Smackdown was not lagging behind in terms of surprises in comparison to WWE Raw. There were a couple of shockers in-store on the show to make it look interesting. The biggest of those was the return of Kevin Owens in the opening segment. It happened in the expense of Kofi Kingston who lost his spot in a WWE Championship match.
Huge Wrestlemania rematch took place on Smackdown
Plus, Kevin Owens pulled off a Stunner of Stone Cold Steve Austin out of nowhere in the Smackdown main event. He used it as the replacement for the Pop Up Powerbomb which is his original finishing maneuver. It left the pro-wrestling world buzzing as to why WWE would allow him to use this move used by a legend.
Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported the potential reason why Kevin Owens used Stunner from Stone Cold. First and foremost, it garnered the biggest pop of the night, undoubtedly. This was a much-needed for a returnee like him to pick up some momentums moving forward to a title match.
Plus, Kevin Owens has returned as a babyface on Smackdown. This is for the first time that he has to pull this duty off in his WWE career. Hitting the Stunner was also a big reason to solidify his character. Additionally, he might just continue to use this move, going forward owing to the same reason.
Here’s more from SportsKeeda.com,
“Meltzer revealed that WWE has allowed Owens to use the Stunner as his new finishing move. As for the Pop-up Powerbomb, Owens will continue to use the move in spades. Additionally, expect superstars to kick out of Owens’ former finisher as the Stone Cold-inspired Stunner will be KO’s go-to maneuver to end matches from here onwards.”
Hey @steveaustinBSR, I finally figured it out!
— I have returned. (@FightOwensFight) February 27, 2019
Highly effective. When executed properly the results are complete devastation. RT @briantheguppie: 1998 ☝️
2019?@FightOwensFight @steveaustinBSR pic.twitter.com/CadykEAQav
— Steve Austin (@steveaustinBSR) February 27, 2019
Kevin Owens should consider himself lucky enough to use this move in the future. Nobody else in the WWE has received the permission to use this as their finisher other than Stone Cold. The Stunner is one of the most popular WWE finishers of all time. It is almost certain that fans would react to it every time the Smackdown star hits it.
Also, Stone Cold and Kevin Owens already had an exchange of words with this Stunner performed on Smackdown. Overall, it is a hot topic for the WWE Universe as we head towards the Fastlane pay-per-view event. As stated earlier, Daniel Bryan will defend his WWE Championship against the Prizefighter of the WWE at Fastlane.