Kevin Owens has been a formidable force throughout his 10 years in WWE. He’s no stranger to high-profile matches like the one he had against undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes in the inaugural edition. Bash in Berlin on pay-per-view SATURDAY. Owens’ career is one that he and countless others dreamed of but, unfortunately, it took him nearly half of his career to truly appreciate it.
Owens was an early benefactor of WWE’s renewed interest in signing top independent wrestlers. He signed with WWE in 2014 and won the NXT Championship two months after his debut. His first main event match was a clean win over the all-time great John Cena. It probably ranks among the best first six months for any WWE superstar. Owens became Intercontinental Champion and reached the semifinals of a vacant WWE World Heavyweight Title tournament before the end of his first full year as a WWE signee. He continued his enormous success over the next two years, becoming Universal Champion and United States Champion.
“From 2015 to 2018, that’s all I could think about,” Owens told CBS Sports of his title aspirations. “That’s when I was champion all the time. I was intercontinental champion, American champion, universal champion, and I was never happy. I always wanted more.
“I wanted next week to be bigger. I was finishing a game and thinking what’s going to happen next week? People I was talking to were like, ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen next week, We’ll find out.’ I really didn’t enjoy it as much as I should have.”
Owens achieved much of his childhood dream, but he was too blinded by passion to enjoy it. To put into context how much Owens loves professional wrestling, he learned English by watching WWE shows. The future champion didn’t speak the language until he was 11, learning the vocabulary by listening to legendary WWE commentator Jim Ross. This childhood fascination sparked a lifelong dedication to professional wrestling. Owens debuted at age 16 and spent 14 years creating an acclaimed independent series that eventually caught the attention of WWE.
Owens couldn’t save himself from a self-sabotaging cycle of success until he was forced to. Owens took a five-month break in 2018 to recover from double knee surgery. It was his first opportunity in years to prioritize self-reflection.
“I needed that time off because I had been on the road for four years with WWE,” Owens said. “It’s like a train. You go up and you don’t get off. You don’t realize how quickly time passes.
“I talked to people about how it was really hard for me to quit and not let myself be consumed by the struggle all the time.”
This time off has been physically and emotionally healing. Faced with the epiphany that his all-consuming obsession with professional wrestling was no longer optimal, Owens called one of his idols out of the blue. Shawn Michaels answered on the other end of the line.
“He was kind enough to listen to me,” Owens said. “He said he was like me in many ways throughout his career. Always obsessed with what’s next and not enjoying the ride. Hearing it from someone I admired so much m helped me let go.
“Since then, I still have moments where I get carried away but I can pull back and say, ‘Hey, this is pretty amazing.’ Maybe it’s not perfect or it’s not what you think it should be sometimes, but come on, it’s been very helpful.”
Check out the full interview with Kevin Owens below.
Owens’ presence came in time. While he wasn’t able to enjoy his sole reign as WWE World Champion, Owens was able to savor rarer, more remarkable moments. He faced childhood hero “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in the legendary wrestler’s first match in 19 years and won the Undisputed Tag Team Championships in a WrestleMania 39 main event with his best friend Sami Zayn. Next up is the first WWE title match on a German PPV.
“It worked out well. I was in the ring at WrestleMania this year with Randy Orton. Amazing stuff.”
