Kevin Owens is one of those who started very early in their career. He was initially a wrestler under his own name, Kevin Steen, and performed on various independent circuits. His first stint was in the Ring of Honor (ROH). He went on to pick two Championships in ROH which included ROH World Championship and ROH World Tag Team Championship He also holds a record for winning the PWG World Championship during his association with the independent circuit. Before joining WWE's development territory, NXT, he had made quite a name for himself.
Kevin Steen was born in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec in Canada on the 7th of May in 1984. He is of French-Canadian and Irish descent. Owens' first language is French. He revealed that he learned English by watching Monday Night Raw, the show where he would go on to be the WWE Universal Champion in 2016. Owens participated in Ice Hockey and Soccer or Football but did not consider going into these sports for his career.
In 2014, Kevin Steen joined made his NXT debut as Kevin Owens and went on to become the NXT Champion after a memorable feud against Sami Zayn. The two shared exceptional chemistry both as friends and rivals. After Zayn, Owens was successful in executing a brilliant rivalry with inn Balor. Needless to say, Owens had already drawn enough attention from the WWE Universe to be called on the main roster.
Owens debuted on WWE’s main roster as the NXT Champion. After a few weeks, he challenged John Cena for the United States Championship and defeated him in the Elimination Chamber to win the title. Following that, he lost his title to Cena to mark the end of that rivalry.
In Sepetmber, 2015, Owens won the Intercontinental Championship after defeating Ryback at Night of Champions. Owens lost his title to Dean Ambrose at TLC. Later, he continued to pick rivalries with several WWE Superstars consecutively. He fought AJ Styles in an Iron Man match owing to their history at Royal Rumble. Owens had entered at number eighteen and he eliminated AJ Styles from the latter’s debut match. He also feuded with his old rival, Sam Zayn before entering the Universal Title picture.
Owens was drafted to RAW where he continued to fight against Sami Zayn. Post that, he went to qualify for the WWE Universal Championship four-way elimination match and was successful in defeating the likes of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Big Cass. However, it was the interference from Triple H that helped Owens pick up his title.
Owens went on to prove why he deserved that title when he was successful in defending his Championship twice against Seth Rollins. He had grown so impactful that he was named as the co-captain alongside Chris Jericho to lead the RAW team at Survivor Series. However, on the main day, Owens was visibly in tension with Jericho.
Meanwhile, Owens entered into a feud with Roman Reigns over the title. He was finally successful in retaining his title against Reigns, Jericho and Braun Strowman before losing it to Goldberg who had challenged Owens for a Championship match at Fastlane.
After the 2017, WWE Superstar Shakeup, Owens was brought to the SmackDown Live. He went on to feud against Chris Jericho for a while, He then defeated AJ Styles to win the US Championship but that didn’t last long for him. Following multiple challenges, Owens was desperate to get another shot at the title.
This led to one of the most memorable feud of Owens’ career, him against the Authority – Shane O’McMahon. After attacking Vince McMahon, Owens faced Shane O’Mac at Hell In A Cell where he was aided by his long term rival Sami Zayn.
Since then, Owens and Zayn have been involved in a feud angst the Authority and the two have been successful in winning favours from the SmackDown General Manager, Daniel Bryan (to tease a fight between the two Authority figures in the storyline).
Kevin Owens soon challenged Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at TLC 2020 and then again at Royal Rumble 2021 but failed to win the title at both events. He soon shifted his focus to Sami Zayn reigniting their old rivalry. He defeated Zayn at WrestleMania 37 and attacked Logan Paul after the match.
He returned to RAW as a part of the 2021 draft. Owens would pick on a rivalry with then-WWE Champion Big E and the title contender Seth Rollins. He would insert himself into the title match on Day 1. On the road of the event, Owens and Rollins would go on to make friends with Rollins.
Both stars failed to capture the title and would go on to unsuccessfully challenge for the RAW Tag Team Championships on an episode of the RAW brand. Soon, Owens started expressing his displeasure on WrestleMania38 being organized in Texas, a town he hated.
He eventually called out Stone Cold Steve Austin to take part in the KO Show at WrestleMania. Austin hails from Texas and accepted Owens' invitation to the KO Show. At WrestleMania 38 Saturday, the conversation at the KO Show soon heated up leading to a match, Austin's first since WrestleMania XIX.
This was also the first time Owens was headlining WrestleMania. Austin defeated The Prizefighter at the event, following which Owens shifted his focus to Ezekiel, Elias' younger brother, whom Owens believed was just Elias trying to fool everyone. This led to a string of matches leading eventually to a match at Hell In A Cell, which Owens won.
Kevin Owens has returned to his previous gimmick the Prizefighter. On recent RAW, he viciously attacked Ezekiel before his match and was injured. Then on the next RAW, he went on to war with Drew McIntyre, but it was interrupted by the Usos.
Owens would go on to wage war against Roman Reigns and the rest of The Bloodline in the second half of 2022. Owens also insisted his former best friend Sami Zayn to switch sides multiple times. At Survivor Series WarGames, Owens took on The Bloodline in a five-on-five WarGames match. However, Zayn finally made a decision that night when he gave a low blow to Owens followed by a Helluva kick, causing Owens to be pinned by Reigns.
The feud would continue for a while. At Royal Rumble, Owens challenged Reigns for the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship in a losing effort. He became a victim of The Bloodline's assault following the match. Reigns forced Zayn to hit Owens with a chair but Zayn attacked Reigns instead thus leaving The Bloodline.
The two friends would not reconcile with each other until the March 17th episode of SmackDown where Owens rushed in to save Zayn from a beatdown by The Usos. The four of these guys main evented the Night One of WrestleMania Hollywood which saw Owens and Zayn become the WWE Tag Team Champions, a first for Owens which also made him a Grand Slam Champion. The next night, Usos interfered in Reigns' match against Cody Rhodes and Zayn and Owens rushed in to even the odds.
The feud continued thereon and Riddle joined Zayn and Owens after WrestleMania. The three superstars battled against Solo Sikoa and The Usos at WWE Backlash in a losing effort. Following the event, Roman Reigns announced his intentions of challenging Owens and Zayn for the tag team gold. He, alongside Solo Sikoa, is set to face the champions for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship at Night of Champions.
As per multiple sources, Kevin Owens is worth around USD 3 Million as of 2023. Click here to learn more about the net worth of The Prizefighter.
Owens has a brother named Edward Lower and not much is known about him. The second-ever Universal Champion has two kids - a boy named Owen and a girl named Élodie Leila. His son is named Owen after the late-wrestling legend Owen Hart and his ring name Kevin Owens is also inspired from the same.
Kevin Owens is married to Karina Lamer since 2007. The duo first met on an online platform in 2006 and dated for about a month online before meeting each other in person and they tied the knot in 2007.
Terry Steen
Kevin Owens is billed at 5 ft 10 in.
The size of Kevin Owens' biceps is around 17.5 inches.
Kevin Steen.
