WWE News: Kevin Owens explains his express call up from NXT
WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens has credited Triple H for his express call up from NXT to the main roster. Owens also believes that his was a case of being at the right place at the right time as WWE needed someone strong to feud with John Cena.
In a meetup before SummerSlam, radio personality Sam Roberts had Kevin Owens as his guest, and when Owens was asked about his quick call-up, he had the following to say: "Oh yeah, I'm really good."
The crowd then applauded and then he said:
"Alright, I know it seems like I was joking but that literally is the reason."
However, he then went on to elaborate:
"By the time I showed up on Raw that Monday to confront (John) Cena I had already been told ‘you're on the main roster permanently.' I don't know who saw what. Obviously, I know Triple H is the reason I'm here. He took the chance on me originally and obviously he had a big part to play in it.
“But I don't know who saw what and made them decide that it was time for me to come up when the usual way to go about things back then to get called up from NXT... it could take years. I also feel like, honestly, I was probably at the right place at the right time because at that point John Cena needed somebody to work with that people would be excited to see him work with and I think I was the guy."
Kevin Owens was the beneficiary of Finn Balor’s injury, to put it bluntly. While he was scheduled to be feuding with Balor for the next two months or so, he ended up winning the top prize of Raw as well. This great happening saw Kevin Owens align himself with Triple H and also saw Rollins turn face for the first time since he tore The Shield apart.
However, it is far fetched to say that it was a surprise that Owens is now officially on the main event level of Raw. When Owens debuted last year in May, he came in as a big deal and has been one of the most consistently featured and built superstars in the entire roster. In fact, at Money In The Bank this year, Kevin Owens became the first person in WWE history to be featured in 12 consecutive pay-per-views in a calendar year. Charlotte became the second superstar to join that prestigious list a little while later.
He was booked strong from the get-go and was called up to the main roster just 6 months after debuting on NXT.