5 times Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn have wrestled each other in WWE

#3 Kevin Owens def. Sami Zayn - NXT Championship (WWE NXT TakeOver: Rival)

Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn to capture the NXT Championship for the first time at NXT TakeOver: Rival

WWE's first Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn showdown came during the NXT TakeOver: Rival event in 2015 for the NXT Championship.

Kevin Owens made his WWE NXT debut at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution in December 2014. It was at this very same NXT TakeOver event that Sami Zayn captured the NXT Championship for the first time.

Zayn defeated Adrian Neville in Title vs Career match to become the NXT Champion for the first time. After the match, Zayn and Owens, two long-time friends shared a moment of celebration in the ring.

However, as both men were walking up the ramp Kevin Owens violently turned on his best friend, attacking Sami Zayn in the process. This led to an NXT Championship match between Zayn and Owens at NXT TakeOver: Rival in February 2015.

In the closing moments of the NXT Championship match, Kevin Owens hit a vicious pop-up powerbomb onto Sami Zayn for a nearfall. However, it appeared that the powerbomb had seriously injured Zayn. This resulted in ringside medical officials checking on Zayn, seeing if the NXT Champion could continue.

Kevin Owens then executed four consecutive powerbombs in a row onto the prone NXT Champion. After the fourth and final powerbomb, Kevin Owens was declared the winner by technical knockout.

As a result of winning the match via knockout, Kevin Owens was officially crowned as the new WWE NXT Champion in a shocking outcome and result.