Kevin Owens

4 times Kevin Owens betrayed his partner

Despite being a heel for the majority of his WWE main roster career, Kevin Owens is a Superstar that fans absolutely love. The Prizefighter is fantastic in the ring, with moves that surprise most fans. Owens is even more loved for his prowess on the mic, as he has showcased time and again that he can get the crowd to turn on him in no time.

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But KO has also shown that he's one that seizes on opportunities, turning on his friends to get what he wants. Owens has done it time and again, which makes him even more hated by the WWE Universe.

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The former Universal champion returned to WWE television recently, and was introduced back to the WWE by Vince McMahon after taking time off to recover from an injury. He returned as a babyface but reverted to being a heel recently on SmackDown.

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Let's take a look at 4 times Kevin Owens betrayed his partner:

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#4 Kofi Kingston

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After Owens returned to WWE television in February, he quickly replaced Kofi Kingston to face off against Daniel Bryan at the Fastlane PPV. Vince McMahon believed that Kingston was a "B+" Superstar who didn't have it in him to challenge for the top prize in the business.

But Kingston slowly earned his title shot, and at WrestleMania 35, he defeated Daniel Bryan to become WWE Champion.

Owens, on SmackDown, was still a babyface, and following Big E's injury, he was roped in to replace him in New Day, which triggered conversation about the inevitable happening - Owens turning on Kofi and reverting to being a heel.

That happened on this week's SmackDown when he attacking Kofi and Xavier Woods after Kofi's match against Shinsuke Nakamura. Owens will now most likely face the WWE Champion at the Money in the Bank PPV.

#3 & #2 Sami Zayn

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens go way back, with both having come through the indie scene back in Canada. Zayn and Owens have been best friends for a long time, and have portrayed that on WWE television as well.

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But Owens hasn't necessarily been a good friend to Zayn. The former Universal Champion has turned on Zayn more than once.

The first betrayal happened in NXT at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution in 2014, after Owens' debut match against CJ Parker. After Zayn won the NXT Championship in a match against Neville, Owens came down to congratulate his old friend before powerbombing him into the ring apron. The two had their match for the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver: Rival, where Owens won the title.

Owens and Zayn while wrestling in ROH as Kevin Steen and El Generico, respectively, wrestled The Young Bucks at Final Battle 2009, where after losing the match, Steen (Owens) turned on El Generico (Zayn) with a lowblow. The two had a great singles rivalry following that show.

#1 Chris Jericho

The most high-profile of Kevin Owens' betrayal of his partner was when he turned on Chris Jericho during the "Festival of Friendship" segment. Jericho and Owens had been tag team partners with the two using every which way to help each other.

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This was during The List of Jericho gimmick, where Jericho would write down the names of those that he hated. During the Festival of Friendship segment on RAW, Owens presented his own list called The List of KO and Jericho was the first name on this list after which Owens attacked Jericho.

Jericho would have his retribution as he distracted Owens during his match against Goldberg at Fastlane which resulted in him losing the Universal title.

Jericho and Owens faced off at WrestleMania 33 where Jericho lost the United States title only to win it back at the Payback PPV, before losing it on the following SmackDown Live show.

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Edited by
Riju Dasgupta
 
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