By Ciaran James@TheCiaranJames
There is no denying the individual talents of both Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn, brothers in arms they’ve had parallel careers. Even before they were signed to NXT/WWE deals, these two were the cream of the crop of the North American independent scene. Although unarguably two of WWE’s finest performers they have experienced many ups and downs within the company. Sami was always treated as the lesser of the two, he’s faced many pitfalls since signing. Kevin Owens has been given the star treatment on occasion, within weeks of arriving in NXT he was the brands biggest star, a month later he was NXT Champion after defeating Sami in thoroughly convincing fashion. That was the start of the Kevin Owens push, six months later he made his debut on Monday Night RAW and stood nose to nose with WWE’s resident legend John Cena. The debut was welcomed with open arms by all, more so then Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and other NXT graduates, Kevin was the real rags to riches wrestling story. Sami Zayn would ply his trade in NXT for the next eighteen months, except for the occasional main roster appearance he had to earn his stripes again.
Fast forward to April 2018 and Kevin & Sami find themselves once more as brothers in arms, and according to their rhetoric they are fighting the good fight. This Sunday at Wrestlemania they find themselves in what is arguably the biggest match of their careers, as they take on the challenge of Shane McMahon & Daniel Bryan. Depending on your perspective this match has been in the making for the last 6 months, ever since Kevin Owens brutally attacked WWE owner Vince McMahon. In the months since the story has taken many twists and turns, from Shane and Kevin fighting inside Hell in a Cell, Sami Zayn turning heel and Daniel Bryan walking that thin line between heaven and hell. Many speculated at what WWE were trying to accomplish by having Bryan side with the heels against Shane, the company were short-sighted if they ever thought a live crowd would turn on Daniel. Kevin and Sami experienced highs lows during this time, one minute it seemed the WWE were behind the real life best friends, weeks later it seemed Daniel vs Shane was the true story.
Even when WWE get it wrong, Sami & Kevin stood tall, alongside AJ Styles they were the premier performers on SDLive. Sami has been a revelation as a heel, many questioned his chances but it’s given him a new lease of life, for Owens this was the injection his character needed to feel fresh once more. Their tandem is proving successful, in the last few weeks some of the work Kevin and Sami has produced has been some of their best in WWE. The expression and characters traits they showed when violently attacking Shane and then eventually Bryan was beautiful, the moment when Kevin shakes the hand of Bryan after being fired and turns to attack him was so well shot, it was Kevin Owens at his finest. They both followed that up with more fantastic work on social media and at WWE live events in the weeks after, it’s that type of dedication and skill that holds them above the rest as two of the most talented workers on the WWE roster. The return of Daniel Bryan to in ring action, and the recent stint in hospital of Shane McMahon have made the tag match at Wrestlemania one of the biggest matches on the card. It also offers KO and Sami another huge opportunity, because wrestling a McMahon at the biggest show of the year is a huge honour.
The stipulation added to the match offers many pros and cons to Sami and Kevin, if they lose they leave SDLive, which means a return to RAW, which in my opinion is a con. The pro is that they win and descend the ladder further, feuding with the top stars on SDLive and those who get drafted over in the roster reshuffle. A return to RAW would only offer minimal success, unless certain talent gets traded to Smackdown then they quickly get lost in the shuffle, on SDLive they stay relevant, they could even take their team into the tag ranks and run amok there. Will WWE risk having Bryan lose his first match in nearly two years, would it be more beneficial to have KO and Sami remain strong and emerge victorious so to continue feuding with Bryan post Mania? There is so much that could happen, with WWE the way it is now and SDLive needing credible storylines, there could be no better time than now to truly make WWE the ‘The Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn Show’
