead period for WWE, these two can instead put on classics while salvaging the goodwill of one of the company's top guys. It's a win-win from pretty much any vantage point, and if done right, it could have fans eagerly awaiting future episodes of Raw, which hasn't always been the case lately.

Seth Rollins appeared on Tuesday's episode of WWE Backstage on FS1 to discuss his back-and-forth with CM Punk and how fans have reacted to him recently.

With regard to Punk, Rollins suggested that he plans to abandon ship in calling out the former WWE champion and pushing for a match:

"I'm here, he's not here, and I'm not shocked about that. I think I've exhausted all of my energy on the subject. I just don't think it's going anywhere. I'm not shocked that he's not here, so I think it's time to maybe move on to something that matters. I wish he was here. I wish we could have a face-to-face, but it's not in the cards."

Punk made a shocking debut on WWE Backstage a few weeks ago and then returned the following week as an analyst. Punk noted that his deal is with Fox rather than WWE and suggested he isn't necessarily interested in returning to the ring.

Despite that, Rollins called out Punk on social media:

Punk followed that up by cutting a promo on Rollins on WWE Backstage and telling him to get off Twitter to avoid making himself look foolish.

While Rollins indicated that he is ready to move on from Punk, he is still at the forefront in WWE because of his current storyline, which has seen him lean heel by calling out Kevin Owens and the rest of the Raw locker room.

The potential heel turn was necessitated by fans turning on Rollins and booing him regularly despite being one of the company's top babyfaces. Rollins expressed his belief that it was a result of the pack mentality fans have when it comes to criticizing the top guy:

"I think it affects you, whether you want to fess up to it or not. You read the comments, you hear the small segment of the audiences. Let's be clear: this is not everywhere. I do live events all over the world, and I'm not getting booed. There's a small contingent of our audience that's very vocal on social media.

"... This is my life. I love this business. So when you put so much into it, to feel like I get disrespected, I'm going to push back. I'm not a guy, like [John] Cena, who's gonna put motivational quotes on Twitter, or like Roman [Reigns] and kind of hang back.

"It's the cool thing to do is hate me. The cool thing is to hate the guy on top. I'm not going to say I'm the first. I'm not breaking ground. Roman before me; Cena was the same thing. He may have pioneered it. Bret Hart, maybe the same thing."

If Rollins' theory is correct, then turning him heel is the right move for WWE. The company resisted doing so with Cena and Reigns, but since Rollins has already proved he can thrive as a top heel, there is every reason to go back to it.

The WWE Universe is clearly behind Kevin Owens as the top babyface on Raw, so the door is open for Rollins to fill the role of top heel whenever WWE champion Brock Lesnar isn't in the fold.

While WWE has held off on going full bore with the heel turn, it seems to be on the horizon, and that would do nothing but good for Rollins' career.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).