Fantasy Booking Kevin Owens' Universal Title Reign

Some of the best narratives WWE has ever constructed have occurred as results of real-life situations being mixed into storylines. For example, the love triangle between Lita, Edge, and Matt Hardy made it incredibly easy to hate Lita as a lying, cheating scumbag. The infamous Summer of Punk storyline where CM Punk's contract legitimately was about to expire had fans legitimately questioning if the Second-City Saint would stay int he company. Simply put, when two quality superstars have some sort of true, real-life connection that fans know about, it is incredibly easy to produce entertaining programming. That's why the first big-time feud of Kevin Owens' Universal Title reign simply has to be against. Sami Zayn.
By now, it's a well-known fact that Zayn and Owens have been very good friends for over a decade. Traveling the world together from promotion to promotion, the duo have fought with and against each other for longer than many current WWE fans have even been alive. Therefore, there is no conclusion more fitting to their remarkably parallel journeys throughout the world of professional wrestling than to have the two fight at Wrestlemania for the Universal Championship.
Imagine this: for the next couple of months, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn each go about business as usual. KO defends his title against the likes of Cesaro and Roman Reigns, coming out on top each time—through devious methods if WWE feels the need to protect Roman, since Owens is a heel, after all—all the while producing some predictably great programming. Zayn, meanwhile, finds himself in the U.S. title picture versus Rusev, an always-reliable way to gain some heat. In the first couple of matches between the two, the Bulgarian Brute initially manages to retain through various cheap methods, garnering even more heat. However, in the third match, Zayn looks poised to defeat Rusev before the champion resorts to a straight-up low blow, ending the match on a DQ. Enraged after having technically lost, Rusev embarks on a post-match rampage, beating a helpless Zayn all over the arena. After doctors come and eventually help Sami backstage, we later learn that the Ultimate Underdog will be out for at least a couple of months due to injury.
Fast forward to the Royal Rumble, and a yet-unbeaten Kevin Owens watches on confidently with WWE World Champion AJ Styles as the battle to face one of them in the main event at Wrestlemania takes place. After a few surprise entrances by Rob van Dam, Bobby Roode, and Nia Jax, the match winds down to a close, with only entrant #30 left to go. As the clock ticks down and the crowd chants, out of sync with the numbers on screen as per usual, the buzzer sounds, and Sami Zayn's music hits. The crowd absolutely erupts as the camera pans over to a look of absolute shock on the face of the formerly unflappable champion Kevin Owens. As Zayn enters the ring, he absolutely cleans house, destroying everyone in sight in a mad frenzy. Finally, as the match calms back down a bit and begins to wind to a close, Zayn eventually dumps out Cesaro to win the 2017 Royal Rumble. The PPV then closes out with Zayn walking right up to Kevin Owens, staring him square in the face, and pointing to the Wrestlemania sign.
Quite frankly, the rivalry between these two men has the potential to be one of the greatest WWE has ever seen, right up there with the likes of Stone Cold vs. the Rock and Jericho vs. Michaels. If done right, this feud could not only set up one of the most incredible and deserved main event matches in Wrestlemania history, but also serve as one of the building blocks of the New Era, serving as one of the rare perfect feuds that continues for years and years. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn truly are destined to fight forever.