Kevin Owens made his WWE main roster debut in May 2015, essentially answering John Cena’s US Title Open Challenge. And now, before his world title match against CM Punk, KO spoke about how accepting Cena’s famed open challenge was one of his goals as a newcomer in the promotion and how it manifested.
Owens joined WWE’s developmental brand in December 2014, and by February he had already become the NXT Champion. Having already had substantial experience in the independent circuit before joining the global juggernaut, he was fast-tracked into the main roster. KO essentially answered the US Title Open Challenge from John Cena on the May 18, 2015 edition of RAW, but did not want to fight him that night.
Thanks for the submission!
The pair then faced each other at Elimination Chamber 2015 in a non-title match that was billed as Champion vs Champion, where Owens won the bout clean. In a recent interview with Faces Magazine, The Prizefighter revealed that when he first joined the promotion, answering Cena’s Open Challenges was one of his dreams and that it manifested itself.
“When I first signed with WWE and I was in NXT, I would picture myself answering John Cena’s open challenge, and that’s actually exactly what happened. That’s what took me to the main roster. I would picture these things because those were my goals,” Kevin Owens said [H/T: Faces Magazine]
Kevin Owens gets real about his injury
The Prizefighter spoke to CTV News recently, where he got real about his neck injury and how it changed his perspective of things.
Kevin Owens spoke of the immense uncertainty during the period of 17 months that he was away from WWE. He didn’t know if he would ever be able to get back to doing what he’d been doing for 26 years.
He noted that his return changed his entire perspective and from then on he just wanted to enjoy whatever time he had left doing what he loves best.
“Yeah, you know, 17 months of uncertainty, not knowing if I would get to do it after doing it for 26 years, and it’s really all I ever wanted to do since I was 11 years old. So, every show, every match I’m in going forward is a gift. I’m going to do everything I can to enjoy it as much as I can for as long as I have left,” Kevin Owens said.
And now, Owens will challenge CM Punk for the Undisputed WWE Championship on tomorrow’s edition of SmackDown in Toronto, Canada, with his near and dear ones present at the arena.
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Edited by Sayantan Niyogi