Since his debut down in NXT, Kevin Owens has been one of the malicious superstars in WWE. The long-time veteran in the business has received quite a push in the early going on the main cards, and that push should lead to an Intercontinental Championship match victory on Sunday against Ryback.

Back in December, Kevin Owens made his long-awaited debut in NXT and destroyed CJ Parker, a current member of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Ever since then, Owens has mauled anyone and everyone in his path. Along the way, Owens won the NXT Championship from the injured Sami Zayn, while also defeating John Cena in his WWE pay-per-view debut back in May.

Here’s a legitimate question: What from Kevin Owens’ work haven’t you liked? Owens draws good heat as a heel for his arrogant, non-caring attitude. On top of his solid work on the microphone, Owens’s in-ring work rivals anyone — and I mean anyone — on any roster in the business. He’s a tremendous worker and has earned every bit of this push to the main roster.

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After Owens moved on from the Cena feud, his matches with Cesaro (specifically at SummerSlam in August) were all top-notch bouts and really showed not only how good Cesaro is, but how good Owens is for any aspect of a feud.

His latest feud with Intercontinental Champion Ryback has been no different, despite simply being just thrown together in the past couple weeks. This past Monday on Raw, Owens argued with The Big Guy about a book called The Secret that sincerely changed Ryback’s life out of the ring. That has “white-hot heel” written all over it.

So, when Sunday night in Houston rolls around, there will be an Intercontinental Championship match and the winner of that match and new Intercontinental Champion should be Kevin Owens.

Owens winning the Intercontinental gold would not only be “best for business”, it would show that WWE is committed to their up-and-coming stars (LIKE THEY SHOULD BE). Kevin Owens is one of many potential superstars in WWE, and by winning his first title on the main roster four months after his debut, shows that the higher-ups are wanting to set up their next Cena and Randy Ortons.

Granted, Ryback should be commended for his improvement in and out of the ring (his mic work was atrocious before), but Owens has been stellar since December. He not only embraces the role of the egotistic heel, his work for a 270-pound man who is also 31 years old is fantastic.

Kenny Herzog of Rolling Stone Magazine went as far as calling Kevin Owens the wrestler of the year in WWE back in July. Personally, my choice would’ve been Seth Rollins for that distinction, but Herzog made a compelling case for Owens.

Here’s Herzog’s opening paragraph:

Forget Seth Rollins’ cowardly connivances or Bray Wyatt’s boogeyman shtick: You want to see some real heel heat? Tune in to Raw whenever Kevin Owens’ music hits and he moseys down the ramp to cut a promo or powerbomb your hero off the ring apron. Since his high-profile debut in NXT late last year, KO has become a phenomenon, jumping to the big leagues and turning the clock back to a pre-Attitude Era by committing himself to being a great, straight bad guy – with no chaser or chance of confusing him for an anti-hero.

The part of Herzog’s case for Owens being the top guy since his debut I agree with most is, not only does Owens have ability to connect with fans in terms of drawing heat, he has that nostalgic feel of the golden days of wrestling. Owens makes you despise him, but he’s such a powerhouse and such a dominant force, you pretty much have no choice but to like the guy.

Will Kevin Owens win his first title on the main roster this Sunday? For storyline purposes, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Owens fell to Ryback in Houston. This match was basically thrown together in a matter of two exchanges between the two men, so there’s probably a program in the works for the two combatants.

But, with all signs points to John Cena winning back the United States title and Charlotte officially winning her first Divas title on Sunday night, I would totally be for restarting the Kevin Owens-Cesaro feud with the Intercontinental title on the line this time.