More than likely, either Kevin Owens or Dean Ambrose will be fed to Roman Reigns in Survivor Series' main event for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on Sunday.
The loser of that main event will seemingly battle in an empty feud over the next few months while Reigns takes his place atop the WWE food chain.
It's a shame, really, because an Owens-Ambrose feud could be something special—a feud with the Intercontinental Championship hanging in the balance that would elevate the once-treasured championship.
It was supposed to happen, too, if you believe the rumors. According to F4WOnline.com (h/t PWMania.com), WWE planned for an Owens-Ambrose title match at Survivor Series prior to Seth Rollins' injury.
So as Ambrose and Owens do battle at Survivor Series in a meaningless semifinal match, try hard not to think about the possibility of these two Superstars going to war against each other for the IC belt.
WWE will only disappoint you in the end.
Intercontinental Championship Hot Potato
The WWE Intercontinental Championship used to be a springboard to stardom. Randy Savage, The Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and The Rock each held the title before being thrust into the main event scene, all eventually winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
But something happened in the mid-2000s. The title became devalued, another belt to make pay-per-views more interesting since something was on the line.
According to WWE.com, from 1979 through 2000, the title changed hands 60 times—approximately three times each year. Since then (through 2015), title changes have occurred 93 times—a whopping six times each year on average.
It's tough to elevate a title when no one can stake a claim to it. It's also tough to elevate the title without a Superstar ready to take the throne.
WWE successfully elevated the United States Championship with John Cena through his U.S. open challenges on Raw, with a cavalcade of worthy successors challenging him week in and week out.
Daniel Bryan was supposed to be that guy for the IC title when he won the belt at WrestleMania 31. Injuries derailed those plans before they ever got started.
Now it's Owens' turn. Since becoming champion, however, Owens has yet to have his first legitimate challenge. His only defenses have come against former champ Ryback and an aging Chris Jericho. Not the stuff legends are made of, to be sure.
Heading into Survivor Series, Owens needed that one true challenger to emerge. Even within the tournament format, a legitimate threat could emerge. The problem is WWE is throwing all of its eggs into The Shield's basket without so much as a plan for the rest of the roster.
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Setup Blocked Future Storylines
The popular opinion is that Reigns and Ambrose will do battle for the world title. The popular opinion also suggests one of these two men will undergo a heel turn, thus creating an ongoing feud likely to extend into WrestleMania season.
Having both men involved in the WWE title scene means one less opponent for your other titles.
Add in the fact that WWE is without Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar and Rollins, and you've got an enormous black hole of championship-caliber challengers.
The tournament should have helped flesh out the next few months of storylines for WWE Creative, allowing feuds to build and challengers to present themselves. Instead, it's laid out a formulaic—if not boring—angle: The Shield remains on top of WWE in some way, shape or form.
Ambrose and Reigns will have rolled through NXT newcomer Tyler Breeze, the underutilized (and former United States champion) Cesaro, the underappreciated (and former WWE champion) Dolph Ziggler and two current champions to face each other.
Alberto Del Rio, whom WWE has left floundering without any true storyline since placing the United States Championship around his waist, is likely biding time until Cena returns from his sabbatical to invoke a rematch clause.
But what of Owens?
With Ryback out of the Intercontinental Championship picture and the rest of the roster in limbo, he has no one with whom to do battle. The tournament hasn't offered Owens any real challengers through the semifinals, where he's slated to take on Ambrose.
If WWE were smart, it would not give in to popular opinion. Instead of a second Shield rivalry, WWE should set Ambrose vs. Owens in motion for the foreseeable future.
Owens-Ambrose Feud Would Elevate the Intercontinental Championship
Owens and Ambrose are arguably the two most over Superstars on the WWE roster. Their unique styles and personalities are ready-made for a feud against each other.
Brash talkers and hard brawlers, Ambrose and Owens can not only scrap inside the ring but build a program through their mic work. Ambrose's Lunatic Fringe vs. Owens' Prize Fighter could continue for months on end without becoming stale, unlike many of WWE's other long-running feuds.
Bray Wyatt, who can mesmerize a crowd with his musings, starts saying the same things after a while, whether the opponent is Cena, Undertaker or Reigns. And when you can't back those words up inside the ring—Wyatt hasn't won a single feud in his WWE career—those words ring hollow.
Ambrose and Owens, on the other hand, can boast successful runs and championship resumes. They can work the crowds and each other.
While similar in their promo approach, they're very complementary in the ring. Ambrose's love for high-risk moves would match well with Owens' methodical approach. Their matches would never be boring for the sheer fact that they can work so many different angles.
They've done it thus far in their meetings, including most recently on SmackDown earlier this month:
Having Owens and Ambrose in a bitter feud to make a title meaningful again would be much more satisfying than Ambrose's former feud against Wyatt or even Owens' feud with Cena—first for respect, then the United States title.
It would be two of the company's top Superstars in a continual battle for the IC title. Ambrose evoking the greats who wore it before, dropping elbows like Savage or Honky Tonk Man's Shake, Rattle and Roll.
Meanwhile, Owens would systematically tear each of those men down in an effort to prop himself up, maybe stealing a Rock Bottom or Sweet Chin Music for himself along the way.
These men are capable of those acts, and it wouldn't be seen as stealing—although Michael Cole might play up that theme against Owens. It would be reverence, a nod to a time when the Intercontinental Championship meant something.
It would be glorious.