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He is a grand slam champion and one of the most notable heels in WWE today. Kevin Owens first debuted in NXT the same night his best friend Sami Zayn captured the NXT championship. That evening in the midst of a celebration much to the enjoyment of the fans, he turned on his friend in a shocking betrayal.
During his time with WWE, he has seen numerous career accomplishments, and his future with the company is bright. He is considered a threat for any championship regardless of whom it pits him against.
He can tell a story in many different ways, making him one of the most compelling characters in WWE history. However, fans may be focussed on his future in the company that they may have forgotten about his past.
There are some things of which there is a great deal of awareness, such as his time in Ring of Honor and his friendship with Zayn, but a number of other notable things may be forgotten.
#5 His son was part of a match when he was only six months old
Even before there was Nicholas, who captured one half of the tag team championship alongside Braun Strowman, the youngest competitor to step in the ring was Kevin's son, Owen. Fans may know that Owen is named after his father's favourite wrestler, Owen Hart. However, what they may not know was that at six months of age, he was part of a match involving his father.
During an event in 2008, Owens' son appeared during a segment with a wrestler in which the wrestler had called the baby boy ‘ugly'. Almost any parent that hears anything derogatory about their children would fight back, and Owens was no exception.
He beat down the other wrestler, who was named Excalibur, with strike after strike, ultimately hitting him with a package piledriver, not once, but three times. Then he took his son and placed him on top of a prone Excalibur for a three count and a win.
#4 His relationship with Jim Cornette
One of the most outspoken men in professional wrestling is James E. Cornette. When he was active in the industry, he was a manager and commentator, first in the NWA and then the early days of WCW, before filling those same roles in WWE.
Later on, for a period of time, Cornette took over the booking for Ring of Honor, during a period when Owens was employed by Ring of Honor as well. As it turned out, Owens' relationship with Cornette was a factor in him being released at one point.
Owens had to miss some time due to injury, but even when he was healthy, Cornette apparently prevented him from returning and didn't make Ring of Honor President Cary Silken aware of Owens' status or when he would bring him back into the fold.
So, Owens was being paid but wasn't appearing on the events. He continued to wait, and after ROH was sold he was told to continue to wait an additional six months. This unsettling set of circumstances is indicative of Owens' poor working relationship with Cornette.
#3 He has competed his entire career with an injured knee
In a career that has spanned more than fifteen years, Kevin Owens has seen his share of injuries. Unfortunately, such setbacks are a part of the business. One of the earliest injuries Owens suffered was a knee injury.
While it is not uncommon for injuries to linger and nag an athlete on occasion, in this case, it doesn't appear to have ever been resolved. After several knee operations, the problem still remains.
At one point the injury played into a storyline where Owens had to ‘retire' because he couldn't continue due to the pain. As it turns out it was a ruse, and just one of the many times he turned on his friend El Generico (Sami Zayn).
The injury has clearly not hampered the way he competes today, and he appears to be as diligent in caring for it as much as possible. The injury doesn't appear to have restricted his mobility. When fans see him limping it is hard to know whether or not it is fabricated because he is such a great storyteller.
#2 Had an online spat with Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Fans know that wrestlers work incredibly hard at their craft to convince us of everything they can do. In essence, their ability to tell a story isn't unlike actors on television or in film. In one case, however, Owens had issues with one particular celebrity, in a conflict that began online and escalated there before being mentioned on WWE programming.
Actress Melissa Joan Hart, while the star of the television program Sabrina the Teenage Witch, posted on Twitter that Owens had become a lazy wrestler, unlike how he had been on the independent circuit.
That sparked a reaction from Owens, which eventually led to him blocking her from viewing his tweets. A hashtag followed, #IStandwithOwens, which led others to also block Joan Hart on Twitter as well. While it was mentioned on WWE programming, nothing came of it.
It is often said that there is no such thing as bad publicity, and this seems especially applicable when it involves celebrities from different forms of entertainment clashing. This was another example of that.
#1 He beat up a heckling fan that decided to step into the ring
There is a line between the wrestlers and the fans. Wrestlers don't put their hands-on the fans sitting in the stands, and fans don't put their hands-on wrestlers or try to come into the ring.
If fans make the mistake of coming into the ring, in the wrestlers' mind they are fair game, and thus the invading fan will find themselves in a legitimate fight, likely receiving a legitimate beating because they decided to break the rules.
Before Kevin Owens was who we see today, he competed under his own name of Kevin Steen. On one particular occasion during his time in Montreal, a time when he was still learning his craft, a fan at ringside was vociferously heckling Steen. The situation quickly escalated, and Steen suggested the fan come into the ring.
What happened, however, is a friend of the heckler, who was drunk at the time, decided he would step into the ring. It wasn't a very smart decision, and the consequences were that Steen relentlessly beat the drunk fan up.
Steen has commented on this incident in the past and has never expressed regret for doing what he did. If a fan crosses the line, they run the risk that they could be justifiably harmed.
