WWE News: Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn confirm Hell In A Cell spot nearly went very wrong
What’s the story?
Well, when asked about specific "Oh my God" moments that happened in WWE in 2017, the ending of Kevin Owens versus Shane McMahon at Hell In A Cell has to be up there.
Today, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn appeared on Talk Is Jericho and spoke about just how close the margins were in the match and why it nearly went very wrong -- including Kevin Owens' injury making life much more difficult.
In case you didn’t know...
Kevin Owens was recently pulled from two live events due to a recurring back injury - he revealed he suffered from this during the HIAC match too.
KO has suffered from back problems for a while, but it came to a head this weekend when he missed two live events and SmackDown Live.
Owens missed the shows in Hidalgo, Texas on Sunday and Corpus Christi on Monday after appearing the first night in Hidalgo on the 13th. He missed the second on the 14th which would lead us to believe he was pulled completely to assess the injury further having obviously travelled to be in town for the first live event.
PW Insider is currently reporting that it isn't a serious issue and Owens was just pulled so they could make sure he’s healthy for the Royal Rumble where he is scheduled to team with Sami Zayn to face AJ Styles in a handicap match.
The heart of the matter
Chris Jericho's guests on this week's Talk Is Jericho were Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, and one of the major talking points was obviously Sami Zayn reuniting with his best friend at the Hell In A Cell match when he saved Kevin Owens from a leaping Shane McMahon.
One of the biggest issues that came up was just how close the final spot was to going horribly wrong. "He had to save my life!" Kevin Owens said.
To which Sami replied, "Not one life, there are three lives essentially on the line. There's Shane, obviously. There's Kevin if I don't get him off in time. And there's me because, if I ruin it, I'm dead."
Zayn spoke about just how ridiculous the spot was and how one simple error could have cost someone their career.
"To me, this is an elite Hollywood-level stunt and they were just kind of like,
'Well, just pull him off.'
'Well, hang on. When? When EXACTLY do I pull him off?'
'When you see Shane's foot come off... '
'Look, I have 1.8 seconds to make sure I go from invisible to grabbing him. He's lifeless. You don't understand the margin of error for this.'
Sami spoke about his nerves throughout the day as, when he tried to pull Owens off the table during the day, Owens said "grab me" but Sami just slipped onto him.
Owens goes on to speaks of his back issues at that time, the injury currently sidelining the former Universal Champion.
"It bothered me a lot. My back was a real issue. Even for him to grab me and just me to sit up, my lower back would kill me. I would almost have to turn to the side and then sit up."
This obviously added more pressure in terms of the slim margin Zayn and Owens had to execute their escape.
"Shane's body at that velocity comes maybe, tops, 3 feet away from Kevin's head when he's sitting up.
Kevin Owens said Zayn is overshooting and it was within a foot.
"I felt the wind."
They went on to say Shane's leap was the only part not meticulously rehearsed simply because it was so difficult to do and obviously takes a huge toll on the body of the person doing it.
What’s next?
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn will face AJ Styles in a handicap match for the WWE title at the Royal Rumble on January 28, 2018. Reports suggest that Owens may turn on Zayn after the bout.
Author’s take
Well, it's no surprise just how dangerous this stunt was to pull off, but hearing Owens and Zayn talk about it just adds to the excitement and makes you appreciate the stunt on a whole other level!