Kevin Owens: #2 in the Wrestling Weekday Top 10 Wrestlers of 2015, presented by ESO-PRO

Image credit: WWE.com.

The man once known as Kevin Steen made his NXT debut just weeks before 2014 closes. Within two months, he was NXT champion after a brutal match with his former friend Sami Zayn. Three months later, he was on the main roster and immediately embroiled in a feud with John Cena. At Elimination Chamber, he scored an upset clean win over Cena with his pop up powerbomb. And though he wasn't able to take the title from Cena, he stole the show for four straight pay-per-views, against Cena and then Cesaro. A month later, he was Intercontinental champion. Not bad for a guy with barely a year under his belt.

Owens is proof that with the right push from creative on the right talent, they can break through the boundaries quickly and effectively. He is majorly over and while he has yet to challenge for the WWE World Heavyweight title, he has been a dominant figure on WWE television. Yet some people still claim WWE fails to push him.

I am pretty sure half a dozen wrestlers would love to have Owens' spot, where he hasn't missed a pay-per-view appearance since his debut. And unlike some folks WWE has featured regularly (say, Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt), he hasn't had a bad match in the bunch.

Owens seems poised to be a future main eventer in WWE and may be more entertaining than just about any other contender for that title. He does everything he can to improve the program every time he appears. As Mike Gordon puts it: “No one works harder to make it look so effortless.” And that couldn't be more true. Despite his build, I can think of few talents on the independent scene that toiled as hard to get where they are now than Kevin Owens. For goodness sake, this is a native French speaker that taught himself English by watching WWE television as a child. I would be hard pressed to see anyone more devoted to the sport of kings than "The Prizefighter."