Kevin Owens has revealed why he wasn’t happy during his run on the top in WWE and how his perspective has changed since then.
The former Universal Champion recently spoke to CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri ahead of the WWE Bash In Berlin PPV. He discussed things such as Sami Zayn being a very unreliable friend, Cody Rhodes’ journey to the top and more.
During the interview, Owens was asked about some comments he previously made about his mindset. Kevin had expressed that winning titles or main eventing WrestleMania was not as important for him anymore and instead, he was more focused on having fun and creating moments for fans to remember.
The 40-year-old explained his stance saying that wanting all these things is natural for anyone and things like winning a title is still flattering to him. He has just become less obsessed with chasing accolades because of a shift in mindset:
“I think what helped me be less obsessed, I guess, by that aspect of it is from 2015 to 2018, 2019—that’s all I could think about. That was when I was Champion all the time. I was Intercontinental Champion, I was US champion, I was the Universal champion, and I was never happy. Never happy. I always wanted to do more.
I wanted the next week to be bigger. I’d finish a match and think, ‘Okay, what’s next week now?’ And you know, the people I’d speak to were like, ‘I don’t know, we don’t know what’s next week, we’ll figure it out.’ You know what I mean? And I just—I really didn’t enjoy any of it as much as I should have.
Then I went away and had double knee surgery in 2018. I spent five months at home, away from it, and I think that really helped me put things in perspective. I really needed to get that time away because at that time, I’d been on the road for four years with WWE, and it’s like a train—you know, you get on and you just don’t get off. You don’t realize how quickly time passes.”
I’m Able To Pull Back: Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens made his main roster debut back in 2015 answering the US Open challenge of John Cena. He still held the NXT Championship during the time and Owens continued appearing on the development brand for a while.
His first singles title win on the main roster came at Night of Champions in September when KO defeated Ryback for the Intercontinental Championship. Between 2015 to 2018, the Prizefighter had two IC title runs, three US title reigns and one lengthy run with the Universal Championship.
The former champion went on a hiatus in October 2018. During this time he got the chance to appreciate everything he had achieved. According to Owens, a talk with Shawn Michaels during his break was instrumental in changing his perspective:
“When I went away, I talked to a lot of people about how it was really hard for me to shut it off and just not be consumed by wrestling all the time. I actually remember one of the very useful talks I had was with Shawn Michaels. I called him out of the blue, and he was kind enough to listen to me, and he just kind of helped me.
He told me in a lot of ways, throughout his career, he was a lot like me, always obsessed with ‘what’s next,’ not enjoying the ride. Just hearing it from somebody I looked up to so much just kind of helped me let go of that. And since then, I’ll still have my moments where I’m—you know, I get swept up, but I’m able to pull back, go like, ‘Hey, this is pretty incredible.’ Maybe it’s not perfect, or maybe it’s not the way you think it should be sometimes, but come on. That’s been very helpful.”
Kevin Owens is currently scheduled to challenge Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at the Bash In Berlin special on August 31. You can check out streaming details of the show here.
