Kevin Owens reveals what made him unhappy in WWE
Kevin Owens has been one of WWE's most prominent superstars since joining the company in 2014. In a recent interview, the SmackDown star reflected on the time he was unsatisfied with his WWE role.
Shortly after debuting, Owens won the NXT Championship before feuding with John Cena in a main roster storyline. The 40-year-old also captured the Intercontinental, United States, and Universal Championships within three years of joining WWE.
Owens told Shakiel Mahjouri of CBS Sports that he struggled to enjoy any of those title reigns due to worries about the future:
"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 Universal Champion. I was never happy. Never happy. I always wanted to do more. I wanted the next week to be bigger." [6:19 – 6:36]
Owens also had concerns about featuring on WrestleMania every year. After his WrestleMania 33 win over Chris Jericho in 2017, then-WWE Chairman Vince McMahon told him the match was among the worst in the event's history.
How Kevin Owens learned to stop worrying in WWE
In recent years, Kevin Owens has featured regularly in high-profile storylines. He even headlined the first night of WrestleMania two years in a row in 2022 and 2023.
Frustrated with his position in WWE, the Canadian received help from Shawn Michaels after calling NXT's head booker out of the blue one day. He also believes a break from in-ring competition in 2018 helped him change his mindset:
"I'd finish a match and think, 'Okay, what's next week now?'" Owens said. "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.' I really didn't enjoy any of it as much as I should have, and then I went away and had double knee surgery in 2018 and spent five months at home away from it, and I think that really helped me put things in perspective." [6:37 – 7:01]
Owens will challenge his close friend Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at Bash in Berlin on August 31.
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Please credit CBS Sports and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.