Why Kevin Owens Will Never Win Undisputed WWE or Heavyweight Championship Again

Kevin Owens is back where he belongs in the Undisputed WWE Championship picture as part of his program with current titleholder Cody Rhodes, who he shockingly betrayed in the parking lot at Bad Blood after the event went off the air.

It isn't a spot KO is unfamiliar with, as he last challenged for the prestigious prize just two months ago at Bash in Berlin. He came up short that night, just as he likely will in the inevitable rematch with The American Nightmare.

Failing to win "the big one" been a recurring pattern for Owens for the last several years. Whenever he has come close to capturing a world title, he has been unsuccessful and then returned to the midcard.

Nothing about his latest heel turn suggests his next opportunity at the gold will be any different.

As his contract with WWE comes due, it's worth wondering whether The Prizefighter will ever return to world title glory, a position of prominence he hasn't held since early 2017.

Based on his booking and how the company seemingly views him, it's safe to assume he's destined to stay at the same level for the remainder of his run, never to reach the mountaintop again.

Owens got off to a promising start in WWE by targeting John Cena from the get-go in May 2015 and beating him in his first official match as a member of the main roster within weeks of debuting.

His two reigns as intercontinental champion and hot feud with Sami Zayn in the year that followed were encouraging signs that WWE valued him as an upper-midcard competitor. The creation of the Universal Championship for Raw in 2016 also increased his chances of one day winning a world title.

Although KO did become the second-ever universal champ that August, it was solely because Finn Bálor was forced to relinquish the belt due to injury. Furthermore, his title win was overshadowed by Triple H returning and betraying Seth Rollins in that same match.

He went on to hold the gold for over seven months but was booked to have an underwhelming reign. Most of his title defenses were riddled with interference and he routinely lost non-title matches on television.

Once he lost the title to Goldberg in under 30 seconds at Fastlane 2017, his removal from the main event scene was effective immediately.

WWE did little during that run to convince the fans Owens is a world championship-caliber competitor, which hurt their perception of him considerably. The lack of follow-up did an equal amount of long-term damage.

Owens' character occasionally referenced in promos never receiving his rightful rematch for the Universal Championship, but his demands never amounted to anything.

He has headlined his fair share of pay-per-views in the past seven years, including with Shane McMahon and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (the latter being at WrestleMania 38), but he's always been slotted as the challenger and never the champion.

His last singles title reign came in the summer of 2017 when he held the United States Championship. Aside from a five-month run as tag team champion alongside Sami Zayn in 2023, he has not been a titleholder of any kind since then.

That isn't to say Owens hasn't had a wealth of opportunities to win world title gold, though.

He was unsuccessful against then-WWE champ AJ Styles twice in early 2018, failed to beat Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship in 2019, came up short when vying for the WWE title at Day 1 2021, and he lost to Roman Reigns any time they met for the Universal Championship between 2019 and 2023.

The Canadian has remained over with the audience despite his mixed win-loss record, but fans have no reason to believe he'll ever be booked as anything other than a stepping stone for world champions.

WWE has done an exceptional job of making Owens' heel turn feel organic in the last few weeks by not acknowledging it on television to give the impression there is legitimate tension between him and Cody Rhodes.

They've generated interest in a further match for the Undisputed WWE Championship, though it will likely have to wait until Survivor Series on Nov. 30 due to Rhodes being busy with Gunther at Crown Jewel.

Regardless of whether it's a one-on-one outing with Rhodes or a Triple Threat involving Randy Orton, Owens has the worst odds of walking away with the strap.

A surprise title win and brief run would shake up the main event scene on SmackDown and give The American Nightmare a chance to chase for the first time since WrestleMania 40, a position he has always excelled in.

It Rhodes vs. The Rock remains the plan for down the road—presumably at WrestleMania 41 if the tease at the conclusion of Bad Blood was any indication—then WWE will want to protect The American Nightmare in the meantime.

That virtually guarantees Owens will not beat him.

The continuation of their program has potential, but it's merely meant to keep Rhodes busy before a bigger storyline comes along.

The WWE roster is arguably deeper now than it has been in years, and even with two world titles, it's difficult for talent to reach world champion status and stay there.

Owens has been around long enough that WWE could have made him a main eventer at any point but failed to do so. Many more Superstars who have the ability to ascend the ranks have arrived on the scene and haven't experienced the same creative struggles he has.

With Triple H now fully at the helm, Owens is bound to remain at the midcard level where he can be utilized to get those fresher faces over. His track record of making the most of everything he's involved in without holding gold may be why he never wins a world title again.

Similar to other ex-world champs such as Kofi Kingston and Finn Bálor, the 40-year-old can be relied upon for a main event push because he's been there before without actually capturing the prestigious prize for a second time.

How that affects Owens' decision to re-sign or leave when his contract expires remains to be seen—especially depending on what his ceiling would be in All Elite Wrestling—but his days as either WWE or world heavyweight champion appear to be long gone.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.