5) He earned his full-time job in Ring of Honor because of one match
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Like other WWE superstars Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, and Cesaro, Owens got his big break in the American wrestling scene through the Ring of Honor promotion. However, it wasn’t easy for Owens to get a full-time roster spot. He made his debut for the company in January 2005 in a Do-or-Die preshow event that took place before the main card where he defeated B-Boy in the main event.
He would wrestle sporadically for the company throughout the year, which ended in a match against El Generico in Philadelphia, PA, that was not well received by the crowd and left off the event DVD. He would only make one other appearance in the promotion after that match and wouldn’t appear again in ROH for more than a year.
In February 2007, ROH gave Steen (and El Generico) another chance with a tag team match against the current champions at the time, The Briscoe Brothers. Ironically, it took place in the same building in Philadelphia, PA where Steen had his match with Generico.
This time, the match was met with rave reviews, and both Steen and Generico were immediately hired to full-time ROH contracts, and booker Gabe Sapolsky had to scrap all other upcoming storylines and put them in a long-term program with Steen and Generico.
He spent seven years with ROH and had a fantastic career there where he and Generico won the tag team titles in 2008, he had the feud of the year against Generico in 2010, and he won the ROH World Championship in 2012.
