3 Reasons Owens vs. Reigns shouldn't have happened on Raw

Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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I admit this post is probably going to have a negative tone, but I am really frustrated watching WWE champions lose in the name of declaring a number one contender. Yes, I know this is all predetermined, but I'm old school and still believe in the value of the championship no matter how many times it's treated like a hot potato (I'm looking at you Raw Women's division). 

On Raw this week Roman Reigns was tasked with facing WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens. If Reigns won, he would be named number one contender at the next pay per view Road Block: End of the Road. Long story short (and despite an accidental spoiler by WWE) Reigns won and will be going for the gold in December. I don't have a problem with Reigns in this position, but the match shouldn't have happened on Raw.

Courtesy: WWE

1. I know things are different from when WWF only had a handful of pay per views and no weekly live programming. But I miss the days of keeping opponents away from each other prior to big matches, especially title bouts. Look back at the buildup between "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan in 1989. Other than the initial Mega Powers Meltdown on the Main Event in February the two didn't touch each other until their match at WrestleMania V on April 2. Now Owens and Reigns wrestled on "free" TV this week, I'm not anticipating their encounter on December 18.
   
2. General Manager Mick Foley could have come up with a number of reasons to name Reigns as number one contender. He's the United States Champion. He has an impressive overall record this year. And he was the last member of the Raw team to be eliminated at the Survivor Series a few weeks ago. Any one of these reasons alone is believable enough that Reigns would be next in line for a title shot.
   
3. WWE had apparently accidentally spoiled the outcome of the match by saying the championship match for Road Block had already been set. Chatter on social media took the intrigue out of the Raw match for me. 

Courtesy: WWE

I'll close the same way I always do when I'm not happy with the current situation. It's a marathon, not a sprint. I'll stay the course and wait to see what happens. My bitterness over Daniel Bryan losing to Randy Orton at SummerSlam 2013 developed into one of my all-time favorite angles, so I'm not going anyway with my fandom.