"We're not friends" - Kevin Owens gives blunt response about CM Punk

Kevin Owens was very honest when asked about his relationship with CM Punk. Owens admitted that he's not friends with the former WWE Champion but is open to working with him if given the opportunity.

KO was plying his trade on the independent circuit when Punk was at the top of the WWE mountain in the early 2010s. He signed with the biggest wrestling company in the world in August 2014, months after The Second City Saint walked out.

Speaking recently with the Daily Mail, Owens was asked about his relationship with Punk and their brief on-screen interaction on SmackDown last December. He continued to claim that they are not friends but is open to working with the Straight Edge Superstar.

"We never talk. We have no reason to talk. We're not friends. We're not, we don't, you know, we're just not, I don't know. We have no reason to talk. If we work together, we will talk, but just not a thing we do," Owens said.

Kevin Owens and CM Punk have history but not in WWE. They spent a short time together at Ring of Honor when Punk was one of the promotion's top stars, while Owens was still known as Kevin Steen and was just an up-and-coming wrestler.

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What happened between Kevin Owens and CM Punk in ROH?

In an appearance on Konnan's Keepin' It 100 podcast back in September 2022, former ROH producer Joe Feeney opened up about what happened between Kevin Owens and CM Punk. Feeney explained that it all started with Punk not being happy about wearing a T-shirt during matches.

"They were in Ring of Honor at the same time and Punk was like one of the locker room leaders there. He was the head trainer and all that. He had a lot of sway and stroke. Owens was trying to get in. ... Punk didn't like Owens for the shape he was in and that Kevin would wrestle in a T-shirt. He kind of wanted him to wrestle in a singlet and the word got back to Kevin, so he wrestled a match in a singlet. It was against Vordell Walker and the match wasn't good, according to Owens. And then he came back to the locker room and he said jokingly to Punk, 'Are you happy now?' or something, and Punk got in his face, but that's really it," Feeney said. [H/T PW Mania]

Kevin Owens seemingly made light of the history between him and CM Punk when he pushed The Second City Saint's T-shirts off a table during his promo on the post-WrestleMania 40 episode of SmackDown earlier this year.