Kevin Owens

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

Angle Reportedly Working as WWE Producer

WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle reportedly now has a full-time backstage role with the company.

According to PWInsider (h/t WrestlingInc.com's Marc Middleton), Angle is a producer, and he was backstage for Monday's Raw and Tuesday's SmackDown Live at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The 50-year-old wrestled the final match of his illustrious career at WrestleMania in April, as he lost to Baron Corbin.

Angle has appeared on WWE programming a couple of times since then as the victim of attacks by Lars Sullivan and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt.

There is also some thought that he could appear on Monday's Raw since Chad Gable is facing Corbin in the King of the Ring finals. Angle is Gable's hero, and Angle has been tweeting complimentary messages regarding Gable as of late.

If Gable can pull off the upset against Corbin, perhaps Angle will show up to pass the torch to Gable and coronate him as WWE's newest King of the Ring.

Regardless of how WWE utilizes Angle, he is one of the best all-around performers in the history of the company, and having him on the staff can only be a positive thing.

Speculation on Owens Going to NXT

After Shane McMahon fired Kevin Owens on Tuesday's episode of SmackDown Live, KO posted a cryptic tweet on Twitter:

That led to plenty of theories and rampant speculation, but the one that seems to make the most sense is the notion that Owens was spelling out NXT since "N" is the 14th letter in the alphabet, "X" is 24th and "T" is 20th.

The timing is perfect with NXT set to debut a weekly two-hour show on USA Network next week, plus it can be explained that the Triple H-led NXT brand is an entity separate from SmackDown or Raw.

Owens started his WWE career in NXT and had classic feuds with the likes of Sami Zayn and Finn Balor. He is also a former NXT champion, and having him resurface on the brand would provide a major boost as NXT prepares to go head-to-head with AEW on TNT beginning in October.

There is no obvious challenger for Adam Cole after he beat Johnny Gargano at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, so Owens could be that guy. Owens and Cole are close friends in real life, so their in-ring chemistry would likely be strong, much like Owens and Zayn.

It is fair to say that Owens' feud with McMahon has largely fallen flat, so removing him from SmackDown won't necessarily hurt the product that was already being put forth.

Owens would be a major coup for NXT, though, and it could open the door for other NXT alums to do some work with the yellow brand moving forward as well.

Rollins Learns he Has Two Siblings

Seth Rollins will soon have a wife following his engagement to Raw Women's champion Becky Lynch, but it turns out his family is growing in other ways as well.

The Universal champion announced on Twitter that through 23andMe genetic testing, he learned that he has a brother and sister that he didn't previously know about. Rollins also posted a photo with his brother:

Rollins beat Brock Lesnar for the Universal title at SummerSlam, and he is set to defend it against Braun Strowman at Clash of Champions on Sunday. He will also defend the Raw Tag Team Championships alongside Strowman against Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode.

If Rollins is successful against Strowman, he may be in line for a match against The Fiend at Hell in a Cell as well.

Few people in wrestling have more going on then Rollins currently, and with the discovery of two new siblings, he now has more people to share his success with.

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

Here is an evergreen comment about WWE programming: Vince McMahon and those in charge seem hesitant to pull the trigger.

This time the subject is Kevin Owens. Or as fans know him, the guy running around in an anti-authority role, shutting down shows, kicking his boss in the rear and giving him Stunners the same way a guy by the name of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin would.

WWE seemed to have a great thing on its hands. Capturing the crowd's undivided attention like that is as rare as it gets, otherwise the company would constantly churn out top guys like Stone Cold.

But seemingly intent on ruining a good thing, WWE made Owens look like a dork in the biggest sense of the word on Tuesday's edition of SmackDown:

"Man to man, father to father, I wish you'd reconsider." In a segment later in the show, Owens apologizes when Shane McMahon demanded it.

And fast forward to the main event: McMahon takes advantage of this new twist and costs Owens his match against Elias and spot in the King of the Ring tournament.

It isn't hard to see what WWE is trying to do here. Owens, fresh off beating Shane at SummerSlam in a match wherein a loss would have cost him his job, is now concerned about a $100,000 fine and how it affects his family because...reasons.

The idea isn't to think too logically about it but to appreciate that characters like Owens can have some nuance. Owens isn't Steve Austin in the sense he's a renegade and nothing can affect him. He's Kevin Owens, and he's talked consistently here and there about his family.

But that doesn't change the fact that what WWE is trying to do here is flat out wrong. Great tweener characters who flip off their bosses remain cool in 2019. It's why WWE keeps rolling out endless McMahon authority figure storylines. But to take a guy with red-hot momentum and reduce him to begging for forgiveness and handshakes and then just shaking his head when he gets taken advantage of—after everything we've seen to the contrary lately—is just disappointing.

This doesn't have that much to do with Owens using Austin's stunner finisher, either. If that were the case, we would be talking about The Fiend as the next Mick Foley. But Owens using that and acting like Austin sure didn't help. Walking back the character, tuning it down, becomes a whole lot harder now—why is a guy bowing down to the boss he just beat using the stunner at all?

Keep in mind, too, this swerve away from the anti-authority Owens who doesn't care means more Shane on programming again. Maybe he's not on both Raw and SmackDown and in the top storylines, but he's a fixture of the show again if this angle with Owens keeps up.

We don't know where this is leading. Owens might end up snapping again in a few months. But he already won a win-or-leave match against Shane on the second biggest pay-per-view of the year. A payoff doesn't really get any bigger than that, and if Owens keeps start-stopping this Stone Cold-type character, fans are just going to tune it out.

And maybe that's the point. Maybe WWE recoils at the thought of pushing just one guy at the top after endlessly doing so with Roman Reigns. But it seems counterintuitive to keeping fans engaged to clip off a character's wings right as they are starting to fly.

WWE has had a ratings problem on its hands for a while, which makes this all the more perplexing. The company has got to find a way to keep the young fans engaged and committed, with not only competition like AEW popping up but also SmackDown's impending move to Fox. A bad dude like Stone Cold at the top of the card is a big way to accomplish this, and fans were seemingly all-in on Owens.

Now, that's hard to say. With any luck, fans can look back on those miserable interactions above and laugh at the speed bump. But it is going to take some brilliant long-term character tweaks, which hasn't always been WWE's strong suit, to say the least. It's also going to need an incredible payoff that somehow has to top the last one.

As a disclaimer, if anyone can overcome this horrendous sidetracking of a stellar development with great fan reaction, it's a guy as talented as Owens. But that requires WWE seeing the problem with this curve in the character to begin with and the company getting comfortable with the pursuit of another Stone Cold-style character.

Although Kevin Owens has gradually become a bigger star throughout his recent rivalry with Shane McMahon, it's time he ditches the self-proclaimed son of the McMahon family and returns to the WWE Championship scene on SmackDown Live where he belongs.

Of course, Owens is no stranger to vying for the WWE title. It was only a few months ago that he was in hot pursuit of the prestigious prize, trying to beat Kofi Kingston for it at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view.

The feud wasn't nearly as exciting as it should have been, because of Owens' ill-defined character at the time. However, to his credit, Shane has been a fantastic foil for Owens as of late and has helped him achieve superstardom as a babyface.

Owens has shown signs of being a breakout babyface at various points in his career, but WWE never seemed interested in pulling the trigger. His face run earlier this year was cut short before because officials needed him as a heel for a feud with Kingston.

Then again, The Prizefighter has gotten over with the audience quicker than anyone could have expected in the last month alone. His "shoot" promo, where he went off on Shane's incompetence as an authority figure and all the talent being held down by management, served as a significant turning point for his stagnant character.

The WWE Universe wanted nothing more than for him to be the one to silence Shane once and for all at SummerSlam by beating him in a straight-up singles match. Surprisingly enough, they got what they wanted, yet WWE remains adamant about dragging this storyline on for as long as possible.

You could almost see (if not at least hear) the air being sucked out the crowd when Shane interrupted Owens last week on SmackDown. Fans were hopeful that Owens was ready to move on to bigger and better things on the blue brand since there wasn't anything more for him to accomplish against Shane.

In typical WWE fashion, the company has taken something that was once compelling and has slowly started to shove it down the throats of viewers, who will eventually cease caring altogether. In other words, when Owens inevitably defeats Shane for a second time, it won't mean anything because the fans will no longer be interested.

At SummerSlam, the faithful fans in Toronto reacted huge to Owens' victory versus Shane. The program peaked there and thus the WWE brass should have known better than to further drive it into the ground and risk doing damage to Owens' hot momentum.

If Owens is involved in the King of the Ring tournament until Clash of Champions, it's safe to assume that he and Shane will wrap up their rivalry at Hell in a Cell at the earliest. That means fans will, unfortunately, have to endure another two months of this nonsensical story with Shane.

Regardless of when the rematch goes down, Owens must emerge victorious again and advance to the WWE Championship picture. With Kingston running out of opponents to defend against, Owens would be the perfect person to succeed him as champion given his current level of popularity.

Even if Shane weren't still around, Owens couldn't have set his sights back on the belt coming out of SummerSlam with Kingston and Orton having unfinished business. That said, there's no reason Owens can't be feuding with someone else right now (specifically someone toward the top of the card) instead of Shane.

It's clear WWE has used the Stone Cold Steve Austin blueprint with Owens in an effort to get him over as a rebellious babyface and endear him to the audience. While that worked initially, there's a decent chance it will wear thin soon since this sort of storyline has been done to death before.

Owens has proved in the past that he can be a believable babyface even when he isn't defying authority, which is what he should get back to. Providing he has engaging opposition (such as Orton, Daniel Bryan or Buddy Murphy), Owens will continue to thrive as a man of the people.

Shane, on the other hand, would be better off taking an indefinite leave of absence from WWE TV and giving the spotlight back to Owens, Kingston and the rest of the Superstars on SmackDown Live.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is an Endicott College alumnus and aspiring journalist. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.

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

WWE Releases New Bray Wyatt Entrance Theme

Although Seth Rollins captured the Universal Championship and closed out the show, nobody came out of SummerSlam with more buzz than Bray Wyatt.

Wyatt made his in-ring debut as The Fiend and immediately set the tone with his entrance, which included a lantern mimicking his own head.

If you're looking to jam out to the remixed version of Wyatt's original theme, WWE has you covered.

Prior to his extended hiatus—his last televised match before SummerSlam was in August 2018—Wyatt was in desperate need of a new direction. His "Firefly Fun House" segments showed promise, but many fans likely remained cautiously optimistic until he finally wrestled.

Wyatt's entrance and victory over Finn Balor exceeded all expectations.

Braun Strowman to Challenge Seth Rollins at Clash of Champions

Braun Strowman came to Rollins' aid in the main event of Raw as The O.C. teamed up to attack the universal champion.

Strowman may not have his back for much longer.

Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Wrestling Inc's Marc Middleton) reported WWE is tentatively planning to have The Monster Among Men challenge for the Universal Championship at Clash of Champions on Sept. 15.

Strowman last wrestled for the universal title at Crown Jewel in November, losing to Brock Lesnar.

Rollins must have thought he'd finally have some time to relax after conquering The Beast once and for all. Instead, he's quickly learning it gets lonely at the top.

King of the Ring to Conclude at Clash of Champions

WWE announced Monday on Raw that King of the Ring would return on the Aug. 19 edition of its flagship show.

The promotion initially provided little else in the way of details, but more information is beginning to surface. Eight wrestlers from Raw and eight from SmackDown Live make up the 16-man field:

• The Miz
• Ricochet
• Cedric Alexander
• Samoa Joe
• Drew McIntyre
• Baron Corbin
• Sami Zayn
• Cesaro
• Kevin Owens
• Ali
• Apollo Crews
• Chad Gable
• Elias
• Andrade
• Buddy Murphy
• Shelton Benjamin

The 2019 King of the Ring won't be confined to one episode of Raw, either. According to Meltzer (h/t Middleton), the tournament will span multiple weeks on Raw and SmackDown Live before wrapping up at Clash of Champions.

Kevin Owens defeated Shane McMahon at SummerSlam on Sunday, which means The Prizefighter does not have to quit WWE.

Even with Elias in his corner as the special enforcer, Shane-O-Mac still couldn't overcome Owens.

KO teased hitting McMahon with a steel chair, but the referee warned him he would be disqualified. After handing the chair to the official, he kicked the former SmackDown Live commissioner below the belt and delivered a Stunner for the win.

Owens and McMahon have been at odds for the past several weeks since KO took a stand against Shane-O-Mac and for those in the locker room who have been slighted due to the immense amount of television time the WWE executive has garnered in recent months.

KO has taken to using the Stunner as his finishing move, and since he is feuding with an authority figure, there have been shades of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin against Vince McMahon, albeit on a much smaller scale.

Many of the classic wrestling boss vs. employee tropes played out during a build toward SummerSlam, and it aided Owens in generating a groundswell of support.

McMahon attempted to ban KO from the building on some occasions, only for the Canadian to find his way in and lay his opponent out with a Stunner. Boy Wonder also tried to stack the odds against Owens several times and laid traps that saw him get attacked by the likes of Drew McIntyre and Elias.

KO grew tired with McMahon's antics to the point that he decided to put everything on the line to ensure he would be given the opportunity to teach him a lesson at SummerSlam.

The chance to chase his chief rival out of WWE was too valuable for McMahon to turn down, so he agreed to the match with the stipulation that KO would be forced to leave the company in the event of a loss.

McMahon also pointed out Owens "quit" the company last year only to return shortly thereafter. KO conceded he didn't take accountability in the past, but he insisted he was a changed person who would live up to his word if need be.

Sunday's match was the second singles meeting between Owens and McMahon, with the previous bout taking place at Hell in a Cell 2017. KO won then with help from Sami Zayn, but the face-heel roles were reversed at SummerSlam.

That change made for a fresh and heated match, and the added stipulation of Owens possibly quitting had the fans invested.

With Owens getting one up on McMahon at SummerSlam, not only is he in WWE to stay, but he may also find himself in the world-title hunt soon given how popular he has become as a babyface.

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