Kevin Owens threatens popular duo ahead of major WWE SmackDown match
WWE SmackDown is set to feature some final WrestleMania XL build tonight. Kevin Owens has just threatened two fan-favorite superstars backstage. This was the tag team of Pretty Deadly.
The Prizefighter is hoping to win gold on The Grandest Stage of Them All this year. Owens and Randy Orton will challenge Logan Paul in a Triple Threat match at WrestleMania 40, and the WWE United States Championship will be on the line.
Owens and Orton have teamed up in recent weeks, but there's also some tension between the two contenders. The veterans are set to face Pretty Deadly's Kit Wilson and Elton Prince on tonight's SmackDown, and Paul is also advertised to appear. Earlier tonight, WWE cameras caught the British tag team pulling shenanigans backstage at the Mohegan Sun Arena. An annoyed Owens could then be heard yelling afrom another room, telling them to shut up and threatening them ahead of tonight's match.
"That wasn't very nice, #KevinOwens [grimacing face emoji] #SmackDown," the company wrote as the caption to the video below.
KO and The Viper are looking to go 2-0 in standard tag team matches. The WWE veterans have worked numerous matches over the years, but their March 8 SmackDown win over Austin Theory and Grayson Waller was their first-ever standard tag team bout together.
Former WWE Superstar recalls viral moment with Kevin Owens
Kevin Owens has had many memorable moments since signing with WWE in 2014. One of his more viral segments included none other than Elias.
The Prizefighter and The Drifter feuded in 2018, but the biggest happening from the rivalry was the WWE RAW segment in Seattle. Fans heavily booed the two grapplers and turned the heat up in a major way after they were taunted for losing their NBA team to Oklahoma City, a reference to the Seattle Supersonics leaving Emerald City in 2008.
Speaking to For The Love Of Wrestling, Elias recalled the raucous crowd reactions at RAW that night. He also looked back on the run with Owens and how much fun they had.
"Seattle, obviously it stands out. They booed forever, and loud and violently. But that had been building for months and months and months, as like... the crowds are getting louder, the crowds are getting more and more, and now they know what I do; I pull them in and then I slag 'em off. Seattle was like this culmination of... 'Wow, we know it's coming and when he hits us, we're gonna give it to him.' It was a really memorable moment, of course it went viral, people bring it up all the time, but yeah that was just one night in a slew of tons and tons of nights of doing that. It was really fun," Elias said. [H/T to WrestlingInc]
The final match between Elias and Owens took place at Monday Night RAW on August 8, 2022. Working as his brother Ezekiel, the guitar playing wrestler fought Owens to a No Contest. WWE released Elias on September 21 of last year.