Kevin Owens On The Reaction He Gets From The Fans, Working With Vince McMahon

Back in the day it was easy to tell who was the face and who was the heel in a wrestling match, but nowadays the lines are blurred. Fans cheer for who they want, and they boo who they want, and the reactions can make for some interesting moments.

Roman Reigns and John Cena get their fair share of boos even though they’re supposed to be good guys, and from time to time Kevin Owens gets cheered even though he’s supposed to be a bad guy. During a recent interview with ESPN, Owens talked about getting a mixed reaction from the crowd, and he said he doesn’t care what kind of reaction he gets as long as the fans are making noise.

“Whether it’s one way or another or a mix of both, I feel like those kinds of reactions are the most interesting,” said Owens. “The kind of reactions Roman Reigns elicits. The kind of reactions John Cena elicits. They’re the strongest because you can almost have crowds competing with themselves. People cheering ’em, people booing ’em, people trying to be heard louder than the people next to them. That creates for this really special atmosphere. That’s what I’m striving to, that’s what I’m hoping to get one day. I’m well-aware that no matter how big of a jerk I am, some people will cheer me, and no matter what I do, some people will boo me, and that’s fine. I just need to elicit emotion. That’s all I care about.”

Kevin Owens is set to compete in a huge match on Sunday night when he takes on Shane McMahon in a Hell in a Cell match. Vince McMahon booked the match on SmackDown Live a few weeks ago, and after Vince made it official, Owens busted Vince open with a headbutt, and the former Universal Champion says it’s a moment he’ll never forget.

“There’s a lot of things in my WWE career I’m very proud of, things I accomplished that not many people get to live out in their careers. I’ve done it in a relatively short period of time, so that’s really cool. But being in the ring with Vince McMahon and the ensuing situation there was definitely at the top of the list of things I’ll look back on when I’m older and I’m not wrestling anymore. When I was 11 years old, I started watching WWE. He’s been the figurehead of this company. He’s been the man behind the thing I was obsessed with for years and years and years.”