Kevin Owens is the current WWE Universal Champion, and he’s come a very long way since joining NXT a few years ago. Although Owens started out in NXT, he’s no rookie, as he’s been wrestling for quite some time, and WWE quickly called him up to the main roster just a few months after his NXT debut.
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Prior to his run in WWE, Kevin Owens got a lot of people talking while he was working under his real name, Kevin Steen, on the independent circuit. Kevin changed his name to Kevin Owens when he joined NXT, but nowadays WWE seems to be ok with letting indie stars keep their names when they join the company. Owens recently spoke to For The Win, and he noted that things were different when he signed his contract, but he doesn’t regret changing his name.
“There really was no conversation. That wasn’t really a thing that was being done at the time, guys getting to keep their names from the indies. As far as regretting it, I really don’t. I had a very successful career as Kevin Steen and now the WWE is a different chapter of that career. I get to pay tribute to my son and one of my favorite wrestlers of all time, Owen Hart. I named my son after Owen Hart and now I get to be Kevin Owens. To me, that’s very poetic. I’m very proud of the name Owens and I get to keep my first name, Kevin, so that name really is me. In real life, if my name wasn’t Kevin Steen, Kevin Owens would be the name.”
Kevin Owens has certainly accomplished a lot over the past few years, but according to Kevin Owens he’s just getting started. He noted that there are plenty of things he would still like to accomplish in WWE, such as main eventing WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and winning tag team gold, as well as the United States Championship.
Owens will be in action this Sunday at the Royal Rumble when he defends his Universal Championship against Roman Reigns. Unfortunately for Kevin, he won’t be getting any help from his best friend Chris Jericho, as Chris Jericho will be suspended above the ring in a shark cage.
Not a bad switch at all, unlike Finn Balor.