Ariel Helwani spoke with WWE Tag Team Champion Kevin Owens ahead of Saturday’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view. Note: KO is injured and is not booked to wrestle on the PLE.
Kevin Owens was asked if he was upset not being on the Elimination Chamber card in his hometown of Montreal:
“I will admit that one hurt, for sure. It’s a sold out pay-per-view in my hometown and up until that point, I was just constantly asking WWE officials, like higher-ups, like, “Why aren’t we doing pay-per-views in Montreal?’ Then we got one and I wasn’t even on it, so of course that sucked.”
“Also, it’s hard to be annoyed because on the other side of it, it was a huge night for Sami and he deserved every bit of it so I was very happy to see that happen. Happy is not even the word, right? This is a guy, you know, I’ve talked about this in interviews before. I came in with John Cena right from the get go and got pretty great spots from the start. Sami came in a bit differently and for a few years was scratching and clawing just to get on the shows. It was a head-scratcher for me because I knew how good the guy was and now everybody knows and it took a little while to get there. Obviously to see him get that kind of spotlight in Montreal is very well deserved so it’s hard for me to be like, you know, that probably helped heal the wound a little bit knowing that it was his big night and was a huge moment for him and watching it happen. Hearing the crowd for him, that was just incredible, but of course I would have liked to be on it.”
On why his match with Steve Austin at WrestleMania:
“Even going into it. I’m not quite sure. Until that night, or that day, I wasn’t sure we were going to have a match. It’s weird because I’d spoken to Vince McMahon about it, I’d spoken to Steve about it, and it was always this weird, you know, ‘You and Stone Cold are gonna do something at WrestleMania.’ Okay. I called him. He’s super into it. He’s really excited. But it’s, you know, whatever it is, whether it’s a fight or match or whatever, like, you know, we’ll figure all that out. Like, alright, and then I’m sitting going into WrestleMania, like, ‘When are we going to figure it out?’ It was just, that day, it was figured out.”
“The feeling I had, and I don’t know if they had talked about it before or what, but at one point I was in the room with both Steve and Vince and it just felt like both were just like, ‘What do you want to do?’ ‘Well, what do you want to do?’ Then they were just kind of throwing ideas and then it just became what it became. I don’t know why it was like that. It seemed like maybe it was a way to not put too much pressure on Steve. I have no idea. It was just a very funny position to be in. I had no idea. Even my dad was like, ‘Are you gonna have a match?’ I was like, ‘I have no idea’, but it turned out to be, you know, pretty perfect, I think, and regardless of whether it was promoted as a match before or not, I think the one thing we really did want to do is make sure people understood it’s not just going to be talking, talking, talking, kick, stunner. I don’t know if we managed to convince people of that. Either way, you know, I think it worked.”
On how close he was to leaving WWE a year and a half ago:
“I guess I was close, but I don’t think I wasn’t close either. I was really open to anything because I didn’t know anything. I had no idea how badly they wanted me to stay here. I had no idea what was possible elsewhere. I had no clue and honestly, none of the talks really went very far because once it was time to talk to Vince, he made it clear he wanted me to stay.”
“I felt like I wasn’t done here, not even career-wise, but there’s also a whole side to this place that people don’t see, that people don’t know, where we have a really incredible crew. I’m talking, not the wrestlers. Obviously everybody I wrestle with, I have a lot of very close friends, but the crew, the production crew, the people behind the scenes, there’s really amazing people here. At the time I remember I can’t imagine leaving and not seeing these people every week because the other wrestlers, you know, you’re probably going to run into down the road or whatever. Like, just through the independents the last 20 years, there’s guys I haven’t seen in 10 years, but I’m still friends with them somehow just through the bond of wrestling. But for crew people, it’s different. I probably wouldn’t ever get back in touch with one of our sound guys or anything just because it’s different, like it’s a different relationship. I just see them at work, but even though I just see them at work, I know them personally, I care about them, and we have a relationship. I couldn’t imagine leaving these people behind and not never seeing them again.”
“So a part of me always felt like, I don’t think I can leave, but I could if it’s better for me, for my family, whatever it is. But it became pretty clear, pretty quick, that wasn’t going to be the case. I was happy to stay, I’m happy to be here, and I still get to see all those people every week, which is probably the best part. I go to the shows and the people behind the scenes make this place very special and it’s a shame because they’ll never get their flowers. You know what I mean? But I try to give it to them as much as I can because they’re a very special group, a very special team.”
On how much longer he plans on wrestling:
“If you had asked me this six months ago, I think I would have said I could see myself wrestling for five or 10 more years, but the last few months, I think that’s changed. I don’t know, like, I might still wrestle for 5 or 10 more years, but I wonder if there’s not a place for me in another role as opposed to being in the ring. I definitely don’t see myself away from the wrestling business anytime soon.”
“I get such enjoyment from doing commentary. I get so much enjoyment out of helping other people with their stuff and seeing it work or trying to analyze why it doesn’t work and trying to figure out how to do it better, and I could probably do both for a while, but I don’t know. I know I have a year and a half left on my contract as a performer here for sure, but I don’t know how I’m gonna feel at the end of that contract.”
“I love wrestling. I love being in the ring. But again, part of it’s also, the last two years have been so amazing. How am I going to top it? Well, I don’t really have to top it, right, because I’ve been trying to not wonder what’s next and not worry about what’s next week, but at the same time, as much as I’m enjoying my time on the ring, I can physically see myself, not physically, but like I feel it. I had a talk with Triple H about it last week, like, ‘I think I’m getting more out of helping other people than my own stuff.’ He was like, ‘That happened to me.’ So I don’t know. I have no idea. I say this now and I might still be doing this in five years. I don’t know. I really have no clue.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit TNT Sports with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
