WWE Intercontinental champion Kevin Owens recently spoke with IndianExpress.com to promote WrestleMania 32.
The 31-year-old superstar is a longtime student of the game and is doing everything he can to learn from the two most powerful men in the industry. “I talk to Vince as much as I can,” Owens said. “He obviously is the busiest man I know. Vince, at any time on Raw, or SmackDown or on a pay-per-view, is thinking about a million things – running the show basically. I have a good relationship with him.”
He added that he’s still getting “I’m still getting to know him. I still feel like we are building a relationship.”
While Vince McMahon is naturally somewhat of a father figure to Owens, he is closer to Triple H. During his push to get signed by WWE, it was Triple H who ultimately made the call to bring him in. “I know him more on a personal level than I do Vince,” Owens said of Triple H. “We talk about our kids and stuff like that. They both are very different in a way but they have the same goal – of making WWE as entertaining as possible.”
Owens added that his favorite thing to do at RAW (besides performing) is sitting in the gorilla position to watch how Vince, Triple H, Road Dogg, Billy Kidman and the other agents make the show work. He even flirted with the idea of being an agent himself one day after his days in the ring are over.
Kevin Owens recently spoke with Mike Jones of DC101 to promote WWE’s live event in Washington, DC on Sunday. Owens said he’s looking forward to watching Shane McMahon & The Undertaker’s Hell In A Cell match at WrestleMania 32, and that he can’t imagine what type of “insane” things Shane has planned.
“Shane McMahon has done some really insane things when he wasn’t in as high profile a match as this one, so I can’t imagine what he’ll be ready to do or go through at Wrestlemania, but you’re right about Wrestlemania being synonymous with The Undertaker,” Owens said. “You’ve got two guys that will be ready to leave it all in that cell.”
Owens was also asked about recently-retired WWE star Daniel Bryan. Owens regrets that he didn’t spend much time in the ring with Bryan, but says he still learned a lot from him outside the ring.
“I didn’t have the chance to be in the ring with him as much as I wish because I feel like he’s someone I could have learned a lot from,” said the WWE Intercontinental Champion. “He is someone I learned a lot from just from watching and listening to outside of the ring, but I wish I could have shared the ring with him many more times than I had the chance to.”
Kevin Owens will defend the IC title in a seven-man ladder match against Stardust, Sin Cara, The Miz, Zack Ryder, Dolph Ziggler and Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 32 on April 3.
WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens spoke with the Montreal Gazette to promote WrestleMania 32. Here are some highlights:
– Owens said he’s been a lifelong wrestling fan and always had an affinity for the Intercontinental championship. “When I was a kid, I would have replica belts, the foam belts, and the one that I always liked the most was the Intercontinental title,” he said. “Every time that I would beat my pillow in one of our matches, I would win the Intercontinental title.”
– Even though he does not currently have a match announced for WrestleMania 32, Owens says it’s an incredible feeling going into Mania as Intercontinental Champion. He can’t believe that he was sitting in the crowd for WrestleMania 30 just two years ago and now he’ll be on wrestling’s grandest stage making history. “There’s really no way to put that into words.”
– His recent “KO Mania” slogan is not just a gimmick. He expects to make his mark on April 3rd and leave fans with a lasting memory. Owens said, “I want whatever I do at WrestleMania to be something people talk about at the end of the night.”
WWE announced on Tuesday afternoon that Intercontinental champion Kevin Owens will defend against AJ Styles on this week’s SmackDown. The show will be taped later tonight from Cincinnati, Ohio at the U.S. Bank Arena.
As always, join here for our weekly live coverage of WWE’s SmackDown tapings.
– Following his surprise return to WWE TV on last night from Chicago, Sami Zayn appeared on RAW Fallout and said his feud with Kevin Owens will never end. The two are expected to square off at WrestleMania.
– Thursday’s SmackDown will feature Sami and Owens on Miz TV. Plus, Chris Jericho be on hand to explain why he turned on his partner AJ Styles on RAW. Speaking of Jericho’s heel turn, WWE posted these photos of fans reacting with shock:
Since the return of Shane McMahon last month, there has been renewed speculation about a potential WWE brand split. One man who is in favor of two separate WWE rosters is the reigning Intercontinental champion, Kevin Owens.
During a recent interview with Spain’s Mundo Deportivo to promote WrestleMania and next month’s European tour, Owens explained why he’s on board with the idea:
“I think shake things up a bit and make for some very interesting situations and interesting match-ups that would create a different feel. That is not to say that eventually if the brand split were to happen, a couple of years down the line, mixing the rosters back up together would be interesting as well.
I like when things get shaken up, I like when unexpected things happen. I feel like a brand split would be a bit of a chaotic situation, but I like chaos. I find chaos interesting and exciting.”
Other topics discussed include life on the road and who he considers his best friend in the WWE locker room.
WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens took a subtle dig at Jim Cornette on Sunday, resuming their longstanding public feud.
For those who are unfamiliar with their issues, Cornette has been very outspoken about Owens in the past, criticizing virtually everything about him, including his appearance, his in-ring style and his defiance of management (they worked together in ROH).
WWE was in ‘Cornette Country’ on Saturday night and Owens took some pride in the fact that he was defending his championship gold in front of a packed house:
– #CancelWWENetwork was trending worldwide on Sunday night after WWE Fastlane. Fans were not at all happy with Roman Reigns winning in the main event and earning a WWE title shot against Triple H at WrestleMania. It’s also worth noting that a lot of people were reporting technical difficulties during the show, including choppiness and the signal dropping out.
– Kevin Owens is teasing an Intercontinental championship feud with AJ Styles. A match between these two would certainly be a nice addition to the WrestleMania 32 card.
WWE Hall of Famer “Superstar” Billy Graham has been posting a lot about current WWE as of late on his Facebook page. One topic that came up was who should face The Undertaker at WrestleMania 32. He and most of his followers who commented were in agreement that Kevin Owens was the best choice of who is available right now. Howevr, one fan made a bit of a miscue, which seemingly angered Graham to the point that he posted a screed defending Owens:
Kevin Owens
Hey fans, I got an interesting response to my post about me liking to see KO against Taker at mania 32. Daniel Thoma wrote and I will paraphrase here “I am surprised Superstar that you like Owens, as the guy has no build and not sure what people see in him.” Well Daniel, you need to do your homework on me before you make statements that you know what I like and don’t like. Actually you know nothing about me at all do you? I have wrestled a ton of guys in my career that have no build. Please check out the shot below of Dusty and I working in MSG. Did Dusty have a build? Far from it and actually he was quite obese at times. I have wrestled Chief Jay Strongbow for my WWWF belt, did he have a “build”? I have also worked with Wahoo McDaniel in the AWA and did record setting business. Did Wahoo have a build? He had never set foot in a gym. I am not the only one that likes KO. I remember talking in a phone conversation with Triple H about KO just after I signed my Legends Contract back in October of 2015 and he told me and I quote “Oh yes Superstar, we love Kevin Owens and have big plans for him. We think he will be the future heel for our company.” So don’t be surprised about me liking KO because you sir know nothing about me, nothing at all.
AJ Styles had an impressive showing during Sunday night’s WWE Royal Rumble match before getting tossed out by Kevin Owens. This was the kickoff to a Styles-Owens feud, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer.
WWE.com has a feature looking at Styles’ arrival, calling him a game-changer. While touting his track record, there was conveniently no mention of TNA. “After conquering the independent circuit and Japan, A.J. Styles wants to show WWE why he’s so phenomenal. Hold on tight.”
WWEShop.com is selling new AJ Styles t-shirts, with many sizes currently unavailable due to strong sales.
Styles tweeted the following during the Rumble PPV:
NXT star Bronson Matthews (Tough Enough winner Josh Bredl) stepped in it big time on Monday night with a tweet that has drawn heat from NXT and WWE veterans. During RAW, “Big Action” took it upon himself to deem the Social Outcasts the #SocialJobbers.
The tweet got the attention of Kevin Owens (who eventually blocked him), his NXT peer Bull Dempsey and Stardust, who says Bronson probably won’t be welcomed in the WWE locker room – if he ever makes it there. Josh deleted some of his tweets, but here’s what’s still available from the exchange:
Here are results from Thursday night’s NXT live event from Milwaukee, WI at the Turner Hall Ballroom.
– Dash and Dawson retained the NXT Tag Titles over Enzo and Cass. Enzo and Cass attacked the champions after the match.
– Carmella defeated Alexa Bliss via submission.
– Elias Samson defeated Bull Dempsey.
– Bayley retained the NXT Women’s Championship over Nia Jax.
– Sami Zayn defeated Tommaso Ciampa in a great match. Kevin Owens made a surprise appearance after the match and confronted his longtime rival. Owens cut a great promo on Zayn, calling him a pumpkin-headed piece of garbage and turned the crowd against him like a classic heel. Here’s how it all went down:
– Eva Marie defeated Peyton Royce.
– NXT Champion Finn Balor retained against Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews in the triple threat main event.
WWE Superstar Kevin Owens recently spoke with CantonRep.com to promote this Sunday’s WWE live event at the Canton Memorial Civic Center. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On being in the WWE title picture:
“I think I’m already in consideration for that. I’m being put in the ring with guys like Roman Reigns, I’m main-eventing a lot of the live events, and I’ve only been here for seven months. I don’t think me becoming WWE world champion is at all out of the realm of possibility. It could happen at any time. I think it might be something that’s very shocking to a lot of people, but I’ve been doing this for 15 years. I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be, and I honestly think whether it’s sooner or later, I will be WWE champion.”
On trolls on Twitter:
“There’s a lot of disrespectful people on Twitter. A lot of people will say that it comes with what you do. You’re on ‘Raw’ and on ‘Smackdown,’ and you do some questionable things on television, so of course people are gonna come at you on Twitter, but I don’t see why I shouldn’t have the opportunity to answer. Some people are out of line. Some are just straight-up idiots. People get real powerful when all they have to worry about is typing little things on a computer or on a smartphone. They know they’ll never have to answer for the things they say. I’ve had some really awful things written about me, and my family, even. There’s a lot of disgusting people on there, but I for one don’t shy away from it. I like to expose it, because I feel like it’s almost the only way anyone receives any consequences for stuff they say. That’s just who I am. I was doing that before I got to WWE, and now that I’m here, I still do it.”
With SmackDown moving to the USA Network last week, WWE appears to be attempting to give fans more of a reason to tune in each Thursday evening.
On Monday’s RAW, WWE announced three matches as opposed to the usual one match or Superstar that they would air as a weekly commercial in the third hour of RAW for SmackDown, all of which either have a stipulation, a title on the line or a WWE title-holder involved.
The following matches were announced on Monday’s RAW for this week’s edition of SmackDown on the USA Network, which will be taped on Tuesday evening in Lafayette, Louisiana:
* The Dudley Boyz vs. The Wyatt Family (Tables Match)
* Dean Ambrose & Neville vs. Kevin Owens & Sheamus
* Kalisto (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio (WWE United States Title)
Make sure to visit SEScoops.com on Tuesday evening for a complete report from the WWE SmackDown television tapings in Lafayette, Louisiana.
Kevin Owens recently spoke with Title Match Wrestling to hype WWE’s upcoming Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 24th. The former Intercontinental champion addressed a wide range of topics including WrestleMania 32, potential matches with Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker, NJPW stars invading WWE and more. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Facing The Undertaker at WrestleMania: “WrestleMania is synonymous with the Undertaker, regardless of what’s happened with the streak, I still think it’s Undertaker’s show. I’d like to throw my name in the hat and see if he’s still the phenom that he claims to be.”
NJPW Stars To WWE: If any of those guys do get here, Nakamura is probably the one I’m most excited about. I’ve wrestled him once before, before I got signed to WWE and it was a pretty awesome experience. I think he would bring something completely different to WWE. As far as the other guys are concerned, they’re all talented guys, but ultimately, I’m better, so it doesn’t matter if they come or not.
WWE will be taping this week’s edition of SmackDown on Tuesday night in Laredo, Texas for the first episode of the show to air in its’ new home on the USA Network.
WWE previously announced that John Cena would be appearing on the show and that Mauro Ranallo would take over as the new voice of SmackDown on the show, and following Monday’s WWE RAW, the following title matches are now confirmed for the show as well:
* Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Kevin Owens (WWE Intercontinental Championship)
* Charlotte (c) vs. Becky Lynch (WWE Divas Championship)
With the League of Nations establishing themselves as one of the top factions in WWE, fans might be surprised to learn that Kevin Owens was originally slated to be part of the group.
Owens, who was born in Canada, would have been a natural fit for the League, which is comprised of heels born outside of the United States. PWInsider.com reports that WWE writers had Owens factored in to the stable’s formation last month.
Due to a bad case of the flu, Owens was kept off WWE television the week Del Rio, King Barrett and Rusev sided with Sheamus in his feud with Roman Reigns. By the time the League of Nations had established themselves on television without Owens, it was decided that he wasn’t needed and would probably be better off on his own.
– Kevin Owens has been receiving some heat for telling Renee Young she looked ridiculous during Tuesday’s live Super SmackDown show from Des Moines, Iowa. Owens took to Twitter after the show to comment on fans standing up for Young on social media.
– Next Wednesday’s edition of NXT on the WWE Network will be part one of a special two-part “Year-In-Review” show looking back at top NXT moments from 2015. The description for the special reads as follows:
“Rich Brennan and Corey Graves host part one of this look back at the Best of NXT in 2015.”
– A new episode of WWE Breaking Ground will premiere on the WWE Network after next Monday’s edition of WWE RAW. The description for that show reads:
“With TakeOver just days away, the stars of NXT are preparing for the biggest night of their careers.”
The Rock took to social media recently to congratulate Kevin Owens on a great first year in WWE and to respond to a friendly challenge from Dolph Ziggler and Charlotte.
Rock posted this one regarding Owens’ debut year in WWE:
@FightOwensFight Mahalo my man. I know u know the joy lil' ones bring. Congrats on a helluva year w the company. Proud of ya. #SunsetFlips
The Rock also called Ziggler and Charlotte two of the best in-ring performers in WWE right now in response to the following photo Ziggler posted of himself and Charlotte, which contained a friendly challenge to The Rock and UFC star Ronda Rousey.
– On Monday’s RAW, a second title match was announced for this week’s live edition of WWE SmackDown on Tuesday night in Des Moines, Iowa. In addition to The New Day vs. The Lucha Dragons tag-team title match we reported earlier this evening, Dean Ambrose will be defending his WWE Intercontinental Championship in a triple-threat match against Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler.
– It was also announced on Monday’s RAW that Big Show will be Jonathan Coachman’s guest for the WWE segment on ESPN SportsCenter tomorrow evening to promote Wednesday’s WWE Tribute To The Troops special.
WWE RAW takes place in Philadelphia, PA tonight at the Wells Fargo Center and will feature all of the fallout from last night’s WWE TLC 2015 pay-per-view. Here’s the official synopsis for tonight’s episode from WWE.com:
* With a little help from The League of Nations, Sheamus escaped WWE TLC with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship — a stolen victory that sent Roman Reigns into a destructive rampage that not only laid out The League of Nations, but WWE COO Triple H. After the frustrated Big Dog brutalized The Game last night, will Reigns face severe consequences tonight from The Authority?
* Despite being well versed in the art of furniture smashing, the ECW Originals are no doubt a little worse for wear after suffering a defeat in their Tables Match against The Wyatt Family at WWE TLC, one night before Raw returns to the haven of hardcore and the birthplace of ECW, Philadelphia.
As The Dudley Boyz, Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno reel from their loss to The Eater of Worlds and his macabre followers, will they make an appearance in the City of Brotherly Love tonight?
* Kevin Owens might still be calling himself a prizefighter after WWE TLC, but the “prize” portion of that moniker is a little less applicable after WWE TLC, where Dean Ambrose earned a decisive victory over the brawler to become Intercontinental Champion for the first time.
The Lunatic Fringe surely has big plans as he brings his newly won title to Raw, and there’s a good chance Owens won’t like any of them. Grab some popcorn and a soda, WWE Universe: The most unstable Intercontinental Championship reign in history is just beginning.
The dark match for the evening is being advertised as a tag match featuring Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt and Kevin Owens. Tonight’s show will also likely feature an announcement about the main event for Royal Rumble.
Stay tuned to SEScoops.com and the SEScoops app tonight for live coverage of RAW, and all of the latest backstage news surrounding the show.
– WWE posted the above video preview for this year’s Tribute To The Troops special, which airs on Wednesday, December 23rd at 8pm EST. on the USA Network.
– On Monday’s WWE TLC “go-home” edition of RAW, a contract signing for the WWE Intercontinental Championship match between Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose at Sunday’s TLC pay-per-view was announced for this week’s SmackDown. WWE will be taping SmackDown on Tuesday night at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.
– Speaking of SmackDown, WWE aired the following promo for the show moving to the USA Network during Monday’s RAW. WWE SmackDown moves from SyFy to the USA Network on Thursday, January 7, 2016.
– WWE continues to tease a possible heel turn for WWE Divas Champion Charlotte. They wrote the following in their official preview for tonight’s edition of RAW:
“We’re seeing a different side of Charlotte lately, and it’s not one that agrees with the Divas Champion’s longtime friend, Becky Lynch. On Raw, the daughter of two-time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair took a page out of her dad’s playbook when she feigned an injury to take Becky off her game and steal a victory over The Lass Kicker in what was supposed to be a friendly bout. Then, on SmackDown, a hot-headed Charlotte got Becky disqualified in her match with Brie Bella. Although Charlotte’s interference was in retaliation after Brie accidentally knocked the Divas Champion down at ringside, the second-generation Diva seemingly had no regard for how her actions would affect her friend. Are we now seeing the “real” Charlotte?”
– After being sent home last week due to a “bad flu bug,” WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens is expected to make his WWE television return on tonight’s RAW. Owens made his in-ring return at the WWE live event on Saturday evening in Fayetteville, North Carolina, losing to Dean Ambrose.
Make sure to visit SEScoops.com later this evening for live WWE RAW play-by-play results coverage!
WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens recently spoke with WWE.com about his family and bringing his son Owens on the road with him. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On doing what he does for his family:
“I enjoy every second I get in the ring. But there’s a bigger picture now and a much bigger purpose to everything and it’s to take care of my kids and my wife and make sure they have a good future. Everything I do really is for my family. It’s not just a line. I leave Friday morning to go on the road to wrestle for WWE to make money so I can come back Wednesday morning and have money to provide for my family. Everything I have to do in-between is what I have to do to make that happen.”
On bringing his son on the road with him recently:
“I took him out for a whole week before school started. He was with me at every show. He was there all day backstage and everybody got to know him. It was really cool to see him develop relationships with people I work with and people I look up to. It was crazy and hectic, but that extra time with my family is invaluable.”
– WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens missed WWE television this week due to being ill. Owens was in Pittsburgh on Monday night, but had a bad flu bug and was sent home as a result. The expectation is that Owens will be okay by the weekend.
– Neville has been added to at least some of the upcoming NXT shows on their upcoming tour. The tour runs from December 10th until December 16th and thus far, Neville is advertised for the first two shows, which includes the opening night in Newcastle, where he is from.
Sami Zayn is advertised for the entire tour. He has been back training as of late and his return was being pushed on NXT TV this week. At this point, it is unclear if Zayn will just be appearing or wrestling on the NXT tour.
