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Kevin Owens' WWE contract is coming to an end soon, and with AEW now being treated as a legitimate competitor to WWE, he could consider jumping ship. Over the past couple of months, many former WWE Superstars have joined AEW, including the likes of CM Punk and Bryan Danielson.
The Prizefighter has worked for several different promotions in the past, and he’s someone who is not afraid to make a switch. Owens is a former Universal Champion and is known as one of the best wrestlers during his indie days.
Kevin Owens is known for being a good guy backstage who is ready to help anyone if needed. This unique trait has helped him form a few good friends in the wrestling world.
Even though many of KO’s friends are not working in the same promotion as him, he’s still managed to stay close to them. This could work in his favor if he eventually decides to join AEW.
Take a look at the six AEW wrestlers who are good friends with Kevin Owens in real life.
#6. AEW star Matt Hardy and Kevin Owens have had a rivalry in the past
Kevin Owens and Matt Hardy first met in a promotion outside WWE and AEW. Owens was the leader of a faction at the time, and Hardy was made part of the faction without his approval.
The two men ended up having a good rivalry following the angle and soon became good friends backstage. In 2014, Kevin Owens was asked about his opinion on Matt Hardy. The Prizefighter had a lot of good things to say about the current AEW star, and even labeled him as one of his favorite people in wrestling.
"Matt's a great dude. He gets a lot of negative press and a lot of negative things said about him, but like, when I first met him I didn't know what to expect and what I got was an extremely nice helpful and now he's one of my favorite people in wrestling. I enjoy every chance I get to talk to him. I enjoy every chance I get to wrestle him."
KO and “Big Money” Hardy have also had a few interesting and hilarious exchanges on social media over the past few years. It looks like the two men are still pretty close behind the scenes.
Kevin Owens and Hardy have a lot of history, and that could come in handy if the two end up wrestling for AEW together someday.
#5-4. The Young Bucks credit Kevin Owens for their success before starting AEW
The Young Bucks and Kevin Owens competed on the independent scene together before joining AEW and WWE respectively. Matt and Nick Jackson are known as one of the premier tag teams in the industry today, and they have a lot to thank Owens for.
Speaking to Fightful, The Young Bucks spoke about their friendship with KO and how he took them under his wing in the indies.
“There’s a lot to say. We have such a history with him. We still talk to him to this day. We love him. He’s great!”
“He was one of the guys who took us under his wing in the early days. He saw something special in us and I think he knew we were going to be a part of the new crop of the top indie guys, and he attached himself to us. He’s one of the very first people who gave us a rub. Just being friends with him by association and being involved with him in storylines and having matches with him people immediately accepted that we were cool. We’ll never forget that.”
The Young Bucks are the cornerstones of AEW today. Kevin Owens, on the other hand, has done extremely well in his WWE career. It will be interesting to see how things pan out if they cross paths again.
#3. Kevin Owens may have helped Cody Rhodes find the spark to start AEW
If it hadn’t been for Kevin Owens, Cody Rhodes may have never befriended The Young Bucks and decided to launch AEW. Owens and Cody worked together in WWE for some time but never did anything remarkable together.
According to WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page, Kevin Owens was the man who introduced Cody to The Young Bucks after the latter was released from the company.
“From what I understand, it was because of Kevin, Kevin Owens. He had called up The Bucks, who he was good friends with, and said ‘Cody’s a solid cat’. You know, you guys might want to pull him in to your group. Of course, we know what happened there. That year, Cody made like seven figures.”
Cody had never wrestled for any other company than WWE before, and Kevin Owens helped him make friends outside the company to get started.
“I’m a big organizer and planner. So I had been in Kevin Owens’ ear, like, ‘Hey, what does the world look like? I’ve saved a chunk of my money and I bought a home and stuff, but I want to make sure I can keep it. What does it look like out there?’ And Kevin was the one who said, ‘I’ll introduce you to The Young Bucks. They’re the masters of having marketed themselves outside of the company.’ Me and Brandi were totally fearless in that moment. It was crazy.”
If it hadn’t been for KO, Cody may have never made it so big outside WWE. Cody will surely be looking to give back to his friend if Kevin Owens decides to leave WWE and join AEW.
#2. Former AEW Champion Chris Jericho is still good friends with Kevin Owens
Many WWE and AEW fans will still remember the “Festival of Friendship” segment between Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho. The two men formed a partnership on WWE in 2016 and gave fans some great moments to remember.
Jericho and Owens worked well together on screen and ended up having a memorable rivalry soon after. Jericho is now one of the most prized assets of AEW. However, he is still good friends with Kevin Owens behind the scenes.
On Saturday Night Special #21, Y2J spoke about his friendship with Kevin Owens and revealed that the two men still stay in touch and are good friends.
“I speak to Kevin from time to time, you know. Definitely still friends. The only thing is when you are on the road, it takes you into different places and you know, you’re in different areas. So he’s doing his gig and he is super busy and I am doing my gig so I am super busy as well. So, you know, I love Kevin because he’s kind of reinvigorated my passion for the business in 2016.”
It’s good to see that KO still keeps in touch with many of his friends who are working for rival promotions. Will fans see Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho team up one more time before the latter hangs up his boots?
#1. AEW’s newest debutant Adam Cole is very close to Kevin Owens
Adam Cole and Kevin Owens never got to face each other one on one in WWE before Cole made his move to AEW. However, the two men were on opposite sides during the 2019 NXT TakeOver: WarGames match.
Owens and Cole performed on a few different promotions together before they joined WWE. The Panama City Playboy spoke to BT Sport about how Owens helped him succeed in the independent scene.
“Kevin Owens is another guy — I’ll briefly touch on this, but he played such a big part in me kind of taking off on the independents. Kevin was a guy who kind of took me under his wing in PWG which later helped me out in [another promotion]. He was a big aspect of me understanding that independent, or just in general, that main event style and how to kinda perform and what to do and what to say. He’ll never take credit for it because that’s just type of guy he is, but I always credit him as someone who really did help me and he is a great friend — except for that WarGames thing.”
There isn’t a huge age gap between Adam Cole and Kevin Owens. It was great to see Owens helping Cole early on in his career, and both men have made their mark in the wrestling industry as individual performers.
