“You beating me for the national title is like the Canucks winning the Stanley Cup. That will never happen!”
Logan Paul played heel T on Friday night’s WWE SmackDown in Vancouver.
The social media influencer turned celebrity boxer turned pro wrestler is the current holder of the WWE United States Championship belt after defeating Rey Mysterio in October. The champion entered Vancouver’s Rogers Arena on Friday ahead of the Kevin Owens vs. Santos Escobar bout. The winner of this match will earn the right to face Paul at WWE’s Royal Rumble at the end of January.
Owens may be known to Canucks fans as one of former head coach Bruce Boudreau’s five favorite professional wrestlers of all time. Owens also surprised Boudreau at the 2022 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal. Montreal is near where Owens grew up as an avid Montreal Canadiens fan.
So when Owens defeated Escobar for a chance at the national title, Paul couldn’t help but cut a promo that emphasized Owen’s Canadian-ness, and also gave him a shot at the Vancouver Canucks, who were in his home arena. I tried.
“Did you guys think a Canadian — Canadian? — could be the U.S. champion?” Paul said to boos from the crowd. “Kevin, brother, you beating me for the national title is like the Canucks winning the Stanley Cup. That will never happen!”
In wrestling terms, Logan Paul is a heel, or villain. He is an adversary, a detestable villain. For example, he first won the championship by defeating Mysterio using cheating and brass knuckles.
As a heel, Paul played his role perfectly, much to the ire of the Rogers Arena crowd.
Another purpose of heels is to cover the face. Dominating someone in wrestling means making someone look good and getting the fans on your side. The face is a hero, a good person. Kevin Owens is the face and is clearly set up to garner the audience’s rapt attention to defeating the heel.
By reminding the Canadian crowd that Owens is Canadian and then dissing the Canucks, there was nothing more Paul could do to get the crowd on Owens’ side.
The moment ended with Owens slamming a pole into the ground with his broken right arm in a cast — yes, he was wrestling in a cast — to loud cheers from the crowd.
And of course there was a voice saying, “Bruce, there you are!” He signed autographs for the crowd in honor of the former Canucks coach and Owens’ biggest fan.
