Before Kevin Owens‘ arrival to the NXT branch of the WWE, vignettes aired on the Network, highlighting the rise of the Quebec-based wrestler and showing him discussing what it meant to him, as well as images of Owens beating down am unnamed opponent in the ring. Every video also had the same one line etched into the video.
“I will fight anyone and everyone.”
Five months later and Kevin Owens has lived up to these words.
After winning the NXT Championship by beating his long-time best friend Sami Zayn, Owens automatically placed a target on his back as the guy to beat. The top dog. A marked man. With Zayn taking a break to collect himself and come up with a new game plan, Owens awaited a new number one contender. Another foe that wanted to take away the Championship that helped him provide for his family. Neville tested his abilities against Owens, not for the title but to get revenge for his friend, but his efforts were met with an exit on a stretcher after being brutally powerbombed on the ring apron.
It wasn’t enough though, as Owens made a new enemy with commentary announcer Alex Riley.
After some questionable comments made by Riley towards Owens, where he questioned the champion’s actions towards his one-time best friend and whether he’d personally do that himself, Owens became enraged and left the table… only to return and attack Riley, dumping him over the announce table and leaving him lying on the ground. In the next few weeks, Owens torment and ridicule toward Riley forced him to leave his announcing role to get back in the ring, where he would make a bee-line for Owens.
In this time, let’s not forget that Finn Balor became the number one contender while this was all happening.
As Owens disposed of Riley twice, he was also fending off Balor, who has quickly become one of the biggest acts in NXT. Once Riley was completely done with, Owens could focus on defending his gold in a spirited fight against Finn. Electing to leave the Demon at home, Balor came close to walking away with the title but Owens’ tenacity got him through the match and he was able to defend his title.
Then Sami Zayn came back, re-uniting the two Quebec wrestlers and continuing their hatred for one another. The re-match was back on and Owens promised to finish what he started by ending the career of Sami Zayn. While he put up a good battle and took the fight to Owens, Zayn’s one mistake led to him receiving a Pop-Up Powerbomb on the ring apron, taking the NXT favorite out. As Owens threatened to further incapacitate Zayn, out came NXT general manager William Regal, who attempted to put an end to the match. Owens had none of that and after Regal put his hands on the champion, Owens responded with a vicious headbutt, planting Regal to the mat.
As Owens threatened to hit Zayn with a chair, out comes the debuting Samoa Joe. The former TNA great made a big impact immediately, bringing the NXT Universe to their feet in a roar of cheers. As he stood toe-to-toe with Owens, the NXT Champion let cooler heads prevail and left the ring, warning Joe not to get in his way and that they’d fight only on his terms.
Even Solomon Crowe wanted some, getting a chance to fight Kevin Owens. Despite a shaky start to his NXT tenure, Crowe put up one hell of a fight and gained a few new believers along the way, but ultimately lost the battle. Again, Samoa Joe came out to put a stop to any post-match shenanigans and this time, capturing the full attention of Owens.
After stretchering out Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville, putting an end to Alex Riley’s wrestling career (at least for the time being) and dealing with the likes of a few more superstars and even the NXT general manager, Kevin Owens now seems to be in a head-on collision with Samoa Joe. Oh, and he also has to defend his NXT Championship against Finn Balor again, who became the number one contender after beating Tyler Breeze at NXT Unstoppable.
Then there’s John Cena.
That’s right. After all that in NXT, some of which is still on-going, Kevin Owens has set his sights on taking down John Cena. After Cena defeated Sami Zayn during an episode of Monday Night Raw, Zayn’s shoulder injury became the talk all over the Internet. To clear up any confusion, Kevin Owens confronted the United States Champion, declaring he was the one to have originally hurt Zayn, not Cena. As John got comfortable in the ring, he attempted to give Owens some advice and in turn got talked down by the NXT Champion, eventually leading up to a Pop-Up Powerbomb.
In that moment, Kevin Owens had made his impact in the WWE. A match was set at Elimination Chamber, pitting Owens against Cena in a one-on-one, non-titled match. Bouncing between NXT to WWE, Owens juggled his many feuds together, showcasing the ability to multi-task and handle more than his fair share of enemies.
He truly is fighting anyone and everyone, and in turn it has quickly turned him into one of the biggest heels in the company. Or, as the Internet wrestling community would say, the GREATEST THING EVER!
The most amusing thing of all is that one year ago, before making his way to the company, this type of scenario is exactly the one Kevin Owens himself wanted. In an AMA (Ask Me Anything) held on Reddit’s sub-domain SquaredCircle, Kevin was asked who he’d want to feud with in the WWE. His response? “Everyone, really.”
This Sunday, Kevin Owens takes on the biggest name in the WWE and on the eve of his match comes the announcement that Owens has signed a contract for the main roster. It seems like even after the match, Kevin Owens doesn’t appear to be going anywhere but up.
