Kevin Owens
This man is the most entertaining heel in the entire roster today. He is matchless on the mic, plays off his opponents in the most succinct manner and brings a spark of energy to even the most tedious segments on the show. Besides, he is an established wrestler with a prolific career inside the ring. Moderately agile for a heavyweight, Owens can put up five-star matches irrespective of a crowd of fifty or fifty thousand.
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Born Kevin Steen, Owens began to consider professional wrestling as a career after watching a VHS tape of the Wrestlemania XI match between HBK and Diesel. Despite English not being his first language, the French-Canadian taught himself to talk in it by mimicking promos and commentary heard on Monday Night Raw. Training from out of a barn, Owens moved between trainers before having his first match at the age of 16.
He met El Generico at the International Wrestling Syndicate in Canada, thus beginning a friendship that lasts to this day. Debuting at Combat Zone Wrestling in 2004, Owens went on to win the CZW Iron Man Championship, his first, which he held for almost a year. Pro Wrestling Guerilla is where he attained even greater success, by defeating AJ Styles for the PWG Championship and later, winning the PWG Tag Team Championship with El Generico.
Did you know a top WWE Superstar just wrestled outside the company? More details HERE
However, his greatest spell was during his time at Ring of Honor. He had managed to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship with Generico and later, the ROH World Championship. After his infamous heel turn on El Generico, Owens wrote himself into a storyline addressing the rivalry and feuds between them. A sour association with Commissioner Jim Cornette, who had also derided him for not looking the part of a wrestler, led to him leaving the company as the storyline consequence of a stipulated match against El Generico which he had lost.
After some sporadic appearances on PWG and ROH, Steen was signed to WWE in 2014 as Kevin Owens. His promos highlighted his extensive history in the indies. Making his debut at NXT Takeover: R Evolution, Owens won the match and went to establish his heel persona by attacking long time acquaintance and erstwhile NXT Champion, Sami Zayn (El Generico).
Owens would go on to win the NXT Championship further down the line, and after debuting on the main roster would be crowned Intercontinental Champion twice.
